what a game! enjoyed every minute and was sad when it ended. compelling storyline, endless replayability, good graphics, challenging AI One of my favourite games ever

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Having played this series on PC since it first launched (I got the first game the week it came out),I feel this is the worst Hitman to date. It plays more like Splinter Cell than any of the games so far in the series. You cannot set your kit up for each job (not even on replay),nor do you have access to the weapons you pick up and keep (for the main game part not for the making contracts part) including when you change to the next part of the chapter and are in the same area. So somehow you lose all your weaponry other than the silverballers and a garrote by hopping over a fence,entering a door,climbing to a roof etc. The storyline is decent and the graphics are very nice,yet with the having to roll and hide like Solidnsnake from Metal Gear Solid games on playstation 1 in order to use the weapons you have, makes the game feel completely not like the rest. If you want to start with a silenced sniping rifle and eliminate sentries,you cannot. If you want to use the bomb set up you cannot unless these items are specifically on that level. You must toss bricks,bottles and other assundries in order to mislead them (and this somehow repeatedly does not make them increasingly more suspicious) or bludgeon them to death with these same objects all in order to get to your target to shoot them with a silenced pistol when in at least one mission you could have sniped them cleanly. This is a complete departure from what made Hitman as popular as it was.Lets face it, if 47 lost his safe houses and had collected weaponry from doing jobs after losing them, he would set up another one. It isnt rocket science. If I wanted to play Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid,I would play those games.… Expand

this is a great stealth game!!!! the game is really good and fun. the story and voice acting in the game are amazing!!! the story is interesting and original. the gameplay is really good as well. animations are great. the game has one of the greatest stealth systems i have ever seen. the only issue with the stealth mechanics is the outfits. this is great idea, but it isnt perfect yet. if you change your clothes, every other enemy from that type nows you. i get the point of this, but sometimes it just doesnt make sense. all the cops in the same city dont now each other!!!. i really appreciate IO interactive for making the outfit system, but it does need some work, the graphics in the game are amazing. the game looks really impressive, and the lightning looks great as well. another good thing the game does is the crowd sections. blending into the crowd is done masterfully.
the best thing about the game is the options it gives you. the game gives you endless ways to do your objective. from shooting your target, to electricuting him, there are a lot of ways to do assassinations. most of the games levels are big enough. on the other hand, some of the levels are too little. im not refering to special action sequences hich by the way are done great) but some stealth levels are just too little which is a bit dissapointing. dont take me wrong! most of the levels are really open, but some of them should have been bigger. the last complaint i have about the game is the save system, the save system is just bad. it should have been better or it should have given you the option to save manually.

overall the game is great!!!!! this is the best stealth game to date. its not perfect, but if you like stelth games you should definetly buy it!!!!!
note: the game requires a lot of patience!!! if your not patiente you will hate the game!!… Expand

If you are Hitman serie fan, don't buy this! This is NOT Hitman! Linear gameplay, boring gameplay, no free saves but stupids checkpoints, no planning of tactics, no map.
Avoid!

As I have been playing hitman after hitman since the first one, I can say this for sure, this game its nothing more than a generic stealth game, that most of the time your only goal its find a door, and when you finaly has the chance to perform a kill, its always a simple and not clever kill, its was lost the game essence, turning into a average game with a good story, hiding a boring game with a stupid mechanic of saves, and a lot of pointless goals. It's with a great sadness that I submit this review, from my favorite franchise, the first of the all five games, that I couldn't end, because after each level it was getting more and more boring.… Expand

I did not play the older Hitman series, but decided to give this one a go when it was on sale. My very first impression was a very nicely rendered playable cut scene. The levels are very linear, and was hoping for a more sandbox style of game play. All the same, the levels are challenging, and allows for several ways to take targets out. The storyline is fun, predictable, and cheesy at times, but is still fun to watch it unfold. If this is on sale, give it a try too, you will have a good time. tldr: Great graphics, average and linear game play.… Expand

For all complaints This game may not the best out-there, but is just amazing.
We're not talking about graphics (they're pretty good), we're talking 'bout playability, and that my friends its a nice point.
Ok play in lower levels of difficulty ...hitman sense, enemies paths, objects sub-lined, you can go on...
WE must play on Purist!!! there's were lives and shines the real game.
No map, no sense, no nothing...only you and your brain. Extremely hard tough guys, no place to run, no time to disguise...think before u shoot. I've spent a lot of hours replaying and creating new ways to kill to get unnoticed.
So go for it guys...this games rules.… Expand

Jeden z początkowych hitów skradanek powraca z piękną grafiką, ciekawymi misjami, wciągającą fabułą i najważniejsze, z zabójczym agentem 47. Nadzieje do tej gry były naprawdę duże, fani starych Hitmanów oczekiwali że twórcy nie zmienią strasznie systemu zabójstw czy samej gry. Twórcy na szczęście pamiętali co to Hitman i bardzo dobrze zrobili jego kontynuacje wykorzystując przy tym ładny systując przy tym ładny silnik graficzny dzięki któremu naprawdę miło się gra(chodź mógłby wyglądać ładniej). Twórcy pierwszy raz w serii podeszli tak poważnie do fabuły, w która można naprawdę się wciągnąć, lecz...po pewnym czasie jest po prostu przewidywalna, nie zaskakuje. Jest ciekawa ale czegoś jej brakuje, a szkoda bo potencjał był duży. Jeżeli chodzi o rozgrywkę, to również ma ona pewne zmiany, są to przyjemne zmiany, jak i rzeczy których ze względu na poprzednie części, nie powinno być. Jest klimat Hitmana, są jego ciekawe zabójstwa, lecz brakuje tu po prostu czegoś. Wiele map jest za małych, sposobów na wykonanie niektórych misji również mogło by być więcej. Twórcy jednak odwalili kawał dobrej roboty. Moja ocena 8/10… Expand

I really enjoyed this game. I have not played any Hitman games before until this one so I am not sure what the others are like but this one was a lot of fun from my perspective. The graphics were good and the objectives were fun. I didn't follow the story too well but from what I gathered it was pretty good. No bugs or issues. The one criticism I have is that the "disguises" you wear almost never work. There were too many instances were I was wearing a disguise that the people saw that it was me and then a giant gun fight occured that either resulted in me dying or me getting a really low score. I might just suck at the disguises but it happened far too many times. So in general this was a good game I would reccommend it.… Expand

hitman is back for another installment 6 years later.. this game was a great stealth game... it just lacked the story telling.. one minute a guy not wanting to kill a hitman.. next minute trying to kill him.. makes no sense... he doesn't want fame.. why doesn't he kill hitman and then put the knife in his hand so it looks like hitman commit suicide? anyway the game was fun and took well on the third person mechanics.… Expand

The Hitman you knew is gone.
Be prepared for an ordinary Cover-based stealth shooter that is very linear and with a silly story. They really cheated me this time, by putting the enticing label of Hitman on there, and giving me this uninspired, linear and braindead stealth-shooter, where you're basically not even doing hitman-work. The freedom of earlier games is completely gone, disguises are tacked on and dont work like they should, gameplay elements seem to work against eachother. Broken checkpoint-saves. You're mostly just going door to door instead of planning and executing awesome assassinations...

The most fun I had in this game was going crazy and just go on killing sprees, the stealth mechanics used are just so old and boring, clearing a mission through stealth and not killing anyone has never been this boring before... much of the time I didnt even have a target.... yawn.

+ Graphics, sound

I was thinking of putting all the annoying game changes and disappointing quirks in Absolution here BUT I'm short on time so I'll cut to the chase and just say WHY this game FAILS.

- It's masking behind the great HITMAN-label and dont deliver.
- THAT and it seems they did'nt even try to make a hitman game. They put 47's face on Sam Fisher basically.

I'm deeply disappointed and I dont understand how they could do this to Hitman fans. We waited so long too.
I'm giving it 3 because of the Sniper Challenge, atleast that was fun while it lasted.

Verdict Rip-off.… Expand

I liked Hitman Blood Money so much i bought it twice, once on Playstation 2, then again on Xbox 360, still play it today. I bought Hitman Absolution on day of release and traded it in already it was that bad. All they needed to do was take Hitman Blood Money and improve the AI. Instead they took all the fun of Hitman out. Last game i ever buy from IO.

I'm still playing Hitman Blood Money 7yrs on, every level is such a joy to replay through again and again. Unfortunately the same can't be said about Hitman Absolution. It's not like a Hitman game and the levels are very linear story driven trash that aren't even worth a second play through. AVOID this game, rent it or buy it second hand, don't waste your money. Hitman Blood Money is a masterpiece, Absolution is a total disaster that has killed a once great franchise.… Expand

A poor addition to the Hitman franchise. Hitman was a series that didn't need changing, it was as if IO Interactive have never heard of the old saying "If it's not broke don't fix it" Everything that made Hitman so great and unique has been removed and replaced with material copied from other gaming franchises. As a result Hitman Absolution is very similar to Splintercell Conviction rather than a Hitman game. The big open sandbox levels have been replaced with heavily scripted linear levels so it can tell a story. Previous Hitmans were all about gameplay, Absolution is more about a story. The story was like it was written by Steve Stiffler from the American Pie films, very childish sick gross out trying to be edgy but fails. In my opinion games should always be about gameplay, if i want a story i'll watch a DVD or go to the cinema. The less i say about the broken AI the better.… Expand

Simply the worst Hitman in the series, it's not even really a Hitman game. All the fun of Hitman, the big open sandbox levels that encourage exploration are gone, weapon select at the start of each level is gone, the cool music from Jesper Kyd is gone. Hitman games were always game play over story, Absolution is story over game play (it's not even a good story). Most of it encourages sneaking about without being seen trying to make it from one door to the next, it's just no fun and nothing like a Hitman game.… Expand

Mediocre. To sum it up short, it has a terrible story with no consistency, one-dimensional characters, flimsy level design, and linear set pieces. It removes the core of Hitman, that is planning to perfection on how to kill your targets. It's gone in this game, save a few levels.

However, the game has great game mechanics. Had these been implemented into bigger maps and a less pretentious storyline, it would have worked. Other than the Instinct feature, the game benefited from it's great controls.

It isn't without it's faults though. The disguise system is horrendously imbalanced and doesn't help you at all. Considering it's a core feature of the Hitman series, this hits hard.

Though the game has it's moments. Levels like, King of Chinatown, Terminus Hotel, Hunter and Hunted, Streets of Hope, and Blackwater Park are brilliant, and are some of the best in the series. Although, the other levels are completely unplayable, since the player will have no ambition to grudge through them and their linear design void of player choice.

If you see this game on a Steam Sale, I'd say you should buy it to see just what it's about. That doesn't change the fact that it's a huge disappointment in the series after Blood Money.
You're better off purchasing the HD Collection if you're a console player.

This game had huge potential IO. Fix it with the next game.… Expand

i think, against all opinions, the history is the worst of the hitman series. Isn´t wise let a killer who want´s kill you, alive. But, this happens in the game, again and again.
About the customization, the game is fun.

This game was fun and full of action, but it did have some problems. The worst part of this game is probably the lack of manual saving. I've had this game crash THREE times in under 30 minutes, but nothing else after that. The disguise system works, but was sometimes annoying because people would notice you anyway, but it can be saved by using the Instinct key. The points system was also very tedious, as I always wanted to do the best I could, but I'd have to start over if I made a mistake. However, it doesn't ruin this entire game full of explosions, gun kills, silent kills and more.… Expand

It would be good game, if it have:
- open world
- saves
- weapon selection
- saves
- map
- SAVES!

What's wrong with developers, which want to ruin silent killing game and make some one-error-replay-full-mission-game with QTE which you could not break?! Sorry, this game is not worth the money at all (even with 60% discount which i find).

For anyone looking for creative, free, imaginative game play... steer clear of this one. All the planning and decision making that made the previous titles so immersive and stimulating are removed. There is no weapon load out choice, disguises no longer have any purpose and the levels are completely linear where the developer has chosen the course of action you must take as if you were on the rails of a very slow moving roller coaster with no ups or downs. Very disappointed as this was a real step back. We really are living in a "dumbed down" period of gaming. Like Dishonored, you are encouraged not to kill people, even though you inevitably have to... you are an assassin after all. Both those titles push you in directions to get punished for being where they push you. Some people seem to like that paradoxical nonsense, but that goes beyond hitting your head against a brick wall when you're allergic to bricks yet are the only thing you can feed on Yeah... I don't get it either. The negative reviews really do represent the game... the positive reviews are for those who enjoy a really shallow, totally directed lacking in content experience.… Expand

This game is a lot of fun, great graphics, the game-play and story could use a bit more work they could have made the game a bit longer as well. But other than that this game is really fun and it is worth the money.

This is NOT a Hitman game. They have butchered the disguise system so badly that I can't even stand to play the game. The classic Hitman strategy of disguising as a guard to enter the guard territory is ruined. This game has been severely dumbed down and ruined. The only great thing about it is the combat and the game engine over all. The fact that the game engine is so solid just makes me wish this game had lived up to any of its potential.… Expand

The graphics are awesome, the game is very ruthless, but you can manage to go through a mission without actually doing it 'the right way'. Lots of options on how to kill your targets if you are patient and spend time exploring the maps. I like the story aswell. I didn't play any of the other games though, so I have nothing to compare it to, other than the fact it is a better stealth game to me, than most. It held me entertained through the campaign the whole way and I wanted to know more of the story as it went along. I liked the gunplay and the options that I had for killing my targets.

It isn't exactly perfect, but it was a great experience, 8/10… Expand

Agent 47 is back, and now he’s out for revenge. Hitman: Absolution focuses on the infamous unknown killer himself as he travels through an emotional story of regret, anger, turmoil and despair. The storyline of Hitman: Absolution revolves around the assassin and his plight to save Victoria from living the same harrowing life as 47. Being created within a laboratory, Victoria was engineereded for one purpose, to become the next level of high grade assassin out for hire. Follow 47 as you stealth your way through shadowy side streets and abandoned hotels seeking revenge upon those who would force such a gruelling lifestyle upon another living being. Hitman: Absolution is for audiences of 18+. Hitman: Absolution is a game in which you can kick your feet up and enjoy, allowing yourself to soak in the storyline and have huge amounts of intense fun with, the number of possible takedown manoeuvres are truly fantastic, whether you’re making your assassination look like an accident, going for the critical headshot with a sniper rifle, or closing in for the kill with 47’s signature silent assassin fibre wire, you will never be stuck for possibilities or new and fresh ideas of how to advance onto your target. Hitman: Absolution is a game for the critical thinker, promoting further brain functionality into strategic thinking, problem solving, as well as time and risk management, requiring the player to think before acting. Players will have to deal with the consequences of their actions, whether that’s killing extra targets or escaping and trying again, the smarter gamers will find that they are just as at home within this environment as they would be within any other strategy based game. The many different levels of the game each have their own theme and background, making for a large library of interesting possibilities and hugely detailed level design, boasting incredible graphics allowing the characters to look incredible, as does the level design, weapon sprites and the locations. The characters each have their own distinct personality and capabilities allowing you to really believe in their existence. As well as a highly in depth and griping storyline, you also have a creation feature, in which you can walk the streets and assassinate your own targets however you see fit, whether you want to blow a hole in Chinatown and your targets along with it, or you want no-one to know you were even there, you decide how to proceed in your assassination attempts. After designating your own targets you can upload the assassination contract to allow your friends and enemies to compete, allowing you to see who’ll be the next best assassin in the online leader boards. Will you step up and accept the contract? I give this game 8/10, the graphics are amazing everything within each level is absolutely beautiful. The level design allows for a huge number of possibilities, the storyline is a perfect ending to a well known and hugely loved series, and the game play and controls fit the game extremely well. The only problem I have with this game is the fact that the replay-ability of the game is lacking but the overall experience of the initial play through easily makes up for this minor pitfall.… Expand

A disappointment. The mission layout is changed just to meet the plot. A sandbox system which allows player to observe the environment and NPC interaction for planning, is completely removed. Each mission is just a linear and rather small environment, and in most cases you are forced to make use of stealth and cover, as most NPCs are now armed enemies, which will fire at you upon contact, and your main mission goal is infiltration to some secured place to kill someone. The fun way of using costume and accidents, like those in Blood Money, is completely gone. The costume system is changed to be "realistic", but end up just wasting the costume system, as it is just an annoyance and in fact unrealistic. When you wear the same clothes as some NPCs, they will all suspect you when close by, WTH? All NPCs have a skeptical mind? When they have different clothes with you, they will never suspect you, unless you enter a restricted area. In order to avoid being suspected, you have to use instinct. However, instinct do not recover over time, you need to find some items, or kill someone to recharge it. As a professional assassin like agent 47, why player is forced to kill someone other than target? what a shame? The system is just made forcing player in a dilemma. The game is just made such that the replay value is lower due to limited choices and linear move, and boring scenario.… Expand

Having played all the previous titles, I thought I knew what to expect. Fortunately, that went out the window with the first "woah" moment. And you'll find in Absolution plenty of them. The story is very well made and it feels like you're watching a good action movie. One of the most impressive features of Hitman Absolution is the voice acting. You don't see the same quality in most other games; really well done. Graphically, it ranks high when compared with games launched around its release time. Every frame of any cutscene can be transformed into a beautiful art piece to hang on your walls. The cutscenes connect the gameplay seamlessly. Gameplay-wise, it's a good improvement from its predecessors as 47 feels more natural than ever. The cover system is really well made even though sometimes your head is way above the counter you're hiding behind. Intuition, as a gameplay mechanic, is great. It will convince even the most brutal player not to kill every NPC and it also serves as a "tutorial" for new players or for those who want to get their hands on the highest difficulties. If you finished any other Hitman game, be sure to try the tougher challenges too. The multiplayer part of it consists in creating and completing contracts made by your friends. Not only will it challenge your friends but creating a good contract will also challenge you to complete it first, to prove that it can be done. If playing on PC, I highly recommend using a controller when playing Absolution. Not that keyboard & mouse aren't great, but you'll get the most out of its cinematic experience. In conclusion, a great game, polished and not a full 10 because of a couple bugs.… Expand

Contracts and Blood Money blew my mind so many years ago. So naturally I was looking forward to this game for a long time. Hitman become one of my most loved franchises. I went back and played the first 2 games about a year ago and while the graphics were limited the classic Hitman gameplay was as great as ever.... Then came along Absolution. I played through the entire game searching for a Hitman game. I found the story interesting and could appreciate how they tried to bring a different story to the Hitman series and for the most part it worked. As a 1 hour long movie its worth watching on Youtube. But as a game? What I got was a brutal kick to the face. Disguises don't work, It's impossible to progress without the stupid instincts mode, most of the time you are hiding in cover (since when did Hitman hide in cover?), plus many more gameplay problems. I will sum it up to say that this is the BIGGEST disappointment in my 25 years as a gamer!..... If they are going to bring back Hitman again, firstly Jesper Kyd needs to score it and secondly the design team need to play all the previous Hitman games start to finish multiple times. I fear without those 2 points. Hitman will never recover!… Expand

best game ever.hitman absolution isnt good becuase of its story (not that the story not good) its good becuase of the assassination.every kill is very setisfieng and there are a lot of ways to kill your enemies.contracts mode is very good but a littile hard.never mind.so anyway hitman absolurion deserve a 10/10.so buy it.

I've never played the other Hitman games, but I thoroughly enjoyed this game. I really didn't expect to, as I figured the entire franchise was slow and clunky, but this was fun and engaging.

Hit and Miss Man. This was my first Hitman game. Positives -The graphics are amazing, with lots of config options. I turned bloom off, the flowers were blindingly bright! -The NPC are mostly detailed and unique. -Important characters are edgy and quirky -Multiple playthroughs possible. Negatives - The game can be frustrating. I played it on the easiest setting because I just couldn't be bothered with the trial and error that underlies gameplay.
-Often stuff happens to your character during cut-scenes that "develops" thee story but which feels like a setback.
-The campaign is quite short.

I got it on special on Steam. I got more than my money's worth. Solid game if you can avoid the frustrations.… Expand

I'm sure everything I hate about this game has already been mentioned, and nobody will read this anyway, but let me reiterate it yet again. EVERYTHING that was good about Blood Money has been removed (i.e. customizable gear, sandbox style gameplay, funny kill animations... just to name a few). And apparently rolling from behind one couch to another and crawling through air ducts is more realistic than a disguise actually working? Or is it more fun? The answer to those questions is NO, at least for me. I stopped playing when at some point I was wearing some chipmunk suit that covered 47's face, and was still being recognized from across the map. I play without disguises and you end up listening one long, boring NPC conversation after another. I just needed to make sure I add another 0 score for this game, which is why I signed up for this site. It bothered me that people are rating this game positively. I pre-ordered the game because I was in denial that the developers could screw up the franchise too bad after Blood Money, and I wanted to support the developers. Oops! Won't make that mistake again. In fact, anybody involved in this atrocity deserves to be blacklisted from game design, and a job in general, and their kids should starve to death. If I can stop just one person from buying this piece of crap, then I've done something good with my life.… Expand

Dont get me wrong this game is not a game 10/10 its a 8/10 but there are reviews of user that gave 0/10 that is just stupid Comn dudes this game is good

Tedious, Repetitious, monotonous, linear, Non-realistic with a very bogus absurd story...
you weapons just vanish once you start a new mission, Combat and engaging is relatively easier then stealth playing.. the disguise system is useless, and nonsensical, why can't you keep hiding your head if you have no instinct left? Does agent 47 need some sort of a super-power energy to lift his hand? And naming that "thing" as instinct is clearly ridiculous, it's more of an ESP! And the ranking system is fu*ked, i usually get "Professional" in a perfectly stealthy playing, Yet i did get "Shadow" more then once when i killed all enemies and surely engaged in an open combat during the process.. And agent 47 character does help a lot in making the game much more boring, he always has the same expression, lacks charisma, and the creators are clearly trying so hard to make him look like a fearless badass, but all that came was a vague emotionless dull robot.. I don't recommend buying the game, and if you did i recommend you through it through the window and RUN RUN RUN! cuz agent 47 executes everybody, even the redundant useless least-important villains in the game just to make the game longer.… Expand

I enjoyed playing this game. Hitman Absolution is a stealth game. Lots of sneaking around and different ways of killing your target. There are parts in this game that can frustrate, like there being few checkpoints in a mission. I died a lot and would sometimes have to repeat certain sections over and over again.
Even though I was frustrated at times, I enjoyed the story and wanted to see it through to the end.
The graphics were excellent, really nicely done.… Expand

Sneak your way to the next door, which will start a cutscene. Repeat.
This is not a proper Hitman game, and pales in comparison to Blood Money earlier in the series.

Being an avid Hitman fan, having played all the games through at least 3 times each, I can say that my initial fears of this game becoming yet another cinematic shooter and losing its unique identity amongst the vastness of mediocrity has been proven wrong. This game is drastically different from other Hitman games. Where Blood Money was more conservative in its advancements from the previous three games, Absolution is a much more radical jump from Blood Money. There are many things different. The game engine is much more modern than the dated Glacier, because it not only features DirectX11 with gorgeously lighting, but enables the developers to craft more detailed cutscenes, environmental manipulation and superb crowd simulation. Facial detail is no longer bland, but very realistic. The same goes for virtually all aspects of the game. You see, in previous games the vital factor in determining your performance was your understanding of the game's mechanics. The levels seemed to have distinct approaches and pathways which were set in stone, unless you could successfully manipulate the AI's field of view. In Absolution, IO have continued the emphasis on environmental interactions as they did in Blood Money, but to a much greater depth. They've tried to make it so that if you've never played a Hitman game, you can rely on your instinct of what you'd actually do if you were in the level in real life. Almost every aspect of the game is very realistic and your approach isn't subject to your knowledge of the game's limits. Sure, it's no longer as technical as Hitman 2 or as steep of a learning curve like in Codename 47, but I think in the current generation and context of gaming, Square Enix have been wise with their decision on the direction of this franchise. There are 20 levels (which is more than usual) but now that there is an actual story holding it all together (and not some lazy flashback storytelling like in Contracts or Blood Money), you actually get a game which flows like Hitman 2 rather than a random culmination of levels. But don't be expecting anything good; the story is just to glue together the levels rather than the main focus of the game (it's a BAD story). Gameplay is very modern, hwoever. That means there's friend leaderboards for each part level (checkpoint), an unlock system (rewards for certain actions, challenges etc.) and achievements. Everything you do in the level is assessed. The way it's done does give you a lot of scope for approach and replay value to improve your score, but requires a robust scoring system and solid game mechanics. There are a few major issues with the game though. The first is the disguise system. Whoever thought getting spotted immediately and losing points for it when you walk anywhere near someone with same costume clearly didn't understand the idea of a disguise. Sure it's realistic, but now you'll find yourself trying to do levels suit-only much more often. The second problem is how the scoring system penalises you for trespassing even if the boundaries were not immediately obvious; forcing you to restart checkpoint. My final complaint is the poor effort in the level design department. There might be 20 levels but my god they're long. And it's not the suspenseful kind of long, since there's none of Jesper Kyd's beautiful work to keep you happy while waiting. You spend most of the game sneaking from one spot to another, and the occasional parts where there is some actual target involved it's very lazily done. Often bits of level design are copied from previous Hitman games, but dumbed down to be almost trivial. There's very little thought required to silent assassin a level, but I guess that's to appeal to brainless newbies who think this game is a shooter. Aside from that, the game is definitely a great step forward for the franchise which has really moved with the times. The instinct mode instead of a map, the cover system, the point shooting, the combat mechanics etc. are all good advancements. As for controls, there's no first-person view any more and there are a few too many buttons rather than scroll menu like in Blood Money, but at least in the PC version you don't have to hold down a button to do something everything has a unique button assigned to it. To sum up, Absolution is very different from previous games and it's quite clear that Square Enix's agenda was to heavily promote it as a stand-alone game rather than trying to please hardcore fans. However, Contracts mode is the place to go for competition as it allows you to create your own missions within each level. The essence of Hitman is still here, but much less about level design and more about a game which anyone can easily pick and play to their taste.… Expand

First of all. They shouldn't of even called this a Hitman game. It doesn't come close to the amazingness that WAS Hitman. Don't expect to be killing targets, hiding in plain sight (Disguises are broken), manually saving so you can experiment with how you're gonna go about you're mission, and especially playing a good game. This game pretty much just throws away everything that made Hitman good. The story of this game is utterly boring and you don't even work for an agency which is dumb. Hitman Absolution is just a ripoff of other "Stealth-Action" games. Try one of the other good Hitman games not this stumble in the road.… Expand

Impossible. Yeah, with some negative moments, but they mean little. Everyone who writes about those details that really do not matter idiots
Brilliant!

Don't uninstall Hitman Blood Money because Absolution isn't even close! It is a decent action-stealth game with some good moments and is worth playing through but as a Hitman game I mostly can't stand it. It just feels like Agent 47 got assimilated into the barely indistinguishable pool of action-stealth games. Having played and loved the Hitman series since day 1 on its original PC platform, many of the gameplay systems and input styles in Absolution have the stink of console development all over them. The usage of quick-time events and button hitting just for the sake of it made me think "this is so annoying and stupid, why the hell is is this in a Hitman game?" at least every 30 minutes. The levels are broken up into small linear sections instead of big playgrounds; there is no big inventory full of items and weapons to work with; no customized weapon lovin' for the missions; no briefcase and sniper rifle; the disguise detection system feels like a contrived third-wheel; no regard for the magical concealment of long guns; there's plenty more but no need to pile on here. There are indeed improvements to some important systems such as movement, shooting, body concealment/disposal, distraction options, and throwing things. Sound, graphics, framerate, stability and controls are all very good. It's just that...as a Hitman game...Absolution is a huge disappointment after Blood Money which I still play 6 years and hundreds of hours later. They traded some of the deepest and most distinctive elements of being Agent 47 for console game pacing and lots of cutscenes to tell a crap story. If these tradeoffs turn out to be permanent for the series, then Agent 47 just jumped the shark. Still, even with all the Hitman-series-related disappointments, Absolution a good game on its own and you should play it and think for yourself.… Expand

Don't be fooled by shiny graphics of Hitman: Abomination (or Assassin's Conviction: Saboteur Lynch Retardation), there is nothing good besides graphics. Gameplay is totally broken dumbed down, its not even hitman anymore, everything we loved it for was removed, only some barely working rudiments was left. It is yet another Conviction, but worse, everything you hated in Conviction, Saboteur, Assassin's Creed and Kane Lynch in terms of Stealth and gunplay is here, concentrated in extreme doses that may kill you. Also lensflare madness, started by Kane Lynch 2 and continued by Syndicate is here, head of 47 shines like supernova explosion to blind you from truth THIS GAME IS UTTER TRASH. It not just abandoned old Hitman gameplay, its simply broken everywhere and doesnt work, and its so primitive and generic. Let me list you few of many game design flaws: 1) Saves doesnt work, once you restart checkpoints every NPC object will be respawned, your stats would be reset to state of beginning of level, so you better to restart level completely and dont die or exit until you finish it. 2) Disguise doesnt work, its connected to stupid INSTINCT MANA that could be gained by killing and hiding bodies, or not gained at all on professional modes. Without using instinct, which magically removes suspicion, your cover will be blown in 5-10 second from 30 meters. So you are forced to use instinct in any mode, but cant on pro modes, and without instinct there you would not be even able to blend into area. It only barely working on easiest mode. 3) Pro modes and especially PURIST broken and rushed addition, game was not designed with these modes in mind, these modes not balanced at all, they simply locking features for retards, without even thinking that game designed that way so it cant be played without INSTINCT, and without thinking to compensate somehow lack of these features. It cant be played on PRO mode if you want to use disguise, blown covers makes game really frustrating, and pushing you to reastart, which will lead you to flaw 1 broken saves. On pro mode you will have only option to use covers Conviction style. 4) 80% of game is linear stealth cover shooter, only about 20% of levels reminds old Hitman games sandbox, but they all made using generic objects and repetitive pattern, lacking about 80% features you had in previous game, so its simply boring, primitive and most likely you will screw up trying to go Silent Assassin way. 5) AI is deaf and blind, totally dumb, glitching a lot. They dont see and dont hear anything except for you in disguise or killing. 6) You cant select inventory for levels and only limited to very few objects you can find on level. Most of unlocks and tools useless and can be only used in contracts mode. 7) Due of nature of stupid prerendered cut-scenes, where 47 appears only in his suit or any pre-defined suit, once cut-scene over you will loose your disguise and default suit will magically appear on you, same happens with guns, you enter the room dressed one way, but after cut scene you dressed another way. Really stupid, even cheapest games from 90th era never had such a flaw, Hitman 1 was better than this. 8) Scoring makes no sense, its not what it used to be in previous game. You are encouraged to do not stealthy things and some stealthy things not awarded at all, other non stealthy things not punished. 9) Level design is very bad, it may look good it terms of art, but its really bad in terms of gameplay logic. Every possible guard have always dumpster nearby to hide their bodies, how handy... for retards, very few, like 3-5 objects that allows you kill somehow are available per level, generic dumpsters, fuseboxes, pits, balconies, there is no unique content that we saw in Blood Money or previous Hitman games, every gameplay object is just a copy-pasted repetitive trash. 10) Whole instinct gameplay is retarded and must be removed from game, but instead it was not even removed from purist mode. 11) UI is huge, ugly and was designed by captain obvious, why in the world you need to have giant icon of equipped weapon or disguise if you can just look at hitman's and see his weapon and suit? 12) You cant peek through keyholes (surely, u now have magic wallhack cheat to replace that) 13) You cant even close doors, they only closed automatically 14) Worst thing most of your assassination targets are killed in FREAKING CUTSCENES, or not, actually most of time you will see cutscene where BEST KILLER IN THE WORLD, FAILING TO KILL HIS TARGET 15) Story may look like good one, but in fact its typical set of hollywood cliches and yet another plagiarism with nonsense ending. 16) Realism was lost completely, no briefcase, weapons spawns of Hitman ass, ammo picked up by legs. There are more issues, i cant compact them in 5000 chars limit. This game is near 5 of 10, but since it called Hitman, and since its not Himan at all, only 0 of 10.
P.S.-MC was bribed to remove my review from top?… Expand

Some people complain about it being too much like splinter cell but I like splinter cell and it still have everything that I liked from the first Hitman games. The movement system is like a combination of "DeusEx human revolution" and the old "Tomb raider" games. There are many ways of completing a mission. The only bad thing is that it does not matter how easy bodies can be found when there is no place to dispose them. The close distance to the enemies combined with the high accuracy with the silenced gun gives a feeling of perfection when being able to get 5 headshots in one second. It was much better than "MaxPayne 3" because 47 is not so stupid.… Expand

A good game in it's own right, but too linear and simplified compared to it's predecessors. Loses points for elements of linearity, unappealing storyline, awful save-system, overuse of pre-rendered cinematics and un-enjoyable disguise mechanics. Gains some points back for great performance and graphics, solid gun-play mechanics and beautiful (albeit overly linear) level design. An underrated game, because it is not loyal to the original fan-base.… Expand

That's really boring and disappointing after two years of pubs and all these stuff and no matter how years of work. Very unpleasant and doesn't worth even to talk about, there's no fun in playing this, it can only brings headache. When I saw gameplays I thought: wow, really impressive. Hitman 2 is miles better than this crap. Even though this game worth a 7 on score, but I won't give it after all this long expectation.… Expand

All right, I believe some of the green reviewers are paid, really (all quoted from the same...) :

"This is truly one of the most definitive Hitman experiences out there, there are so many more options compared to the previous games"
- All the spirit of the hitman series is gone. Each map of this game is a path which leads you to a cut-scene full of ridiculous clichés. "there is contraacts mode, which enables you to customize and create your very own hits and share them with the community."
- Are you kidding me?! The contracts mode consists of killing someone in a level already made by the developers and not customizable at all.

"It's hard to go in depth about the AI because of how diverse and complex it is, given the multitude of situations that they react differently in each and every time."
- Wow, I laughed at this one. The AI always react the same way! They can notice you even if you wearing a disguise, 30 m away and shows your back! They added this stupid system where you have to press Ctrl to make the disguise work seriously! And when you're out of "adrenaline" or whatever they call it, you have to kill to be able to disguise yourself again.....

I really feel like we did not play the same game, bud389. I give a 2 because the graphics are fine, that is all.… Expand

No long in depth review here, I'll keep it simple.

Pro's - Great looking, game play is very good if a bit short. Very enjoyable but for one thing!

Con's- No save function!! if you are killed or need to stop for any reason before you reach a check point, you have to start level again! repetitive and very frustrating!!!

This game is GARBAGE. I played all the other Hitmans but this is junk. Anything you do gets you targeted. Even if you change disguises after you have been noticed it makes no difference they still know its you. Silent sniper rifles attract attention. This is a real let down. No matter what you do it leads to a gun fight. I like playing Hitman and being stealthy and limiting the amount of dead, but no this game MAKES you have to finish in some BS gun fight. I used C4 to kill a target and was on the other side of the map and they still pin pointed me.… Expand

H:A looks and sounds good, but as sad as it is: It's just one more of those linear, quick-time-event-infested and scripted action games out there. You'll probably enjoy "Dishonored" way more than this - like me.

One of the most anticipated titles of 2012 with unworthy expectations. In the 20 missions of the game, just the 3 of them are on a classic blow. At other missions you will have to explore areas and dicking around to retrieve information and to fulfill various objectives. In short, the title and goal of the game takes a secondary role in the gameplay and leave the exploration to take a leading role. It's a really annoying and makes it as something very different for the series.… Expand

Having played every other Hitman game, Absolution seems to me a little lacking in freedom and open environments. Now Hitman Absolution is an amazing game, updating everything from Blood Money, and adding new features like instinct and cover. But the level design is limited an there isn't much to find in the level. In Blood Money you could explore, find mysterious weapons and an unknown viewpoint on the target in his office. Now if this review was for me personally, Absolution would have scored a 6. But because most will play this having not played the other games, it is a good game with good mechanics. I wouldn't pay more than £30 or $40, but for anything under, it will be a good weekend with it.

But for us previous 'Hitmen' the game isn't as expected. If you have played any other Hitman game then Absolution will disappoint. The 'costumes' and 'disguises' that only work if you hold down control, smaller mission areas than Blood money or silent assassin, and the fact the you can't choose weapons before an assignment. Overall, a good game in itself, but it doesn't live up to Blood Money.… Expand

I really do not understand all the negative reviews here. Maybe this game was just poorly put together on release? I'm about 4 hours in and having a blast. The graphics are spectacular, music + sound + ambiance are great, the story is silly but enjoyable, the controls are fairly nice (for keyboard + mouse)... for those of you complaining about the 'FPS' mechanics, you can choose to be as stealthy or as shooty as you want, the game leaves options open. The multiple achievements for each mission is especially nice as it encourages you to explore all the different ways you might complete a mission.

And, ultimately, the game is just fun. It's a lot of fun.

The only game mechanics I don't like: the you can't just adopt a disguise and walk around willy nilly, as people (with the same disguise) will see through it. And mashing a button to 'subdue' a person is kind of silly. Just let me press the button and be done with it. And some missions drift away from the open-ended 'figure out how to kill these guys'. But I'm okay with that.

I suppose if you were looking for a clone of Blood Money with better graphics you might be disappointed. But regardless, if you judge it as a game on its own merits, it's very well put together, well presented, and very fun.… Expand

As a Hitman game Absolution fails quite miserably. More linear maps, few actually assassination-missions, a checkpoint system that discourages the hitman-sandbox gamestyle, a checkpoint system that doesnt save the gameworld, the new disguise system that turns the gameplay into cover based stealth, and you cant customize your loadout anymore. However as a cover-based stealth game with some hitman elements the game is quite average. The stealth works alright, the checkpoint-system is still awful, the visuals are great, the crowds looks great, there are some cool-looking maps, there are still several ways to complete your goals, the story is not all that good but the game is quite atmospheric. Stay away from this game if you are looking for the good old sandbox-style perfect-murder hitman gameplay. If you are looking for a stealth game with a twist then pick the game up for a cheap price.… Expand

As a game of it's own it's ok. But Hitman Blood Money is still the best in the series.

It's clearly been aimed towards console gamers and lacks much of the depth of the previous games. Including the weapon and equipment customizations we had in blood money.

I really wanted to like this game, mostly because of how much I like Hitman: Blood Money, but I just didn't like it as much as I wanted to.

Absolution suffers from the same condition that many television series do - it suffers when it tries to be about the characters and not their work. Absolution tries to introduce a more personal aspect of the game, showing how Mr 47 is not just an emotionless killer-for-hire but is in fact a human - this is the girls first mistake, as it is jarring and unpleasant to have the totally professional Mr 47 be risking life to do something out of character.

Secondly, opposed to the large, open level design of previous games, in which 47 had a huge sandbox to play in and plan out elaborate assassinations, now you have levels that are broken up into smaller, linear sub-levels, making it feel less like Hitman and more like a generic sneaking game.
In previous games, assassination contracts felt interesting and engaging. The people 47 was hired to kill were mostly scum who deserved to die, and you would get into the mindset of "Killing scum, AND getting paid for it? Awesome!" Now, most of the people you have to kill are just people who are in your way.

For anyone who has never played a Hitman game before, Absolution may score an 8/10, but for anyone who has, I'd say it's a 6 out of ten. It is still technically Hitman, but it's not the Hitman you remember, and it will probably not be the Hitman you were hoping for.… Expand

Overall the game is pretty good. Is it as good as Hitman Blood Money? No it isn't, but that doesn't mean this is a complete failure. They made some mistakes with level design, the levels are a lot more closed off and linear than past games. For example you walk through a door which takes you to the next section of the mission, but there is no going back - its like entering a new level, the "open world" feel of it is totally removed.

Weapon load-outs before the mission starts are gone, no more planning ahead how you want to kill your target, if you want to carry your sniper rifle in the briefcase and LOOK for a vantage point to strike from. No, instead the one of the few levels that does give us a sniper rifle in it, it is available in the only room on the map, and the only one that has a clear vantage point to the target. That is not acceptable, the levels should not be designed with sniper rifles in them already.

The disguise mechanic is flat out broken and is painful to use without getting spotted, the whole idea of Hitman is you should be able to sneak in and out unnoticed using disguises - instead what they have done is messed up the disguises so much that you always get spotted, the result is instead of walking around trying to blend in you have to sneak around like an idiot hiding from everyone.

This all said some levels are gems, and are more like the old Hitman games we all loved, and the disguise mechanic works well, the thing is it almost feels like some levels they nailed it, and others were as if they were designed by people who hadn't a clue how to make a Hitman game.

Overall the game is good, its modernised which is necessary, on the next game I would like to see the faults in the level design fixed, I would like to see the briefcase brought back with sniper rifle, and I would like weapon loadouts at the start if the mission to return as well as fixed disguises. Please Square Enix, get rid of the "Instinct" thing, its crap.. the batman vision is useless and not necessary, I didn't use it at all when I played, it just wasn't useful. Bring back the map and ability to look through doors, if you bring back the map then you can have bigger levels.

There's a lot of negative points in this review, true, but ultimately it is not a bad game and is worth playing - simply because, it is still Hitman, and it is refreshing to have a new Hitman game after so many years. I just hope in the next one they listen to their fans and fix some of the problems for the next game.

If you like Hitman, play this game... it may not be as good as the past Hitman games, but it is as close to a Hitman game as you're going to get right now, and it plays quite well when it works… Expand

This game reminds me of like when bands release an album that part of the fans dislike... No.. Hitman Absolution is not a lot like the previous games when it comes to gameplay and such. But F*** IO Interactive can construct a game with awesome non-liner missions, awesome detailed, rich maps unlike a lot of game etc. Farcry 3. It has likable and dislikable characters as every good game should have. If you like story-driven intense singleplayer games this is for you! Wait a second i forgot to mention the beautiful, rich and dense graphics. It's been a long long time since anything looking this good, besides BF 3 and to some extend The Witcher 2. There are minor bugs but really nothing serious, and as every game it could be better optimized but what the hell. As of right now i'm proud to be a dane!!… Expand

First of all this is my first Hitman game but it was on sale for 16$ so i can not resist that low price. In the beginning I enjoyed the whole stealth and assassination thing and it was fun, really cool experience. After 10 hours I uninstalled the game. Why? Because every single NPC has an eagle's eye and this is not realistic rather unfair. The checkpoint system in this game is totally irrelevant. The game itself looks good but the gameplay with this disguise system is really poor. (It's hard to avoid bad words...) If this game is on sale you can give it a try but wait at lest 75% off. With "free saving" the game would be less bad (8/10).… Expand

all i can say is that the wait was worthed and worthed to full price. why? 30+ hours of single player and you can have 60,100 hours because theres a insane ammount of ways to do your objective you can play each level in hundred different ways and so you can replay and replay and have new experience. the downside is the disguise system isnt what i was used to be, but lets be honest here, on previous titles it almost made you like in god mode, now it works but you've limits, its meant now for last resort and sudden situations where you stumble into an enemy. you can't choose loadouts on SP but you can on contracts mode, wich is the same of SP but you've more freedom. lenghty, fun and sandbox....... you'll find yourself playing it for years!!… Expand

This Hitman game missed the mark on what makes the Hitman series unique. This game starts off with various missions with multiple outcomes and planning, but this quickly changes. Later levels have minimal variations and it just becomes a sneaking game where you try to pick people off one at a time. I remember the iconic missions of the first Hitman where you dress as a chef and poison the food then watch the target choke to death. It's unbelievable that wearing a uniform does almost nothing and you are still recognized as an enemy. This fact alone depletes half the style of the game. This game does not feel like a Hitman game at all and is just a sneak around and pick people off style game which provides limited entertainment and minimal replayability.… Expand

Hitman as a game has clearly made a name to it self when it was first released in year 2000 with code 47 playing it on PC. Those were the good old days. I would love to rate Hitman: Absolution somewhere in the 90's but for a reason or another the creators of the game has decided to make it purely a stealth game where scoring is based on stealth. come on you are a hit man you can adopt any strategy you like and scoring should be based on stealth. Also you can not choose which weapons to use for each mission. However I like the fact they kept the game as authentic an original as it is in terms of character. story line is nothing new but interesting. graphics is good but could have been better. Cinematic is not realistic you would be wearing a certain custom with a certain weapon and it will be gone in the movie scene no body does that now. most of the game is in the dark with shades of blue and grey not much of out door missions and diversity. not realistic with environment back ground issues if someone keeps shooting a car it needs to blow. graphic issues with funny angels. attention to details is lacking in general could have been a great game. hopefully in the next release ubisoft will look into the pitfalls mentioned however its a nice enjoyable game to play and if you are a hitman fan its a must buy.… Expand

This game is simply stunning from the atmospheric graphics, to the all out action. Not to mention the the background sound that is pretty amazing too. The point shout killing feature and the slow motion effect is just amazing. Overall this is one of my favorite games, And the best one in the Hitman series I've ever played. Looking forward to the sequel of Hitman: Absolution.

An excellent game on PC if you take it on its own and quit moaning about how its not exactly like the ones from 10 years ago. Graphics are amazing on a beast machine this game is your showcase game. GORGEOUS. Story is good enough that you know why your doing what your doing and thats the key element. Your actually a sneaky assassin and its damn fun trying to figure out all the ways to kill your target! In short, this is one of the best games in 2012.… Expand

This being my first Hitman game, I don't know what I am talking about. That being said, I thought this game was alright. I finished it, what more do you want? I felt like the stealth mechanics were a little broken and I found myself over-relying on the instinct vision mechanic, and the scoring system was completely useless. However, overall it looks good, plays well and was fun for a few evenings, but it's not changing the industry.… Expand

For fans of the original series be prepared to be disappointed. The sandbox style mission structure has nearly been removed entirely, in favor of checkpoint style structure that encourages a liner play through. You no longer have the ability to choose a loadout that is best suited to your playing style and now start with whatever weapons the game designers have chosen to give to you. The disguise feature is now a chore as your cover can be blown from 20 meters by someone with the same uniform. I can best describe the game as a love child between splinter cell conviction and kayne and lynch, stealth is not enjoyable on this game and you sometimes find yourself shooting out every guard due to the frustration of the broken game mechanics. With countless 'push x to ....' included this is a mediocre stealth shooter at best. I advise you spend your money on something else, Blood money if you haven't already purchased it.… Expand

You all have to be the biggest gang of babies on the face of the Earth. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, IT'S NOT BLOOD MONEY VERBATIUM, WAAAAAAAAAAAAA! THY PUT AN ACTUAL STORY LINE THAT DOESN'T BLOW WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Just stfu. Play the game for what it is. If you get over yourself, you see it's got some great mechanics, visuals, storyline, and endless options.

I don't understand the low ratings. I've played all hitman games on their respective era I won't talk about graphics its a must. But the game play I think is an improvement. Its much more realistic. You don't see all the people on the map via your machinery instead you sense nearby enemies and use your senses to guess their movement. When you put up a cop suit you just don't instantly turn into a cop but still a suspectible person (think that you are the chef of the kitchen and you don't recognize a different face among your crew, impossible) I think game deserves a better user rating and its been overly underrated.… Expand

To all the nostalgic fans out there: no, this isn't Blood Money. And I'm a nostalgic too, but hope isn't lost. On the contrary, with Absolution you'll get a very mature and engaging plot, you'll see an Agent 47 driven, probably for the first time, by human feelings. And that's what makes the story so strong. With stunning graphics, of course.
The Contract mode is quite fun, if you have some friends to compete with. Not that the contracts created by other users are boring. It really makes you discover every little thing of every level. Every detail, every weapon, every situation that can be used to your advantage.
There are downsides, though. I would have liked to hear a little more variety of voices. You'll see my point after a few missions spent walking through crowds of people.
You can hide a sniper rifle in your pants? This is supposed to be Agent 47, not Guybrush Threepwood! I miss the old sniper rifle case, it looked so cool!
The disguise system surely has been improved, but it's far from perfect. Chicago is quite a big city, how comes every damn cop knows each other? And how can a normal cop be suspicious about me when I'm wearing a SWAT disguise? Seriously, my whole face is covered by the ski mask! He can only see my eyes!
In conclusion, it's not perfect, but it's a damn good comeback for 47. Really hope to not have to wait another 6 year for a sequel.… Expand

Hitman Absolution is the weakest entry in the Hitman series. Many people have performance issues (like crashing to desktop, bugs, deleted save files, and the game crashing during cinematics) with no patches able to really fix these problems yet. The disguise system is better in some aspects and far worse in others compared to the old system. A way in which it's better is the sheer number of disguises available but it's worse in that if you try DISGUISE yourself and don't have any instinct, people will damn near instantly detect/become suspicious of you (and it's worse on higher difficulties), rather than the old system where it was more or less based on doing strange/out of character actions. The point shooting aspect is kind of cool if you feel like playing this more like an action game, though useless otherwise. The contracts mode is a fun addition which adds more replay value to the game.
There are still many ways to approach missions, though certain missions have WAY more freedom than others. As the game currently stands it's fun but unstable for many people including myself, and wouldn't recommend it.… Expand

It's about time Agent 47 took a new direction. Admit it, after four games of stealth it gets boring fast. Much like Sam Fisher on Splinter Cell: Conviction. Fast paced, action and a good shoot-em-up time. Disgusting that the brain raped Crap of Duty console gamers have a say in this. If people don't like it, the go shoot everyone in Blood Money's painfully short levels.

It is not Hitman. It is Splinter Cell: Absolution. New developers just don't understand the idea of Hitman series. As Splinter Cell: Absolution it is not a bad game, but as Hitman: Absolution it gets 0 from me.

I don't understand all of the hate here for this game, go back and play contracts, then boot this up and I dare you to say this game isn't better. It's a solid game with a **** ton of single player campaign to play through. It's not perfect but **** - 0 scores? Come on now, don't be so quick to trash it because a new dev tried something different, give it the credit it's due. This is a solid game that has a lot of variety, and it's a ton of fun. Name one other game besides grand theft auto maybe where you can run around an entire map and kill every single person you see with a bong.… Expand

This is a step back in the series from Blood Money. It's a good game, but not up to par in terms of the Hitman series. I'm not a complete fan of the way the new disguise system works. It's a realistic feature to have members whatever disguise you're wearing recognize you when you're too close, but not for all disguises. For example, a police disguise. There are hundreds, if not thousands of police officers in a big city and there is no way that every officer would recognize every single one of his fellow officers to know that you're not who the outfit suggests the hitman is.
How powerful they made hitman in this game is also disappointing. Seeing through walls and whatnot. Also, the point system is a little strange to see in a Hitman game.
To rate this game a 0, like many are, is completely unfair. It's definitely not a complete fail by any means, but didn't live up to my expectations.… Expand

i dont get people with there story its hitman only thing you need to now is your target and how much money you get from killing it.
its not a movie its hitman but the thougt it was a movie i think bad gameplay

Wow, amazing game. I'll get the bad THING out of the way first and that is the DISGUISE system. You are too easily recognized by people wearing the same clothes, realistic, but ridiculous.
Second of all red reviews should be ignored because they are mainly complaining due to the game "crashing" or "bad controls" or "bad graphics". Crashing? Your computer's fault. Bad controls? Play it with a controller. Bad Graphics? Get a better computer. Make sure you have an ideal computer before even trying to review a game. Not their fault.
The game itself is amazing, Good story, clear view on who's the "bad guy" and the game's audio and visual are stunning. Unlike the past Hitman games you seem to be more interactive with the environment. 9/10… Expand

i'm a big fan of series. hitman see between walls!?! mmm.. good graphics ok, but the heart of the game: the strategic planning of the killing, the map, the chosen of the weapons, they are deleted. i don't see a big difference between agent 47 and ezio auditore; the game is end in the same mode of resident evil games. too much action, too less contracts. bad for me

This is by far the best game I played this year. The major pros are: 1) The graphics are the best I've ever seen; 2) The gameplay encourages thinking before acting; it's not a shoot-them-all kind of game, which is a good thing; 3) Excellent story and presentation: I usually don't watch cut scenes, but the story is so good and the cinematic presentation is so well-executed that I could not just skip the cut scenes (yes, it's that good); 4) Superb animation and voice acting, particularly Dexter's (the main villain); 5) Great replay value: I have already played 45+ hours (the first play through took me 18 hours) but I don't feel I'm done with this game yet. I just have a few complaints about this game. They are not deal breakers, but they become really annoying at times. The major cons are: 1) Lack of enough checkpoints (i.e., save points): It's already bad enough that the game does not allow you to save the progress at any time, but in Hitman this gets exacerbated by the fact that you don't have enough checkpoints in normal difficulty. This discourages exploration because if you get killed you have to restart the level, making the gameplay more linear than it should be (.i.e., it encourages you to just complete the objectives as quietly and quickly as possible and move on to the next level); 2) The score system is unbalanced: for a game that allows you to hit people in so many ways (with bottles, bricks, syringes, knives, metal pipes, tomahawks, etc) I would expected to be encouraged to hit people; unfortunately, the score system penalizes you really hard if you hit civilians (3000+ points) and non-target bad guys (300+ points) . Overall, it… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was a huge fan of Hitman series and waiter a lot for this title. I am kind of embarrased by this game. Graphics are good but there are some problems with game itself. Like you cant equip weapons of your choice in Story mode one only Revolver and fiberwire. We can use weapons in Contracts but whats the point of playing online when we cant fight against each other.you can kill the person by punching on head but it takes a lot of bullets to kill.… Expand

Easily the best hitman in the series and ive played them all. I do agree however with a few of the nagative things people are saying. No case for sniper rifles? Where does 47 hide those big guns, not to mention the baseball bat? It does take some of the fun and realism out of it and could be potentially painful for 47's rear. Also the disguises, i think theyre good but i agree you shouldnt have to go into absolution mode just to walk past some dingbat NPC guard, particularly true when wearing a disguise that covers 47's face. But at the end of it, the graphics and the gameplay are a severe improvement upon the older games in the series and despite its faults, Absolution is a joy to play. Im not sure why people are saying the game is on rails, im almost at the end, there have been a few linear sections but in most cases the player has a lot of freedom in the way they can take out their target and navigate the level, although i also do wish they allowed us to save anywhere in level as used to be the case. In my opinion this is the best hitman game yet and i give it 8/10, penalised for the flaws mentioned above. Also, im running a GTX 570, i7 quad core and the game runs on ultra settings with no noticeable frame rate drop in most places even with all those NPCs walking around the joint. A very very nice game to look at indeed.… Expand

How it went from Hitman Blood Money to this is beyond me, this is one of the most disappointing games I have ever played in my life, everything that made the other Hitman games good are not in Absolution, your best bet is to play the old Hitman games and pretend Absolution didn't even happen.

What game I played actually?????? I don't know because I don't think this is a game of Hitman series. It is completely different thing. If you never play the other game of this series may be you can like this game (I am not quit sure about that) but if you play the other game of this series then please don't even think to give it a try. Because I don't want another heart broken fan of this series. Now let me tell something about the game, in the game there is a shiny bald guy, who was once very famous for being not detected under disguise but it this game he is too familiar to everyone that even under mask people are able to detect him from a mile away, That ruined the whole thing. Game story is linear. Its previous sandbox type game play is completely lost. All you can do that is try to sneak in (which is not a practical solution for this game) but most of the time you have to bang you enemy just like typical third person shooter. So the bottom line is its a heart breaking disappointment for the fan of this series.… Expand

Very very very disappointing. Hitman is now the next game stealth game franchise to be over influenced by the modern gaming audience. I hope the developers understand that to make the game good, they don't have to make it appeal to every single gamer that exists, because that seems what the minds behind Hitman Absolution have attempted, with disastrous results. Regarding the story, this game seems to force you into an at best, satisfactory story, that no one asked for, because that's not what made the Hitman franchise previously great, it was its gameplay, that the dovelopers thought required a major overhaul for some unknown reason. This has caused ALL the gameplay aspects that was loved by the Hitman community to be removed, and morphed into a Splinter Cell Conviction atmosphere. You are at war with yourself while playing this game because of the combination of Splinter Cell gameplay, with Hitman objectives. It's as if this game is promoting you to kill everyone in your way, because there are no consequences for it. It has no effect on the aftermath of the mission nor the game's storyline itself. And if you have the will to attempt the stealthy approach, be prepared for a very frustrating chore, due to the broken disguise system. It's understandable that a handful of mechanics in a small town know each other well to recognise someone new. This would also be fair for difficulty, as they would detect you more rapidly as the difficulty level increases, but as there are a few of them, circumventing them may be a challenge, but not an impossible task. However it's completely unrealistic that every policeman in a major metropolitan city by the thousands, would be able to recognise every single fellow cop from memory, and be able to spot an imposter from 30 metres away. Speaking of realism, the inventory system has been made even more poor and unjustified than that of Blood Money. In Absolution, when you have all filled slots you are carrying: 4 pistols, Fibre Wire, A melee object of varied size, An assault rifle, A bunch of c4, and a sniper rifle. Ironically, the dovelopers have called this change to the inventory system another "realistic addition to the game" along with the disguise system. Another thing that's most about this game is that most of the missions have no targets. This drastically changes the source of the motivation to continue playing this game. In Blood Money, the motivation was to kill the target, which every level had at least one, in innovative and unique ways, all while trying to achieve the challenging, but greatly sattisfying Silent Assassin rating. Whereas in Absolution, the motivation has shifted to pursuing the story, and when the story is not even that satisfying itself, it makes completing the game rather challenging. Fortunately though, the true strive for Silent Assassin still is retained in the new Contracts multiplayer mode. Allowing players to choose targets out of the segments of Absolution's levels grants that strive for the perfect kill that has been lost in the story, and is perhaps Absolution's only redeeming factor. Overall, Hitman Absolution is a mess hidden behind shiny graphics. Since graphicsalone don't make a good game, we can see the mess itself. This game that should not have undergone the complete overhaul it had gone through. Everything that had the potential to make this game great was right in front of the dovelopers, the previous games of the franchise, yet they somehow decided that they should morph Hitman into a Splinter Cell shooter game. Also, if IO Interactive decide to further pursue this series, please don't dig the grave of the Hitman franchise deeper by covering it up with more Splinter Cell like games. However if you plan to reanimate the true core principles of Hitman in an upcoming game, go for it. Just remember the gameplay of Blood Money, and hopefully you'll get it right. This game gets a 4/10 because the story is satisfactory, not completely satisfying, earning it a 1/2. The gameplay, Hitman's most important component has unfortunately undergone a major change for the worse. Everything from the inventory system to the disguise mechanic is completely broken, giving it 0/2. This game excels in the Contracts multiplayer, as it maintains the core principles of a Hitman game, earning it 2/2. Absolution fails to motivate you to continue in the story to the point where it is just a faint question, resulting you to look up spoilers on the Internet, and you will not be surprised, because there is no major plot twist, but it does make you strive to be the best in the multiplayer, earning 1/2. Finally, Hitman Absolution spits on everything that has made the franchise great, and most likely ruins any chance of it being pursued in the future, giving it 0/2. This ultimately results in Hitman Absolution getting a total of 4/10, unfortunately, the honest truth.… Expand

This game has destroyed all expectations of a possible worthy sequel to Blood Money. The gameplay has little similarities to the previous Hitman games and more similarities to Splinter cell: Conviction. One of the major let downs is how frustrating this games is as the disguise system is absolutely broken which makes using disguises obsolete as NPCs of the same clothing can spot you out from a mile away. This makes obtaining the Silent Assassin rating excruciatingly frustrating as one little mistake can/will destroy all of your hard work. This leads to the checkpoint system, a new addition in Hitman Absolution which replaces the the save system from the previous Hitman games. I don't like this system as it has more cons than pros (just like this game). It's quite pointless actually as it doesn't seem to do much except for saving current completed objectives and allowing you to spawn there when you restart to the checkpoint, BUT when you do restart to the checkpoint all of the enemies that have been taken out will respawn to where they were in the beginning of the mission, thus destroying most of the progress that was made. Although in some cases this can help where some enemies that were there before are no longer present as they were originally somewhere else, allowing you to proceed through the level with less difficulty. The graphics are probably is only pro about this game, also the user interface is more advanced and more pleasing to the eyes, but i didn't care much for this. I didn't really care for the story either as i didn't care for the girl. The only part that got to me was when 47 had to kill Diana where i thought she didn't really have to die. This game was one of the most frustrating games i have ever played and when at times I should have felt rewarded for finally completing a difficult mission I didn't due to knowing even more frustrating moments will come up and i just wanted things to be over and done with. I barely had any fun playing this game due to its broken mechanics which led to much frustration, screaming and swearing constantly after having to restart each mission over 15 times to get a decent end rating.… Expand

This is no Hitman. This is some kind of dumb stealth shooter, in levels where everybody is your ennemy, where disguises doesn't work at all, where you kill everybody and get a "specialist" title because of your headshots. This is a game emphasing on the story for no reason, killing the gameplay because you're doomed to start half of the levels with **** and noisy guns. There no poison, no explosives, no well designed open levels, it's no Hitman. If you want to buy this game, get ready to play Splinter Cell Conviction with unappropriated mechanics, with a **** and vulgar story, and with penalties for killing people when the game suggests you to. At least there's the contracts mode. But the levels are still boring and everybody is still your ennemy. Maybe I enjoyed 2 or 3 levels in the entire game. Do not buy it and reinstall Blood Money instead.… Expand

I found this to be a challenging game with lots of action and super graphics. My only problems were: (1) each mission became somewhat repetitive (2) annoying way in which melee battles switched to slow motion (may be due to playing on the easy level). Otherwise, very entertaining, but not quite worth the new release price. I suggest waiting until it goes on sale.

Though Hitman: Absolution is a fun and interesting game, it betrays everything that previous titles like Blood Money and Silent Assassin stood for. Agent 47 isn't supposed to sneak behind walls and hide from people, he's supposed to take a disguise and hide in plain sight like a real hitman would. The new disguise system is completely useless. Though the idea of a group of people not recognizing you while your wearing their uniform is smart, I doubt every single Chicago police officer knows each other enough to look at you while your wearing a police disguise, notice they haven't seen you before and ask for your I.D. I thought this was the new amazing graphics and improved gameplay, classic Hitman game that I've been waiting for, I was definitely wrong.… Expand

A sometimes underrated game. Although changing from previous instalments, it is an enjoyable and complex game that allows you to go through levels in many different ways (if you are lucky enough to find them), often leading to me taking completely different routes after restoring checkpoints etc.

The openness of previous games is taken from this Hitman, but it doesn't ruin the game, considering the story, and I'm not sure whether it's on purpose that levels get better and better on the way through, or whether it's you adjusting to each situation. Worth a thorough playthrough… Expand

The detection system sucks, you re enemies have ultimate mutant megavision. I strangled a guy in the toilet, no one around, but everyone in the vicinity instantly knew exactly where I was the second he died. It's as if you don't complete things the way the game intends it brands you with a YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG and makes it impossibly hard to finish.

The previous Hitman games kinda gave you a sense of "You are the hitman, take him out as you please"… Expand

After waiting for 5 years for the new hitman game,"Hitman Absolution" is rather disappointing.
i am never played the first hitman game or the third in the series,but i have played Hitman: Blood Money which much better than this new absolution.
in term of Graphics,The new hitman game is better than all the previous hitman game combined including Hitman: Blood Money. the graphic is great which made agent 47 looked more realistic.also the landscape looked more stunning than ever before,each level is designed with detail which bring places in this game more alive.beside graphics,the new hitman also has triumph in term of sound effect and voice acting.the sound of broken bottle,knife throwing,gun shooting, etc is much more improved. overall,"Hitman: Absolution" is a triumph in term of technical aspect.but unfortunately,the gameplay is not as good as its graphic.
if you had played Hitman: Blood Money,this game will surely be a disappointment.everything about what makes Hitman Blood Money thrilling and exciting,is all been erased.instead the developer choose to make agent 47 like a super assassin which can killed or subdued enemy with a single button.unlike Blood Money where you must carefully planned your stealth action since it takes more than a single press of button to subdued the enemy, the latest hitman is more like a button mashing instead of a stealth game.
"Hitman: Blood Money" is thrilling,suspenseful,pulse-pounding stealth game that also supported with terrific musical score and novelty stories.while "Hitman: Absolution" is more of monotonous button mashing action game with lack of suspense whatsoever.
for those hitman veteran,the latest installment of agent 47 might be one of the worst or disappointing game of 2012,while new player will crave this used-to-be great stealth game.nevertheless,Developer should pay more attention to game play instead of enchanted graphic.a great hitman game like "Hitman Blood Money" is more than just over the top graphic and sound effect.… Expand

Hitman Absolution is a far cry from past Hitman games. As a long time fan, I feel betrayed by the developers, IO Interactive. Graphics are good, sound is ok, gameplay is horrible, and the story is bland. Do not buy if you are a fan of past games, it will ruin the series. Waste of $50

I think that Absolution is the last game I will buy that's made by IO, I used to be a huge fan, but they've been going downhill since Kane and Lynch.… Expand

I have played and own all the Hitman games and love them all. From the go I could not wait for this game to be released, constantly excited for it! So when it did finally come out I installed it and got playing it at roughly 1am.

First thing to hit me was the Graphics. I run a i5 2400k, 2GB 460GTX, 8GB ram PC. I can play it on High if I want some frame rate drops or on normal/med if I want it smooth. Either way, the game looks stunning. The environments, the setting, the atmosphere, Agent 47s barcode all done to an amazing detail. Everything looks amazing and polished. However, the bloom effect were slight over-powering, with the bloom bouncing off Agent 47s shiny head being a slight distraction, but you get used to it.

The music is great! Fits the scenes perfectly and extremely adaptive to how the current situation plays out. Sneaking through the level? No problem, here some suspense background music, oh wait, you just strangled a guy with fibewire - here;s a sudden 5 second dramatic piece to add to that tension. Oh look, your blasting your way out of a firefight! Here is an dramatic action music piece to match the scene. So whatever your play style, the music fits with it perfectly.

The biggie, Gameplay. What the previous Hitman games have are still here. Some parts are more up to scratch and actually improve on the originals while other are either dumbed down or actually don't seem to work. Lets start with the negatives, and the most easily look at one. The disguise system. So in past Hitman games, you could easily walk around with people like you and blend in and out of a scene. However, not so with Absolution. Now the game assumes all police officers know all police officers. If you are in a police mans outfit and another policeman spots you, you get a suspicion indicator slowly grow. This make the disguise system, especially on the difficulty Hard or above, broken. Sometimes it easier to just use cover throughout the whole level or simply kill everyone with your weapons. With such interesting disguises I was looking forward to playing about with them, but it felt more trouble than it was really worth. Now my second kind-of negative point is the instinct. Or at least it was a negative point when I first heard about it. Then I remembered that in the old Hitman games there was a thing called a map showing where everybody was. Instinct is a great feature to replace the map with as it makes the game more difficult and challenging while also being a helpful tool to predicting enemies movements and, as a last resort, run away/gun everybody down.

Onto the more positive gameplay aspects. Its still Hitman. You still get assigned targets in most missions and still have many ways on taking that target down. And man is it fun taking down those targets, either with a sniper **** or by making it look like an accident and exploding a gas cooker. The crowds, well, this is where it aces the previous Hitman games. The crowds are amazing. Remember in Blood Money, that level with the crows? The Murder of Crows? The crowds in that was impressive. Now in Absolution they are spectacular. And they feel so alive. Most of the crowd interacts with each other, and you cxan just stand idle listening to them gossip which in actual fact can turn out to help you. One time I was in chinatown and over heard these couple of bystanders talking how the target gets his usual hit from a drug dealer who lives on the 2nd floor. So right then I had a window of opportunity, just by listening to the crowd. There were also a large number of hilarious moment I **** at while listening to people. It can be funny but it certainly makes the world feel much more alive and living.

There are hundreds of challanges and unlockables to get. Things such as going through a level wearing just a suit, but to get another challenge called Chameleon which is to put on every suit in that level, warranting another playthrough. Then there's Contracts mode. A fantastic multilayer edition to the game. The creator of the contract has played through the level and targeted selectable people who are the contracts, the creator then kills these targets in a way he wants then makes for one of the few exits scattered across the level. This ends the contract and then it gets uploaded, allowing players to try and beat the score or the leader-boards. It is a lot of fun to play and to create contracts.

Quickly the mention the story. Yes, there is one and play a significantly bigger role then in previous games and It actually is good. A good story with great characters and settings you can't go wrong with that, and absolution doesn't.

Overall, Hitman is still Hitman. It may feel different in parts and with a core mechanic of the previous Hitman games broken in most places, the game does set itself apart from the previous games but only slightly. Its a welcome edition to the series and its glad to have Agent 47 and his red tie bac… Expand

Way too linear. Half of the game's missions are "Go from point A to B", you cant choose your equipment at the start, meaning you'll have to play with the weapons the designers chose to give you, which are pretty much always the same. The disguises are useless unless you use something called instict, which is some sort of mana bar that depletes each time you walk by somebody wearing the same outfit you do. While it does make sense that a waitress in a restaurant knows you dont work there even if you have their outfit, it makes no sense that every single cop can tell you are not one of them unless you use your instinct bar and watch 47 cover his face with his hand while he walks by, then its cool. Instinct also lets you see through walls. I dont know why they had to remove pretty much everything fans liked about Hitman and add stuff that doesnt belong in a Hitman title.… Expand

'Hitman: Absolution' is the 'Deus Ex: Invisible War' of the Hitman series. That seems the best way to put it.

Basically, if you like sandbox gameplay, the many, many clever/quirky ways to mangle your targets, collecting guns from missions, upgrading them.. if you liked the earlier Hitman games, then this is not one of them.

Compared to the earlier games, it just isn't any good, almost something else entirely. You can pass on this one until it is going a fraction of the price in a year or two.
Or pass on it forever.… Expand

Dear IO interactive,
Please get your heads out of your asses and give us the game you promised. You know, the one where you said "Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise". Seriously, what the **** were you guys thinking? I'd buy DLC for Blood Money any day over this pile of sheet. Thanks for ruining another great franchise. Sincerely,
Pain McPain.

PS. The DLC costume for the Deus Ex character is the most retarded ****ing thing I have ever seen in a game. Way to go.… Expand

A disaster... if you are a fan of the previous games, this is completely different.. like a completely different title; this is NOT the Hitman we knew. The Single Player is very short, something obvious as the team spent time creating a multiplayer option - a HUGE fail - neglecting the SP mode actually. I finished the game in about 8 hours and 1/4 of them was loading previous saves to get a better score. You are not even allowed to hit someone unconscious without losing points - the only thing you are allowed to do is sneak, anything else ruins your score... you are an ASSASSIN FFS! Yes, you must be able to kill, hide bodies, and use disguises without this ruining your score completely... YOU ARE an A-S-S-A-S-S-I-N! Guns are useless (I swear I didn't even fire 1 single bullet in the whole game - oh and you can't even customize your guns!) I used the fiberwire (my most used and favorite in previous Hitmans) like 3 times maximum in the whole story, as if you kill someone, you lose... great job (The Fiber Wire is Agent47's trademark tool FFS!) Additionally, the game fails on options such as sneaking - it is really frustrating to be able for someone to see you through walls (major bugs.) Not what i expected, I do NOT recommend it - DONT LET its fancy graphics fool you!… Expand

I dont have no idia why people are arguing. THIS GAME IS AWESOME! Beutiful gameplaygraphics and good storyline. Contracts is **** boss. Probably because they are cod fanboys.Dont listen to them....

For those who want a quick and easy review: a B game, but a D hitman game.

As for the real review, as many others have pointed out this game appears to have mechanics that were borrowed from several other games. This game really does feel more like Splinter Cell: Conviction than anything else, but they also appear to have borrowed from Assassin's Creed as well. Hitman was all about planning the perfect assassinations, or your own unique ones. Being in the right place at the right time, hiding your bodies well, and timing everything so you walk out the door just before everyone realized that something was amiss. In this game, however, it felt as though your goal was just to sneak through the level without being seen, and maybe ill a couple of people along the way. I realize they were going for a more story driven fell, but that doesn't mean that they can to condense the whole game into a bunch of micro levels and use mechanics that felt more like an action shooter than a stealth game. Although the game punishes you for killing people, the level design and the fact that the game rewards you for finding big guns make you feel as though you as supposed to go on a killing spree. The company tried to make another Darksiders, were 5 games were put in a blender and coated with an original story. What happened instead was a beloved series has been tarnished, and most likely ended. I don't foresee a return to what Hitman was following this blunder, and for that I am truly sorry.… Expand

I think Hitman is great. Awesome climate just like in previous part. I bought it for 17 euros at http://www.go2arena.com/hitman.html . Some people complains for its animation, but i think it suits for this type of game and its climate.

Darkness, violence, freedom, diversity. More features. Great atmosphere. There is still a lot of room for improvements but would it be still enjoyable if it was more difficult and realistic ? For me it's a must have.

This Hitman is good. It would be very good if it would have kept good thins from Blood money, for example guns assembly, silencer etc. Sound quality is not the best and music should be made by Jesper Kyd!