I think the best thing that Absolution did, and was stray a little off the path from the other games in the vastly popular franchise that is Hitman, and it certainly needed to be.
After a vastly unpopular film adaption, and a six year hiatus, something needed to give, and a standalone current generation game was the answer, a creative, innovative and wildly entertaining adventure that puts what can be described as an underdog series of games, on track to compete with the best.
Agent 47 continues his tumulus journey as the silent assassin working for the agency, but when he is sent on a mission he doesn't fully understand, he starts to question the company he works for, but most of all he starts to question his life.
When he learns of the existence of the mysterious Victoria, a girl who seems to have been chemically engineered and with a trail leading back to the agency, 47 travels the world searching for answers and letting nobody stand in his way, setting up a thrilling and often frustrating adventure.
The game offers vastly different and thoughtful scenarios to approach each and every mission, sure, take out your silverballers and shoot the place up until your heart is content, but why not garrotte a guard, hide him in a bin and steal his uniform? Or why not sabotage a piano lid to fall onto a guards head, and even subtly contaminate the drugs of a target and stand in the background and watch him meet his maker? The opportunities available are truly endless, which makes replaying missions all the more fun, and creative.
The story moves at a steady pace and plays out as if this could be a sort of reckoning for the rest of the games, as 47, for much of the game, ditches the iconic black suit and full-buttoned shirt with red tie for a more gritty and off the grid outlaw persona, all reflections of how the game plays out.
The game is truly beautiful to look at, whether your inside beachfront villas or getting soaked in the dank streets of a city, there is always something new to see and different ways to utilise your surroundings.
The game almost plays to flawless but with a few minor hiccups. Sometimes the movement of 47 feels too retro and cardboard, and at times the mission setup is never quite clear. There is also the ongoing problem of these current generation games trying to be cinematic, thats fine right up until pivotal moments are taken away from the player and left to a cutscene, we do the hard work, but don't worry, the game has no problem robbing you of that prize at the end of the finish line, more power to the players!
But with this onboard, and quite an interesting Contracts mode within the multiplayer aspect of the game, Hitman; Absolution could well indeed divide the large fan base it holds down to its vastly different direction of gameplay, with no real open-world aspects, but for me this was definitely a good choice as the surroundings truly can be used by any means necessary.
With a solid story and very gritty and varied approach compared to recent entries, Absolution is hopefully the start of bigger and better things to come for out most deadly assassin, and it was brilliant to see such an excellent return to form for the series.… Expand

I never played any of the other Hitman games, so I have no base to compare to. That being said, I really had high expectations with Absolution. I thought it would have a kind of "Assassins Creed feel" to it, but this is not the case. Killing, of course, is the main objective of the game's chapters though they don't play as smoothly as I expected. I mean, they made a very rich universe, filled with opportunities that have the sole purpose of driving us to creative skills. But (at least for me) this never happens. I don't know, maybe I am not playing it well, but nothing works as planed for me. I am always caught and all the missions usually end in an "Uncharted-esque" way. And I am not rushing. I take my time, studying the environment, the targets, their behaviour etc etc; I try to blend, to disguise etc etc but it just never works. I am not saying I want an easy game, I just wanted the scenarios to be a more coherent stage of events, that's all. This game is gorgeous, plays beautifully and we do get a LOT of options and ideas of "how to kill", I just never get an actual chance to do that. Also, it just makes no sense to be PUNISHED for killing in a game in which you are supposed to kill...… Expand

Look, i'm not going to lie, okay? this game isn't perfect but it's one of the best games this gen imo and i'm not exaggerating, it's sad that most prefer to play generic first person shooter instead of actual good games like this, this game deserves a 9 but i gave it a perfect score to counter all those 0's coming from trolls that haven't even played the game.

Hitman: Absolution isn't perfect but it's one of the best games to release this, it's kinda sad that most "gamers" prefer to play generic, bland and crappy military first person shooter instead of really good games like this, this game deserves a 8.5 but i gave it a perfect score to counter all those 0's coming from trolls that haven't even played the game.

Absolution is too much of a step away from the normal Hitman approach to appease a self titled fanatic of the series like myself. Silly ideas that in reality wouldn't work, averting your face to avoid attention for example, and stripped back and more restricted environments kicks number of options the player can choose from down to slim pickings. Excellent plot, numerous faults but all round there is enough to appease new fans and give the veterans a bit of a workout.… Expand

I find it pathetic that some folks still can't take off thier nostalgia goggles for seconds to review this game fairly instead of hating on it and giving it a low score because certain moment in the story that i won't spoil here annoyed them, it's sad to see games like this, Darksider 2 and Assassin's Creed III get bashed while generic military first person shooters get praised by the same people, this game isn't perfect but it's one of the best games to release this gen imo, great story, great graphics and gameplay, absolutely no bugs/glitches, just perfect.… Expand

I waited a little while before writing a review so I had a complete and clear understanding of the game
(Pre-ordered Hitman absolution and was playing it only minutes after its official Australian release)..
This is not a complete game as of yet, it's a little buggy and a few concepts need to be patched, and I have no doubt that they will be..
Other then that this is a fantastic game and a must buy for any stealth or action game loving player (Or compulsive perfectionists like myself)..
It's everything you'd expect from a hitman game, No set path on how to play it, visually stunning, and brutally difficult on the highest setting..
The game play it's self is close to that of bloodmoney, although its been a little to simplified for my liking (I know they are just trying to reach a larger audience, causal's and what not), but it still has that gritty dark hitman feel..

The leaderboard system is what I have my biggest problem with, the competitive nature is all well and good, but On a global and national scale it just has no place, with youtube videos on how to do perfect purist runs with in one month of the release all top 1000 will have the exact same score and all the effort anyone puts in to legitimately get on the leaderboards will be for nothing, with all the cheaters and lazy gamers taking up every spot..

Luckily the contracts system will compensate for this, having close to an unlimited ways to set up contracts and to carry them out people will be forced to act uniquely..

Over all this game is close to exactly what all the diehard hitman fans wanted, it's an amazing game no doubt, but there is room for improvement, and with later patches this game hopefully will become the game we all wanted..… Expand

Hitman: Absolution is a stealthy cold hard killing action game, filling the boots of agent 47 once again, with a great story. The graphics are good, and stealth is well executed also, with some interesting gameplay mechanics. What really impressive here, is the oustanding varieth of options given for dymanic kills, and extra challenges to bring you back after. It was well worth the wait, and look forward to seeing what path hitman takes next. Like many games, their are some little bugs, im sure will get fixed, but they did not spoil, or impact the game.… Expand

Hitman Absolution is great in the beginning... but the later missions don't capture the feel and excitement of Hitman at all! However this is still a good fun game and the multiplayer is definitely something new, interesting and cool!

Hitman Absolution is a big disappointment, they had so many years to make this game and improve it, so that it would surpass it's predecessors. Hitman Absolution is to me, the worst Hitman game ever made. The storyline is bad, the game is way to short and the gameplay is awful. In the Hitman games you are an assassin taking care of contracts, in Absolution are are a runaway from the law playing a babysitter for a girl named Victoria. I thought they would have gone beyond their predecessors after so many years but they haven't. The game also forces you to blow your cover from time to time and engage enemies and it is unsatisfying eliminating enemies in this game. When you shoot them the bullets does not leave any bullet holes only some red marks on their bodies. Also, when you shoot them they fall to the ground like marionette dolls that has recently gotten their strings cut off. The game doesn't even offer you the luxury to close a door.… Expand

Overall it's really great but I felt as if they used some of the easiest gimmicks of the genre and didn't really use them as much as they could. Also, I guess I expected more action and better plot.

Just an all around good, violent action game. The story is decent although it's not the strong suit of the game, and as someone below me has stated, there are (almost) no bugs. Not GOTY, not at all, but absolutely riveting.

Pros: 1) its a stealth game, they are rare nowadays 2) the campaign have cool parts such as the terminus hotel and the attack of the saints 3) the contacts mode might give some hours of gameplay too.
Cons: 1) the disguise system is terrible, cops shouldn't even suspect whether you are a cop or not when you are dressed as one 2) the contracts mode could have been 1000 times better if you were able to choose a loadout before going to assassinate your target and if there were more maps than the linear ones of campaing 3) the NPCs aways do the exact same thing when you replay a level, their AI should have been unpredictable 4) the story sucks and have no creativity, I skipped 90% of the cutscenes after the first ones, tell me if I missed something 5) this game was mostly designed for an average gamer, not for the smart audience. This is my opinion, Hitman Absolution is absolutely not worth buying.… Expand

O único jogo Stealth que você mata alguém e pode não ser notado, a interação com o cenário ótima, não presenciei um único bug, e o modo Contratos bem divertido.

Absolutely superb. No I'm not someone who has been sat around waiting for the next hitman game, no I'm not prone to giving out TENS , check my reviews. However H:A is, in what it tries to do, flawless. It is simultaneously beautiful, engaging, enthralling, immersive, disturbing, funny, cheeky and bloody. It thrives on allowing the player freedom and creativity. In this world of ultra-hype and ultra-letdown ( hello cod, ac, etc) this is a refreshing and welcome reminder of what a great game can be. This may slip under the paid-for reviews but don't let it slip under yours- patience or carnage- you decide. I'm serious this might be £35 you actually don't regret.… Expand

Hitman is one of my favorite stealth franchises of all time and it's back. Hitman Absolution is the fifth game in the series and the first true next gen Hitman title. The story in HA starts off right where blood money left off and that's great for fans of the series. The story is intriguing and has many twists and turns to keep you interested. The graphics are truly something to behold and I like a lot of the bloom effects. The game has a very distinct art style and more games should create their own style. The gameplay is classic Hitman, you can tackle the objective in many different ways. I suggest if your decent at stealth games that you play the game on hard and work your way up from there. The normal mode is just too easy and the AI seems dumb then. The AI is very good on hard mode and I don't even want to know how hard the game would be on purist. The stiffness of movement from previous Hitman games is gone and the game plays very well. The gunplay has also been improved in case you get in a ruff spot here and there. Overall Hitman Absolution is a great game and was definitely worth the six year wait.… Expand

While it's not like the traditional Hitman experience, it does enough to stand out and be above average. They've made the game more cinematic, sadly this has affected how main targets are taken out, although while I was cool with it, I know that many purist Hitman fans will hate this fact. Still, this game IS really entertaining, the story won't bore you, the gameplay and different opportunities will offer plenty and it's all made better with great sound. Also, it should be said that this is still a stealth game, try to shoot your way through the entire game and you're gonna have a bad time. I suppose there's not much else to say, while it isn't the true Hitman experience, you won't get anything closer elsewhere at the moment. To conclude, beautiful visuals, fun gameplay, entertaining story mixed with sometimes frustrating segments and weird design this game gets an 8/10 from me.… Expand

Do believe the bad reviews. It's not awful, just really aggravating. You'll spend a HUGE amount of the game hiding from cops (rather than actually killing people, --looong backstory). Which wouldn't be all that bad, except the stealth is a super quirky and always boils down to a ton of trial and error (rather than thinking your way out). The actual kill-x-guy-missions are a blast, but there isn't a lot of them. :(… Expand

This game is awesome , at the start people said it was gonna be to easy , well they were wrong this game is still hard as the old ones! No bugs , it has an interesting storyline , AWESOME gameplay and camron12 says we spend 80% of the time not killing (Thats not true) and hitman game is about patience 8If you wana be stealthy) or you can just pick the 2 pistols and just start killing everyone

This hitman sucks, blood and money was and is my favorite game ever, but this!? wtf is this **** so **** small place, not fun and all almost no freeroam and game makes everything for you.. you can see everything with ur instincs and cant explore the place at all.... this game even has no weapon upgrades, u cant choose a weapon... AND IT EVEN DOSENT HAVE CONTRACTS... this game sux so bad. Only why it is good, it has funny mission with hippies and awsome graphics.… 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

If you are a CoD fan then you should give this game a try - because it is designed for you. The game will hold your hands through from the beginning to the end and it is designed for a literally dumb audience. With the press of a button you can use wallhack and see where all the gaurds are about to go, and you instantly have hints within the corridoor shooter levels where literally everything is scripted. If you expect a true Hitman title then you will most likely be dissapointed, though. Absolution shines in graphics, improved stealth system, animations, lightning sound, and a few other features. But it falls short in many other areas and it literally throws much of what makes a hitman game a hitman game - out of the window - while it embrace and directly copy and paste features and even partly formulas from batman AA, splinter cell conviction, and even Red Dead Redemption with its 'draw gun' minigame and other games. The storyline is uninteresting, uninspired, contains a lot of childish and rather idiotic characters telling a lot of cliché lines. (exmple: Dexter Blake, the great villian, had a masterplan to sell genetically superior kid assasins for 10m bucks each.) The levels in the game is often very small and streamlined and you often have to sneak in pre-defined, corridoor-like paths. Weapon, dumpsters, gaurds, cover - all of it is place at convinient places. More focus on stealth and kills, and almost no focus on strategy and creativity. The type of gameplay has more in common with Splinter Cell Conviction than Hitman. Disguise system is broken. Gaurds can see through walls at times. Your cover gets blown all the time because everyone - and I mean everyone - for some reason raises suspicion against you. You can't choose what type of equipment and weapons you want to use. You can't pick locks anymore. You can't look through keyholes. You can't open or close doors. You can't save the game manually. Sniper rifles and other weapons are magically drawn out from thin air. Weapons and dumpsters are placed at very obvious places. Gameplay is extremely linear and offers almost no challange. In terms of innovation this game does not impress me. They've copied and pasted features from other games, such as xrayvision (Batman Arkham Asylum), draw-grun function (RDR) and many aspects from Splinter Cell. They abandone the unique hitman formula and made it to another generic game. This game shines in the visuals, but lacks in many other ways, and its pathetic to see how much it lacks in innovation compared to previous titles.… 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

About a quarter of the way through and so far each mission gets better and more amazing this is my first Hitman game but the best part is it really sells the whole "taking some one out" and even better the whole "I have to get out of here and the entire city's police are out looking for me." If you're looking for a really cool game this holiday, can't recommend Hitman enough!!!

I have long been a huge fan of the Hitman games ever since I played Hitman 2 on the XBOX, so you could imagine my disbelief at having to wait for another hitman title so long after the last instalment, Blood Money (which was released back in mid-2006). I also had initial fears that the promised updates and nuances to the gameplay of Absolution would dilute the core gameplay - so I'm more than happy to report that Absolution not only is a superb game, its a cracking return to form for Agent 47!! Graphics and sound are beautifully handled (even if the cut-scenes can be a mite grainy), the plot is given huge emotional gravitas (the weight of which is carried by some well-known voice actors, all of whom do a sterling job), and the gameplay is the solid Hitman gameplay, laced with unusual moments that are handled smoothly, and rather than introduce anything new to the gameplay that hasn't been seen before, they are well-thought-out flashes of realistic brilliance, that only serve to up the tension and make you feel that your actions do matter. Absolution is a slight change to the formula, but its a welcome one, and even if you're not a fan of the Hitman games, I do urge you to try this title out at least. The equivalent of a gripping pageturner.… Expand

Very much depressed about this, I was expecting much more that I received for my duggets. I have played all of the hitman series. Let's say that games really have come a long way, and I understand that the old ways are still very valid. What I will not say though, is that this game is very good. It is sub par in many areas that it really should be, but all in all still fun. Visually it is stunning at times, really lack luster in others. Grievances that have been stated about AI and killing when hidden with all enemies knowing are right on. Why in the year 2012, do we still deal with silly crap game design. Thank you to the people who poured themselves into the game, please read what people say here, and make changes for the better for future 47 enjoyment.… 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, this time they ripped off LEON THE KILLER movie. 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.… Expand

Good god this is so badass! They really nailed it again! From story to gameplay it is just perfekt! Really worth the money and the score 10/10!
If you havent played the 4 other hitman games then do it! The story from this is after all the other games