You don’t mess with Agent 47.  You may not even know he’s there, but if you’re in his sights, you might as well draw up your will and say goodbye to everything, because chances are you won’t survive.  The master CIA assassin has been doing his damage for the past few years, and this fall, he continues on his suave yet destructive journey of perfect kills with Hitman: Absolution.  Square Enix recently invited us down to its suite during the Consumer Electronics Show to get a better look at the game.

IO Interactive is once again in charge of developing the game, and the team is truly devoted to Agent 47’s abilities, whether it’s putting someone silently to sleep with a neck snap or deliberately setting up a brutal kill that’s guaranteed to lay waste to a target.  However, this time around, how you kill is completely up to you.  You can either go for sheer assassin perfection and make your way in and out of a room completely undetected, or let enemies know that you’re there and ready to make an impact, and clear the place Demolition Man style.  Both have their certain factors of intimidation, and how you play affects you over the course of the game.

To show this, the IO reps played through the demo that we saw twice, to give us an idea of the varying styles we could use.  The first was a cautious one, where Agent 47 has to work his way through an orphanage laden with gunmen that are killing nuns and looking for a particular little girl.  Rather than give himself away, Agent 47 uses sneakiness to get around, in order to avoid enemies seeing him.  It’s here that he can use his “assassin sense”, which can be turned on for a few seconds at a time and not only highlights where enemies are through body silhouettes, but also shows the route they’re going to take so he can stay out of their way.  He can also throw objects for distraction, such as a toy robot that, when activated, will send a guard over to see what’s going on, leaving you free and clear to move into the next room.

And, as always, Agent 47 can knock out some unsuspecting sap like a pro, steal his clothes and hide the body somewhere out of view of other gunmen, such as a ball pit or a storage locker.  What’s more, he can change clothes immediately, dressing up as one of the other gunmen and passing off undetected, as most of them will confuse him for “the new guy”.  This allows him to get by without getting into a situation, moving into a room and moving on to the next level, where the little girl awaits.

But being a hitman isn’t always about being silent and stealthy – it’s about being effective.  And the second playthrough of the demo showed us just how effective, taking a more traditional action route.  Rather than hiding bodies and sneaking around, Agent 47 gets right to the point of business, snapping necks of anyone he sees and burying a hatchet in someone’s face, before pulling it out and throwing it across the room at someone else, like a projectile.  And of course, there’s guns, so he can shoot away at folks while staying in cover and occasionally hitting an object in the environment to his advantage, such as an exploding drum.  (Because they’re really popular at orphanages, yes?)

What’s more, along with his “assassin sense”, Agent 47 is also able to call upon an ability similar to the “Dead Eye” from Red Dead Redemption.  He can stop time for a few seconds and line up certain shots, such as someone’s head, another guy’s leg, and an exploding drum, and then let loose with his bullets and watch the results of said battle.  From there, he can casually walk into the next room after killing everyone, flip the switch, and get to the little girl.

It’s these varying play styles that make Hitman: Absolution a little different from previous games, and while some fans may see that as leaning towards the more popular action medium, it really opens up Agent 47’s brutal abilities, and gives you the option of how you choose to proceed.  We love that.

IO Interactive has put quite a bit of work into its latest Absolution visual engine, with all sorts of superb environmental detail (especially the lighting – wow) and killer animation, with bodies slumping all over and plenty of blood gushing out.  The “sense” ability is well used also, with great lighting up of silhouettes and routes so you can set up your plan of attack accordingly.  As for the voicework, it’s slightly humorous, but definitely gritty, as these guys mean serious business.  We also like how the music picks up in tone depending on what you’re doing in the game.

Hitman: Absolution will hit stores later this year on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  Be sure to check back for further impressions and, upon its release, the review.  We will say this, though.  The game is definitely looking pretty killer.

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.