Hitman: Absolution
Preview
47's back, and in style!
by Chris Davis
previewed on PC
The Streets of Hope
The next target is located behind the autoshop. Maneuvering behind an adjacent building, 47 slips behind a fence, entering a large yard. 47 is now trespassing and will be caught if seen so the player needs a disguise to walk around freely. Before he can do anything about that, a dog locked behind a fence begins barking at him. 47 quickly hides in an outhouse as a mechanic comes over to investigate. As soon as the mechanic gets within range and turns his back, 47 comes out, grabs the man and knocks him unconscious. The assassin changes into the man’s outfit and, to avoid suspicion at their missing colleague, 47 finds and tosses a bone into the dog’s pen, silencing it.
Using his new Instinct ability, 47 averts the suspicion of a mechanic who didn’t recognize the strange, new bald man with a bloody bandage on the back of his head. Instinct also allows the player to see AI patrol patterns and NPC’s predicted movements in a certain area, albeit for only a short time. In the next section of the yard, the player comes across a group of mechanics all sitting around along with the third target. The door is guarded by some well-armed thugs and it is clear that no one dressed as a mechanic is going to get inside.
It is at this point that our demo player decides to show off another one of 47’s new abilities: Point Shooting. Using the same power gauge as Instinct, Point Shooting allows you to mark targets in an area and, with the press of a button, execute them all with your chosen weapon. The ability is much like what John Marston utilizes in Red Dead Redemption, slowing down time to mark your targets and returning to real time as 47 begins dispensing death in the form of lead. The player marks all the targets in the vicinity and kills them all silently with 47’s silenced Silver Baller.
Only two targets remain as 47 activates his Instinct ability again and spies the fourth Cougar who is making his way downstairs, coming outside through the door that the thugs were guarding. With little time to react, 47 simply chooses to shoot the target in the head, preventing him from raising an alarm. With the four lieutenants dead all that remains of the Cougar gang is head honcho Lenny himself and, what do you know, judging from the Instinct vision it appears that he’s in a barber’s chair about to get a shave. It’s almost too good an opportunity to not take advantage of.
Climbing up the edge of a building, 47 slips through a window and surprises the barber, knocking him out cold. Once again the assassin changes disguises, going from a greasy mechanic to that of a clean-cut hairdresser. Equipping the victim’s razor blade, 47 descends the stairs into the barber shop proper where Lenny unwittingly awaits in his chair. As he comments on the new barber and his very “hands on” approach to giving a clean shave the music rises and the demo ends.
The World’s Deadliest Assassin
Ever since last year’s debut of Agent 47’s latest adventure, fans have been skeptical as to whether Absolution would be a proper Hitman title. Despite having one of the most improper marketing campaigns in recent memory, IO Interactive is assembling a game that series fans will be proud to own when it arrives this November. With a mix of classic sandbox level design, new character abilities and story-driven transition levels, there is definitely a lot to like and look forward to in the next Hitman.
