Hitman: Absolution

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1732 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,008 out of 1732
  2. Mixed: 470 out of 1732
  3. Negative: 254 out of 1732

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  1. BubbaLou
    Nov 27, 2012
    4
    Don't trust the IGNs and Kotakus this time around - the PC version has flaws, my friend.

    Here's the problem - the game tries to shoehorn it's story in everywhere, and in so doing, ruins the Hitman genre. You can't choose your kit at the start of a mission - you aren't with the Agency - so your starting gun every mission is always some POS unsilenced pistol. Want a sniper rifle? Hope the    Don't trust the IGNs and Kotakus this time around - the PC version has flaws, my friend.

    Here's the problem - the game tries to shoehorn it's story in everywhere, and in so doing, ruins the Hitman genre. You can't choose your kit at the start of a mission - you aren't with the Agency - so your starting gun every mission is always some POS unsilenced pistol. Want a sniper rifle? Hope the level designer left you one - often it's in the perfect sniping spot too, so you don't have to use brain cells finding one yourself. You can't carry weapons over from mission to mission, either. This Killed it for me.

    Levels are small, cramped, and linear, often culminating in you opening a Door - it's cutscene promotion. You can spend all day being as stealthy as possible, dealing with a total lack of autosaves, and in the cutscene you SCREW UP THE HIT - The devs want you to play a story, not Hitman. Disguising well runs off "Instinct". You get more instinct by killing people. Hitman Absolution puts you in some crappy cycle of killing people you don't have to, and losing points for doing so (they kept that), to get the "Instinct" you need to disguise well. Dumb.

    But you need to do this because the guard AI is hyper-suspicious of similarly dressed people now. Often, you'll have the guard disguise and find yourself sneaking and action rolling from cover to corner - in plain view of guards - just so they don't look at you too closely. Walking anywhere near them blows your cover, but they don't care about a similarly dressed person action rolling around lol. There's still a few AI bugs - I've been spotted through walls, thus having to restart the whole level because there's no autosave feature, even on PC. When you do reach one of the few checkpoints in the game, even they are dumbed down - the game forgets who you killed, what you have, guards respawn and bodies disappear - it's the worst checkpoint ever.

    The graphics are a nice improvement. Hitman 4: Blood Money was a fantastic game - you did all the planning, all the killing, the level design was huge and open, you picked your guns and thus your strategy, you could autosave before a difficult part (and that cut down a lot of repetition). Whoever designed Absolution decided these were all negatives - a story does the planning; a cutscene does the killing - sometimes, because the story has people survive; the level design is narrow and linear to promote a single, definite path; you don't pick your guns - the designers give you only what you need, often in the place you'd use them anyway (goodbye Silverballers); and whoever designed the save system should be shot repeatedly and thrown off a balcony, because the autosaves are gone and what remains is a broken shell of a checkpoint system as we know it today. Hitman: Absolution is a stealthy shooter with nice graphics. But it's definitely not Hitman - it's been dumbed down so much that what's left is the bald guy and the title. In all honesty, if you liked the "plan your own kill" part of the genre, fire up Blood Money again - it's not so dated that your eyes crawl, and it's the essence of what a good Hitman game is. I just wish someone told the developers of Absolution.    … Expand
  2. Goatsecks
    Nov 28, 2012
    4
    You can beat the game in about 30 minutes if you just run around and shoot everyone. The combat system is annoying and stupid, running into people and performing fighting animations which are really easy to mess up on. The levels are small. The point system is also a mess. It's easy to mess up in this game and have to restart the whole level. The only good things are the sound, graphics,You can beat the game in about 30 minutes if you just run around and shoot everyone. The combat system is annoying and stupid, running into people and performing fighting animations which are really easy to mess up on. The levels are small. The point system is also a mess. It's easy to mess up in this game and have to restart the whole level. The only good things are the sound, graphics, and story.… Expand
  3. NoWanga
    Dec 18, 2012
    4
    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    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
  4. onregon
    Dec 24, 2012
    4
    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 notThough 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
  5. itran1
    Dec 27, 2012
    4
    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 outThis 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
  6. DaHonestReview
    Dec 29, 2012
    4
    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, thisVery 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
  7. jackhunter
    Jan 14, 2014
    4
    The game betrays the spirit of Hitman games. It was turned into a action centered games, where you run and hide in corridors. Hitman was about solving a puzzle to killa s pecific victim, now the game has turned into a random action game. Dont do it. Dont buy it.
  8. leandro9542
    May 13, 2013
    4
    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 gameAs 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
  9. eLipse
    Feb 11, 2014
    4
    "I wish this was more linear." "I wish they got rid of the targets or killed more of them in cut scenes." "I wish I had no control over the weapons I use each level." "I hate this."

    If you've ever found yourself wondering one of these things while playing any previous Hitman game then you have just found your game of the year. Congrats. So jelly.
  10. Aventinus
    Nov 20, 2015
    4
    They ripped the soul out of Agent 47....this no longer feels like a Hitman game. You could easily take Sam Fisher from Blacklist and insert him into this world and call it Splinter Cell Absolution, and there would be no discernible difference, because this franchise has been razed by corporate greed and the lust for profit. As a result, saves are completely gone and replaced by dreadedThey ripped the soul out of Agent 47....this no longer feels like a Hitman game. You could easily take Sam Fisher from Blacklist and insert him into this world and call it Splinter Cell Absolution, and there would be no discernible difference, because this franchise has been razed by corporate greed and the lust for profit. As a result, saves are completely gone and replaced by dreaded checkpoints, so sometimes you must re-attempt the entire level after being spotted. You cannot choose your gear and/or purchase upgrades and you cannot walk among the crowd freely without arousing suspicion...and that is what kills the game and makes it feel like a generic stealth romp. Some of the signature kills are fun and humorous (ice cream truck - Lenny), but they are shrouded by frustration due to the broken stealth system.....the environments are sometimes very constricted yet there are a plethora of enemies littered on the map, so good luck trying not to get spotted. With the inclusion of instinct, I don't know what they were hoping to accomplish...and player actions which were available in the stealth genre a decade before this game was released, like whistling or knocking on walls to arouse suspicion, aren't included?? The game design here also makes you wonder, because little things like being spotted with a full face mask covering your entire head and head and having the enemy start **** in their pants with sadist blood-lust in their veins upon spotting you makes no logical sense. I urge anyone who hasn't played this to stay away. How many more franchises must be ruined to appeal to the Call of Duty ADHD generation? Assassins Creed, Thief, Mass Effect, Sim City, Batman, Dragon Age, SW: battlefront, fallout, hitman, battlefield, Need for speed, tony hawks, Resident Evil, Splinter Cell, The Sims...the list goes on.… Expand
  11. jazzy7774
    Jun 14, 2014
    4
    Absolution did the cardinal sin of any 'stealth' game and made running in all guns blazing too easy. Even on the hardest difficulty this game is most of the time easier to complete if you roll from cover to cover and shoot everybody you see. This is made even easier with the help of the new instinct meter which makes me think if I'm actually playing Hitman. The costumes (which were once aAbsolution did the cardinal sin of any 'stealth' game and made running in all guns blazing too easy. Even on the hardest difficulty this game is most of the time easier to complete if you roll from cover to cover and shoot everybody you see. This is made even easier with the help of the new instinct meter which makes me think if I'm actually playing Hitman. The costumes (which were once a vital part of this series) are completely broken and, once again, this pushes you towards the action side. The levels are linear too, which is an extremely stupid move made by the developers and they become uninteresting after a short time.

    On saying that, this game can actually work well as a cover shooter and nothing is quite as satisfying as watching Agent 47 clear a room in slow motion with the instinct meter. The game has some awesome graphics as well, even if the map design isn't so good.

    I wouldn't recommend this game but if you are a hardcore Hitman fan you may want to pick it up just in case the story carries over to the next game.    … Expand
  12. PrincessRose
    Oct 27, 2020
    4
    The game was quite good at first, really liked the Chinatown mission and the way I could make the death look like an accident, I felt like I had choice in how I could assassinate, then after that it felt very linear just trying to get from 1 place to another. It felt boring and tedious and very linear. It feels like all Iam doing is sneaking around trying to get somewhere or escape and notThe game was quite good at first, really liked the Chinatown mission and the way I could make the death look like an accident, I felt like I had choice in how I could assassinate, then after that it felt very linear just trying to get from 1 place to another. It felt boring and tedious and very linear. It feels like all Iam doing is sneaking around trying to get somewhere or escape and not assassinating.

    I thought this was supposed to be a hitman game not escape the narrow corridors game.
    I should of read reviews first but doesn't seem like it gets any better. I consider this a bad game.    … Expand
  13. Howmaster
    Aug 31, 2015
    4
    Don’t bother.

    I really enjoyed the Hitman series on the PS2 and I was excited when I got this game. However, the terrible gameplay and AI assassinated any enjoyment I could have. The story is pretty lame, but that’s fine with me. I can live with that as that is not the reason I would play a Hitman game. Sure the graphics are great, but what does it matter when the gameplay stinks.    Don’t bother.

    I really enjoyed the Hitman series on the PS2 and I was excited when I got this game. However, the terrible gameplay and AI assassinated any enjoyment I could have.

    The story is pretty lame, but that’s fine with me. I can live with that as that is not the reason I would play a Hitman game. Sure the graphics are great, but what does it matter when the gameplay stinks. The controls for the PC version of this are downright just bad. It is just another bad console port. Probably the most irritating part was actually the lack of freedom of what you wanted to do. In previous Hitman games you could find unique ways to complete your objective. Here, there are MULTIPLE times where the game will not let you dress in a disguise to get pass some guards or blend in. It’s like certain characters that would make things easier or logical are off limits because the developers want you to complete the mission some other way. To me that is not what the Hitman games were about. Additionally, there are huge AI problems here. You have like 50 police officers searching a building for a guy and somehow everybody knows everybody. If you get too close or walk too fast even in disguise, uh oh! That must be him because everybody knows everyone! Just so many things that make no sense.

    I made it to about 10 hours in and thought to myself why I am playing this terrible game. Time to uninstall.

    Save your money and avoid.    … Expand
  14. Thanatos909
    Aug 7, 2021
    4
    Фанатам придётся подготовится к тому, что это совершенно не тот хитман))

    МИНУСЫ. Локации мелкие, с микрозагрузками, а большинство из них так вообще совсем коридорные! Стелс не то чтобы на второй план ушёл, от него моментами разработчики совсем отказываются, сделав упор на шутерную составляющую... В целом игра стала ну очень линейной. Вариантов эталонных убийств в среднем только 2 и    Фанатам придётся подготовится к тому, что это совершенно не тот хитман))

    МИНУСЫ.
    Локации мелкие, с микрозагрузками, а большинство из них так вообще совсем коридорные!
    Стелс не то чтобы на второй план ушёл, от него моментами разработчики совсем отказываются, сделав упор на шутерную составляющую... В целом игра стала ну очень линейной.
    Вариантов эталонных убийств в среднем только 2 и все они безвкусные и неинтересные, по типу "обрушить выстрелом люстру", но на нескольких уровнях вообще не будет никаких вариантов, тебе просто поставят определённый сценарий по которому ты обязан действоват, не давая игрок никакой творческой свободы!!!. Так же во время прохождения, меня ни разу не зацепил саунд, который в прошлых частях играл не последнюю роль. Так же были урезаны многие детали из прошлых частей, через дверной замок больше нельзя подглядывать, замки нельзя выбивать, снаряжение перед миссией больше нельзя выбирать, следов крови больше нет. Стелс теперь нужен по большей части для тех, кто хочет получить побольше баллов после миссии, ибо стелсить просто неинтересно. Находишь маскировку ну и ходишь в ней, вот и всё, конечно можно сделать ещё пару мелочей, отравить блюдо к примеру, только теперь из-за отсутствия выбора снаряжение, тебе придётся искать этот яд на локации, ну и ходишь в маскировке ищешь яд, классно... Чуть не забыл что тебя теперь каждый кто имеет такую же одежду может распознать, пусть даже на тебе маска или ты спиной повёрнут, а чтобы тебя не распознали, надо тратить СПЕЦИАЛЬНУЮ СПОСОБНОСТЬ закрывать лицо рукой или опускать голову, гениально! При том что некоторые локации состоят на 90% из определённой маскировки, например полицейский участок, в котором тебя моментально спалят если ты в полицейской форме, а в другой особо по нему не походишь.

    ПЛЮСЫ.
    Игра сделала переворот в приоритетах и совершила деконструкцию, что как по мне ей в убыток. По сути из плюсов могу только сюжет и нарратив выделить, с этим всё нормально, выглядит игра очень кинематографично и стильно, плюс отличная графика, ну-с, такие дела.
    Скоротать вечерок за ней вполне можно, а фанатам - сочувствую.    … Expand
  15. DonyDoNya
    Feb 26, 2023
    4
    The plot direction sucks. Every character is a clown or pretentious villain. A lot of silly decisions that I can't even choose to present you one for example. The intrigue about the girl leads to nothing special. The gameplay is not defined by its mechanics- either its a stealth-action or shooter, so it ruined as both. I'd rather play a shooter with this engine, but too bad - HitmanThe plot direction sucks. Every character is a clown or pretentious villain. A lot of silly decisions that I can't even choose to present you one for example. The intrigue about the girl leads to nothing special. The gameplay is not defined by its mechanics- either its a stealth-action or shooter, so it ruined as both. I'd rather play a shooter with this engine, but too bad - Hitman absolution ain't got HP regeneration, so its annoying to play it that way. As a stealth its too strict - "instinct" mechanic made the game harder, more realistic, but worse. Graphics is cool.… Expand
  16. Danneskjold
    Nov 22, 2012
    3
    Hitman: Absolution is one of the biggest gaming disappointments this year. All I wanted was a sequel for Blood Money and instead got a failed experiment of mixing Hitman and Splinter Cell: Conviction. The open-world choices of Hitman games going back a decade are now replaced with a mediocre story and a game on rails. I wish I didn't get this on Steam so I could return it.
  17. FraserCDN
    Jan 29, 2013
    3
    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 ofThis 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
  18. Sam777
    Nov 25, 2012
    3
    The absence of a quick-save or even a proper working logical checkpoint system makes the game HUGELY frustrating... unplayable in my opinion, unless you like to redo LONG parts of the game over and over. Ridiculous. Such a shame.
  19. Esfar
    Nov 27, 2012
    3
    1.This not a open ended or open world game any more.
    2.there is no map.
    3.disguise does not properly work any more without bloody instinct.
    4.You cant see through key hole.
    5. everything re spawns after loading a save point and therefore you cant experiment.
    6.And the list goes on.. Graphics alone cant save this game.They have totally destroyed a fine game.
  20. Cyper
    Nov 26, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 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
  21. orosznyet
    Jan 22, 2013
    3
    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 totallyFirst 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
  22. abk815
    Nov 21, 2012
    3
    I was really looking forward to this title... Sadly, i got disapointed. This is just not Hitman. First of, the graphics are outstanding abd the atmosphere is great too. But thats about it, as far as good points go. Negative aspects imo are:
    Totally dumbed down game, shifting the playstyle towards the Splinter-Cell franchise.
    No Map -> no mission planning or planning of tactics. No    I was really looking forward to this title... Sadly, i got disapointed. This is just not Hitman. First of, the graphics are outstanding abd the atmosphere is great too. But thats about it, as far as good points go. Negative aspects imo are:
    Totally dumbed down game, shifting the playstyle towards the Splinter-Cell franchise.

    No Map -> no mission planning or planning of tactics.
    No Sandbox-Levels -> Very linear gameplay
    No Weapon Selection or Equipment Selection prior to a mission -> WTF? Why do i even unlock the stuff in the first place? Why preorder? So i only can use the stuff in this contracts mode.... this is a bad joke!
    Totally dumb and silly story -> Wtf the Hitman suddenly becomes a like-able, daddy-like character? Sorry, this is the worst Hitman ive seen. Whoever came up with this stuff ruined just an other great Franchise.    … Expand
  23. Eptesicus
    Nov 21, 2012
    3
    It is beautiful to look at...but that is where it's beauty ends. A travesty of a game that is just a mash up of every other quick time event,stealth game out there. Might as well have called it Splinter 47: Assassins Conviction.

    IO have seemingly thrown away everything that made the Hitman franchise so wonderfully unique. Terrible
  24. bungeeman
    Nov 23, 2012
    3
    They have effectively changed everything that was good about it and turned it into a simplistic action-shooter for the Call of Duty generation who have ejected any semblance of intelligence in game design in exchange for constant, mindless, shooting action. Here is a run-down of
    how old Hitman did things and the new Hitman counterparts:
    OLD HITMAN Vast open maps to explore with    They have effectively changed everything that was good about it and turned it into a simplistic action-shooter for the Call of Duty generation who have ejected any semblance of intelligence in game design in exchange for constant, mindless, shooting action. Here is a run-down of
    how old Hitman did things and the new Hitman counterparts:

    OLD HITMAN
    Vast open maps to explore with multiple ways to make your way to the destination. A genuine feeling of being given a sandbox full of environmental oddities and independent AIs, with numerous ways to pick your way through them.

    HITMAN: ABSOLUTION
    Constantly being thrown from one linear corridor to another with (if you    … Expand
  25. marshb
    Nov 23, 2012
    3
    Very nice Splinter-cell game. Two Thumbs Up. Very bad Hitman Game. Two Thumbs Down. Really, if 47 had the gadgets Fisher had this would be a kickin Splinter-Cell game. Unfortunatly 47's gadgets are for stealthy take downs and not much else and facing down a 30 NPCs (cudos to the Glacier 2 engine) when you've been spotted for umpteenth time, and no hit in sight, only cutscenes?
  26. DarkMR
    Nov 28, 2012
    3
    I had to create an account at Metacritic to explain why I feel I just wasted 40
  27. Zeban
    Apr 29, 2013
    3
    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    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
  28. TommyTanker
    Dec 29, 2013
    3
    I bought the game 1 month ago on Steam as the initial User reviews weren't great. Boy, oh, boy I should've listen to those user reviews. I have 42minutes of playing time and that was enough for me. The game has been significantly dumbed down for younger audience, you are constantly spoon-fed wherever you go. Very linear and enough cut scenes to make yourself believe you weren't in a game.I bought the game 1 month ago on Steam as the initial User reviews weren't great. Boy, oh, boy I should've listen to those user reviews. I have 42minutes of playing time and that was enough for me. The game has been significantly dumbed down for younger audience, you are constantly spoon-fed wherever you go. Very linear and enough cut scenes to make yourself believe you weren't in a game.

    Its now on steam for $5, wait until it gets cheaper, then it will be worth it.    … Expand
  29. Magnethead
    Mar 18, 2014
    2
    In short: awwww man, they broke it. Frustrating game because it has so much potential. The graphics feel smooth and the mechanics are better than ever but they removed all planning, thinking and stealth (actual stealth - welcome to cover-based running). You still have different approaches but you can't plan any of them and often have to choose one at random because the consequences areIn short: awwww man, they broke it. Frustrating game because it has so much potential. The graphics feel smooth and the mechanics are better than ever but they removed all planning, thinking and stealth (actual stealth - welcome to cover-based running). You still have different approaches but you can't plan any of them and often have to choose one at random because the consequences are unclear. In one mission you can choose to disguise yourself as an electrician or try to sneak in around the back but you have no way of knowing what the difference is so you choose randomly. You can't bring your own weapons or gear either, so the game comes up with the most stupid excuses to place sniper rifles and other useful things on site for you to find. It doesn't make sense.

    The world feels alive and each character has their own story, which is cool, but in the end your role is merely that of a spectator and not a protagonist. You're there to watch in awe how cool the world looks, not to play in it. Such a shame - great potential, awful execution.    … Expand
  30. Jacer200
    May 12, 2014
    2
    Game looks fantastic. But alas I played for 20 min and was disgusted with the game play. It could possibly be my own fault. I played this right after Dark Souls and Fall Out 3.
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Awards & Rankings

59
#59 Best PC Game of 2012
20
#20 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
23
#23 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    80
    Despite the deviations and minor shortcomings, it remains true to its roots. It just brushes them aside for a while, just long enough for it to tell its story- a story where the traditional contracts and other usual components just wouldn’t fit. [January 2013]
  2. DarkStation
    Jan 8, 2013
    60
    Hitman: Absolution does stand out from the ocean of gray and brown shooters that populate the market, but not in enough good ways to warrant a recommendation.
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  3. DarkZero
    Dec 26, 2012
    70
    It's not a bad game by any means, and it does fix some problems with the controls that plagued previous games, but having the story that essentially makes Agent 47 less of a hitman and more of an espionage hero, makes Absolution a decent stealth game but not a fantastic Hitman game.
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