Outside the Hitman Absolution theater

Coming into E3 2012 there were so many things I wanted to see and do, but how do you decide?  How do you narrow your excitement down such a tight and confined corridor?  It’s quite difficult actually, but only if that something didn’t fit down your tight and confined corridor.  Luckily for Hitman: Absolution I was ecstatic to see new footage and demos, so I crept it into my schedule and now you all get to hear my war stories.

The demo was roughly 20 minutes in length and showcased the level “The Streets of Hope” where our bald friend, Agent 47, was tasked with dealing with some local thugs known only as the Hope Cougars.  This bunch of 50’s style thugs ran the town Hope, South Dakota, and well, Agent 47 was about to show them just how unfit they were to “run” Hope.

Lots of death being dealt on Square Enix turf

Agent 47 has gone rogue from the ICA and like I said but a paragraph ago, he is in Hope to take care of some local enterprising criminals.  He can’t simply walk around shooting everyone, well I suppose he could, but in Absolution you are graded on how well and creatively you execute missions and enemies.  I stress the word enemies, because killing civilians, while tempting, will lose you points and lower your Hitman rating.

I was going to go into a play-by-play of what happened in the demo, but I feel like I have done that with every other preview I have written for E3 2012 thus far, so instead I am just going to tell you what abilities IO Interactive have granted players.

Agent 47 has a “Hitman” mode, the actual name escapes me at the moment, but essentially what it is, is an ultra-sensory mode where Agent 47 can break entire environments down to the littlest details, showing him passages, opportunities, enemies, and where “accidents” can occur.  Distractions and accidents are Agent 47’s best tool for infiltration and eliminating enemies.  If a gas pump happen to have been leaky and would cover up a dead body or two particularly well, 47 will be able to sense these environmental vulnerabilities and exploit them for a successful mission (and a ton of points).

Agent 47 has his eyes on all of us...

Absolution inhabits an open world where bi-linear gameplay is not only present, but encouraged.  Agent 47 can tackle missions with grace and stealth or brutally and with haste, so it’s really up to you how you want to engage enemies, trust me when I say both are fun.  Also another staple of the Hitman franchise that is in Absolution is disguises.  Agent 47 can handle most situations, by why make a situation more difficult when you can slyly slip through undetected under the guise of someone else.  This is not only effective during infiltration scenarios, but is as equally effective during evasion ones as well.

All the mechanics, old and new, tie together the Hitman experience very well.  Hitman: Absolution is going to be a blast to play and has really opened its doors to a new audience of players, while not closing others on long time fans.  Absolution is set to drop on November 20th, 2012, but in the meantime stay tuned for more E3 2012 coverage right here at HeyUGuys Gaming.