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Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Hitman Absolution review

Agent 47 has never looked better

Words: on November 18, 2012
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37 comments

  • Ultima - November 18, 2012 5:32 a.m.

    From the PCGamer review (66%): ‘Disaster’ is a strong word, which is good because we need one. Absolution is a disaster. It’s almost the polar opposite of Blood Money: instead of sidelining the story to focus on big, open-ended assassination missions, it sidelines assassination to focus on telling a long, linear, and embarrassingly bad story. In game terms, that means most of its levels task you with reaching and opening a particular door. If it was called Doorman: Absolution, it would be much less disappointing.' Currently, though, Absolution is not worth buying. If they can somehow patch in a save function, and if players do interesting things with Contracts, it will be. Until then, I’d wait for a preposterous Steam sale. That’s something I never thought I’d have to say about a Hitman game. I desperately hope the reaction to it is strong enough to convince the developers to change direction, because I couldn’t stand to watch the series die like this. (Comments please....)

  • JackiePB - November 18, 2012 7:42 a.m.

    The review should not be taken seriously; on the general side, all one has to do is look at the wealth of 4.5-5 star reviews the game has already garnered, and then look at the background of the one individual who gives it an unbelievably low score. (His background will speak for itself.) Specifically, most of what he stated in the review was completely inaccurate. He states that objectives are literally focused on opening doors and whatnot, when that is simply not true; while yes, you are tasked with exiting an area after this or that, that's the way it's always been. He also complains of the checkpoint system, when he clearly is trolling on an elite level, as the checkpoint system is defined entirely on the difficulty level, ranging from many checkpoints to zero checkpoints, dependent on the difficulty. Every reviewer is entitled to their opinion, however, Tom Francis' review is clearly biased, and quite frankly almost troll-like in its ridiculous and incorrect statements.

  • Redeater - November 18, 2012 8:05 a.m.

    Max Payne 3 a 55? Regardless of what you thought of the story the gameplay was almost flawless so it deserved at least a 7. Get that man a straight jacket.

  • YourWorstEnemyGaming - November 18, 2012 11:34 a.m.

    Anyone who calls this game a "disaster" deserves to be locked up. I've just finished playing Absolution, and I can honestly say that it's near-perfect. At the VERY least, a tough critic might give it a 7.5. I can't even tell what kind of game the reviewer was playing. "Opening doors"? What? I spent most of my time playing one of the best stealth games ever, this guy is off his rocker.

  • bass88 - November 18, 2012 12:48 p.m.

    While I have read of some complaints of certain levels are just simply stealth opposed to traditional Hitman assassination levels (think the Japanese mountain levels in Hitman 2), the critics have called a very strong game. I'm slightly disappointed but as long as levels are open and stealth is preferred I will like this. Also, Tom Francis' review is slightly deranged as he makes plenty of factual errors and strange complaints. I agree with him in that it is disappointing that it doesn't follow the traditional Hitman design.

  • RedHarlow - November 18, 2012 2:10 p.m.

    To be fair, he was reviewing the PC version, which had a lot of serious performance issues as well.

  • bass88 - November 18, 2012 2:46 p.m.

    A lot of people on GameFaqs have claimed that they have not run into the problems Francis has mentioned. Make of that what you will.

  • grappler51 - November 18, 2012 3:20 p.m.

    I'm really surprised about that, normally I trust PC Gamer's reviews but that's by far the lowest score I've seen for Absolution, it seems to be getting very good reviews everywhere else.

  • Ultima - November 18, 2012 7:06 p.m.

    Fairy muff. It does seem that most others are giving the game decent reviews and some of Tom Francis' complaints are not really justified. Maybe he is having his period at the time of review? Anyway, good I think I will give it a try then! I have been waiting ages for a decent stealth game, now I can stop replaying the old Splinter Cell games for a while...

  • larkan - November 18, 2012 8:42 p.m.

    Oddly enough, though the place is called PC Gamer, a lot of the people there really don't seem to know much about PCs, configurations, etc. Most of the guides they put up for building and pricing can be found just about anywhere online.

  • ohms - November 18, 2012 9:01 p.m.

    Ironically, PC Gamer and GameSpot are the only 2 places that I never taken their reviewed seriously. PCG is very well known for very bias opinion against console or console ported games (I'm not talking about PCG UK, though. I heard that they are far more open mind than PCG US). And at GameSpot, money can buy scores. That's why I don't really care much about their reviews.

  • Ravenwild - November 19, 2012 4:44 a.m.

    You know they're both owned by the same company right?

  • Ravenwild - November 19, 2012 4:46 a.m.

    PCG and gamesradar that is, not gamespot obviously.

  • Balaska - November 19, 2012 6:14 a.m.

    Amen. I want to play a Hitman game, not Splinter Cell: Bald Edition. One day all games will just be the same.

  • Balaska - November 19, 2012 6:16 a.m.

    Max Payne 3 was poor. Max Payne 2 is still superior, especially story wise.

  • HitmanSB07 - November 19, 2012 8:32 a.m.

    Storywise maybe, but the writing was far better in 3. Not to mention the impeccable gameplay. Overall I think it's the best in the series.

  • Spiderman - November 19, 2012 8:02 p.m.

    Okay, maybe a little uncalled for. Let's leave Mr. Francis alone. Anyway, game looked good to me, I'm going to get it, see how it is! I haven't really played Hitman before, so there strategy of making it accessible clearly worked. Also: Enjoyed Max Payne 3 AND the Mass Effect 3 ending, so clearly everybody's tastes are not the same. New question! What sort of contract hit are you guys going to make!?

  • PureSophistry - November 18, 2012 5:28 a.m.

    Great review- I agree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzsdi2NAY04&list=PL__d-O-iz-xBvVWSVtZ7jsVlFLDNYs-UQ&index=1&feature=plpp_video

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Excellent
YOU'LL LOVE
  • Varied missions with seemingly limitless options
  • Sleek, sexy style
  • Bountiful improvements to the basic gameplay
YOU'LL HATE
  • A sometimes muddled story
  • That there aren't enough traditional levels
  • Seriously, what’s up with the bloom lighting?
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More Info

Release date: US
Nov 20 2012 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Expected release date: UK
TBA (Xbox 360)
TBA (PS3)
TBA (PC)
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action
Published by: Square Enix
Developed by: IO Entertainment
Franchise: Hitman
ESRB Rating:
Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
PEGI Rating:
Rating Pending
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