Story is yet another in the oversaturated multiverse plot market these days.

But man oh man is the gameplay a few steps up from MK11. Combos can go on forever sometimes, but it still feels a lot more accessible than MKX's cracked gameplay these days.

The biggest downside is how hard they've leaned into microtransactions this iteration. Spending real money to unlock fatalities with no other option for doing so is beyond appalling. The skins you can unlock through normal gameplay are by and large ham-handed recolors of the same 2-3 outfits, and the ones that are actually cosmetically different cost real money, too. That wouldn't be so bad if not for everything that costs real money requiring you to buy more than that amount in the Dragon Krystal currency, as is the norm in games these days it seems.

Overall, though, I can continue to enjoy Mortal Kombat gameplay that isn't severely watered down, which is the main thing I play these games for.

Absolution definitely shakes up the formula Hitman had with minor additions and chances since Codename 47. Some of this shakeup lends to modernizing the mechanics to be less behind the times. Others detract from what makes Hitman Hitman to the degree of being unpleasant.

If I had to give one wholesale positive, point shooting is a fun idea that’s cinematic and doesn’t feel as incredibly busted as similar mechanics in other stealth games around this time, such as Splinter Cell’s Mark and Execute.

The cover system is a nice addition, though it isn’t as fluid or useful as Splinter Cell Conviction’s.

The core gameplay in terms of what you’re able to pull off for assassinating your targets is very neat.

The biggest detractors from the gameplay are disguises and the new scoring system. When disguised, any enemy who is wearing the same outfit as you will immediately recognize you if you get too close. You can mitigate this by burning instinct to blend in, but having to recharge and manage your ability to not be incompetent at disguise yourself is a huge minus. Despite the open ended nature of most of the game, you’re railroaded into doing pretty specific things to not get a bad score. Killing or knocking out anyone who isn’t a target subtracts from your score heavily, even going negative if you’re low enough beforehand. After a stealth takedown, your only option to nullify this negative score is to hide the body in a closet or similar. At least this can be ignored to have more open ended fun, unlike the disguise issue.

Story is pretty weak, and bizarre at times, but some of the one off characters are fun. I’ll leave it at that.

Not the worst game ever, but if you had to choose one, just go WoA.