I have had an urge to replay the Hitman games recently for some reason, and this is the first time I have replayed this game in about 4 years since the HD Enhanced Pack or whatever they called it on PS4. I originally played this sometime between 2012-2014 on the Xbox 360 before then as my dad got it the year it came out.
Whenever the question of, "what is a bad game that you personally like?" is asked to me, this game is always my answer to that question ironically alongside IOI's own Kane and Lynch 1 & 2.
I'm unsure as to why it has stuck with me and I have a nostalgaic feeling for it, this game is awful on so many levels and here's why.
First and foremost, the disguise system is completely useless as in Absolution unless you use your already sparse Instinct to 'blend in' whilst walking, everyone wearing the same disguise as you will be suspicious of you. This makes the game one of two things for the player.
1. It is actively punishing them for using the most iconic feature of Hitman, and so they should go guns blazing which genuinely works most of the time
2. They should stick to cover 24/7, playing it like Splinter Cell Conviction, still not like a Hitman game.
As a TPS, this game is fine, but it's not a TPS and this is Hitman. The original vision for this game was to have an even more streamlined game than what we got in the finale but due to negative reception at E3 they had to course correct and the final game suffers from it, originally assassinations were only in cutscenes, and so the few targets the final game has don't really make any sense. Why am I killing this random scientist in Dexter's Lab? It has no plot relevance and is just shoehorned in, some levels STILL don't even have targets and are just A -> B.
The rating system is also just terrible, you will get docked points on anything and everything, from slightly trespassing to being spotted, I'm not even sure why these exist aside from leaderboards as they don't seem to have any effect on Silent Assassin ratings, again shoehorned in after the fact.
The plot itself that the game focuses on is just very nonsensical and stupid, it makes 47 out to be this depressed lunatic who all of a sudden has feelings for Diana, then proceeds to feel guilty the entire game about killing her, only for the end to reveal she was ok all along! Even though 47 in private seemed beat up about it, it's just dumb.
But why do I enjoy this game? I honestly don't know, I hate every mechanic of this game yet I enjoy it.
Whenever the question of, "what is a bad game that you personally like?" is asked to me, this game is always my answer to that question ironically alongside IOI's own Kane and Lynch 1 & 2.
I'm unsure as to why it has stuck with me and I have a nostalgaic feeling for it, this game is awful on so many levels and here's why.
First and foremost, the disguise system is completely useless as in Absolution unless you use your already sparse Instinct to 'blend in' whilst walking, everyone wearing the same disguise as you will be suspicious of you. This makes the game one of two things for the player.
1. It is actively punishing them for using the most iconic feature of Hitman, and so they should go guns blazing which genuinely works most of the time
2. They should stick to cover 24/7, playing it like Splinter Cell Conviction, still not like a Hitman game.
As a TPS, this game is fine, but it's not a TPS and this is Hitman. The original vision for this game was to have an even more streamlined game than what we got in the finale but due to negative reception at E3 they had to course correct and the final game suffers from it, originally assassinations were only in cutscenes, and so the few targets the final game has don't really make any sense. Why am I killing this random scientist in Dexter's Lab? It has no plot relevance and is just shoehorned in, some levels STILL don't even have targets and are just A -> B.
The rating system is also just terrible, you will get docked points on anything and everything, from slightly trespassing to being spotted, I'm not even sure why these exist aside from leaderboards as they don't seem to have any effect on Silent Assassin ratings, again shoehorned in after the fact.
The plot itself that the game focuses on is just very nonsensical and stupid, it makes 47 out to be this depressed lunatic who all of a sudden has feelings for Diana, then proceeds to feel guilty the entire game about killing her, only for the end to reveal she was ok all along! Even though 47 in private seemed beat up about it, it's just dumb.
But why do I enjoy this game? I honestly don't know, I hate every mechanic of this game yet I enjoy it.