Unpopular opinion: Absolution was better

[Undertaker]

First of all, do not get me wrong, Hitman WoA is still a good game, I personally like it. But at the same time, I can't help thinking that in some ways, it lacks something comparing to older games, and what is even more important, it lacks something comparing to none other than the hated Hitman Absolution.

Here's why:

- Although 47 was designed to be a perfect human, he it still a human being. As such, he will inevitably age up. Absolution nailed it perfectly - Agent 47 looked much more mature and aged than in previous games. But in WoA, somehow, he's young again, even despite its events take part after Absolution.

- In Absolution, animations of our beloved Hitman were more natural. The way he moved, the way he sometimes turned his head to look around, all this was better - but here in WoA, it seems that his animations are too robotic and too rigid.

- In Absolution, 47 finally got some personal flavour, we saw that he was not just a machine, he had a personality too (say, having been working with Diana for so many years, he's developed a certain feel of loalty to her, so he couldn't just shoot her in cold blood as commanded). In WoA, he lacks all this, and even despite this business with Lucas, his motivation just doesn't seem believable to me.

- In general, Absolution was a step forward in developing the game, it put 47 in whole new circumstances, the tasks there were not just plain hits, but something new, such as "escape from somewhere", "retrieve something", "take someone alive", etc. While not completely unheard of in previous games and WoA alike, unlike these, in Absolution it was a base of the game itself, and that was something fresh.

- Absolution had better OST, WoA OST ist just too plain and boring. All in all, I'd say that WoA lacks distince atmosphere of its own, whereas Absolution (and Contracts, and perhaps other games too) had it.

- Absolution maps, although disliked for their discrete nature (and often, that was not incorrect, alas), weren't copies of other games' maps. In WoA, unfortunately, somewhat more or somewhat less, too many maps seem to be based on previous games (Whittleton Creek = A New Life from BM, Bangkok - somewhat resembles Traditions Of Trade from Codename 47/Contracts, Darthmoore = a similar map from Contracts, I've forgotten its name, alas. Et cetera)

- Before WoA, NPCs spoke their native languages, and that gave the games hell of a lot of flavour. Even in Absolution. although it took place in the USA solely, as I gather, respective American English accents were used. But in WoA they discontinued this tradition for the reason unknown, and it somewhat breaks the immersion (it seems that only in Mumai there is a distinct Indian English accent, which is plausible).

- Absolution was somewhat more realistic, with guards reacting to detected blood pools (which seems to be absent it WoA), not ceasing patrolling the area after an alert (moreover, they converged in small groups, making it more difficult to deal with them), 47 could not conceal 10 wrenches and 5 soda cans in his pockets.

- Gameplay-wise, although most of WoA gameplay was inherited from Absolution, it lacks Instinct actions such as Mark-And-Execute and protection from disguise blowing, it lacks the ability of taking a human shields. Comparing to older games, it lacks the ability of carrying briefcases when climbing on ladders etc., many accidents require 47 to take a part in it personally (although it appeared in Absolution as well, there haven't been that many of such cases, as I remember) instead of priming the trap and observing.

- Absolution plot was poor in many ways, of course. However, WoA plot is not any better, and sometimes it makes even less sense. Perhaps, the same idea of confronting a wannabe-ZOG of some sort could have been more plausible if presented in other way, but we've got what we've got. What I personally dislike is, in Absolution, the reason behind 47 turning on ICA was mostly legit, but in WoA we dismantle our former employee just out of the blue. Poor ICA!

- That may be personal, but for the first time in the whole Hitman series, most of targets don't command the urge to eliminate. All in all, most (but not all) of WoA new characters seem plain and weak.

So that's about it. What d'you think?

[TheOrangeBox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65gcndvshAY

[Phantom Limb]

Absolution was indeed good and brought a lot of great mechanics to the series like an ability to subdue npcs.
It is an evolution of these games in many way but people hated bad plot and everything related to disguise/instinct in that game even though it made sense to have it the way it was.
WoA trilogy took very safe route during the development and in the end we got good sandbox but limited by casual approach, lack of atmosphere, weird design choices and bland or annoying characters.

[Wolfmann Mike]

Blood Money still seems to be one of the best, it's like WOA-lite.

Good stories and though limited in graphical detail, it was a really good game for its time.

[Gex]

Absolution was a big step down from Blood Money. The new trilogy brought back that sandbox feeling. I don't want another Splinter Cell, Metal Gear type of game, where the story is more important and you are always following a script, like they tried to do in Absolution. It may make a "generally" better game for some, but it just looses what makes Hitman unique. For me Hitman 2016 is one of the best games of all time, the only thing missing from it is a legendary soundtrack like in the previous games.

[Wolfmann Mike]

Ave Maria is on Nexus as a Mod you can install for Hitman 3, and even other classics are in that mod, all from Jesper Kyd.

[Wolfmann Mike]

Escrito originalmente por Gex:

Absolution was a big step down from Blood Money. The new trilogy brought back that sandbox feeling. I don't want another Splinter Cell, Metal Gear type of game, where the story is more important and you are always following a script, like they tried to do in Absolution. It may make a "generally" better game for some, but it just looses what makes Hitman unique. For me Hitman 2016 is one of the best games of all time, the only thing missing from it is a legendary soundtrack like in the previous games.

Absolution was a step sideways, man.

The idea behind 47's movement and the cover system, etc. was a step up. You still see it in WOA, grab from cover and the ability to stay concealed even if you are technically visible, is part of the cover system, and Absolution was the first to have that.,

Just like Splinter Cell, with Conviction, both series changed their recipes, and some like it more, other less.

[Gex]

Yes, you are right. Some specific elements did improve in Absolution and were useful for future developments.

I'm talking about the overall feeling of the game. What I never really liked about stealth games like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell is that all the missions are kinda linear. You always have a "get from here to here", even if you have more ways of doing it.

Hitman gives that special feeling of not having a direction, so you create it. That of course causes the story to become less impactful and relevant, but that's inevitable. The more story-driven the game becomes and the less freedom the player will have (since it's a stealth game based on contracts about killing targets). In Absolution they tried to move in the other direction and people hated it because they felt this would kill the Hitman franchise, turning it into something less original

[Wolfmann Mike]

@Gex, no matter how non-linear WOA might seem, it still means taking down 1-3 targets usually, and it's based on a patrol system that doesn't change much for the most part in terms of position on the map. Sure, some maps have long walks as part of their routine, but then you have to wait as if it's real for a kill.

The "Sandbox" label doesn't truly mean it isn't non-linear all that much.

Splinter Cell at least has a history of leaning towards stopping a threat that makes everyone (in a region or country) vulnerable.

The Stories in Hitman WOA are fairly brow-raising, but only a couple Missions actually have anything worth killing over.

Try Splinter Cell Blacklist (the least linear, and most story driven as far as a puzzling threat that must be stopped goes.)

[Gex]

Well the game still needs some "objectives". Otherwise it would attract very few players. You can't make a game completely "empty canvas".

I feel like the main mission story targets are just a start. Every map is made to be like a sandbox environment where you can experiment and make custom contracts. Even if other NPCs have limited mobility and AI, it still makes it an enjoyable and revolutionary experience.
What other stealth game does this?
I think it would take an impressive effort for the developers to make every NPCs have a complex routine.

PS: I have only had experience with SC: Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory

[Wolfmann Mike]

Sure, if you go off-books and decide to kill based on a story you or a Contract creator has thought up, then sure it's sandbox.

But killing based on a hunch or a really thin story is just trying too hard to make the game have more options, and then calling it sandbox is just "meh" to me.

I always liked Splinter Cell better than a game with stories that can be created by a player of the game. Off-Books orders from strangers isn't really my thing.

[Pilzquadrat]

Is it 2012 again?

[Wolfmann Mike]

Absolution was just too weird, IMO.

iOi's storty-telling just seems to be after the fact, and even if it's compelling, it still seems poorly executed.

WOA has the advantage of being a game with large maps and if you like that sort of thing, can kill in myriad ways with plenty of weapons.

The stories in all the games are basically fluff, as they don't have any substance to believe in.

Maybe i think Blood Money is the most realistic, simply because cloning isn't usual and the though of a killer clone taking out HVTs for a shadows agency was new, and remains unique, more or less.

[tmwfte]

Sniper Challenge.

Sexy evil nuns.

[Wolfmann Mike]

Escrito originalmente por tmwfte:

Sniper Challenge.

Sexy evil nuns.

Let us not forget Diana had the appearance of an Irish or British lady, and nice n' thick. You can almost see her boobies \o/

But none of these games are really for gamers who want serious games with stories that fall in line with a good sense of morality.

Perhaps, Absolution was the first to have that sense, to save a girl who has the same traits as 47. And to save a friend, though it's iffy because 47 doesn't really understand anything he is feeling, more like he senses the difference between killing Diana or sparing her, and chooses to save her.

The only missions that seem to be 100% solid in terms of a moral obligation is Sapienza in the Campagns (Not Freelancer.)

A virus that passes through so many people, but kills only the target. It was discussed as put up as contract for ICA on ethical grounds.

[Arcuārius]

Its not that unpopular. Id say Absolution was better even on the sole basis of Absolution not having this malicious DLC strategy. Sell the game to you in pieces, very costly pieces.