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- You don't speak for us all. There is no such thing as a "true assassin", at least not in the original games where you weren't penalized on-screen for daring to do anything different. So subjective term. Original media for Absolution said we had choices -- in reality; we don't. Silent Assassin was a rank and a good one but it should remain just that. There's also no reason why 47 just can't utilize the black market even if he's gone rogue with The Agency. So dropping the loadout feature was just silly and another example of player-freedom gone.
- Those 2 missions from Silent Assassin and Contracts both featured assassination targets. Absolution's levels involved journeying to a revolving door most of the time with no reason other than the plot demanding it 50% of the time.
- Assassinations were never a huge problem with Absolution personally (despite: the boss you can't assassinate and get treated with a cutscene of 47 being beaten up instead and another cutscene where immersion is broken and control taken away from the player when we are to deal with Lenny). Although, SOME targets can only be killed in 1 way and this is probably the deal-breaker for many like myself.
- Checkpoints are a poor man's save system. Not only that, but they don't work properly. They reset every enemy you previously killed, all the work you did previously (hiding bodies and whatnot) and forget about the awareness of all the people in that segment of the level. The only thing saved is your position in the level. Terrible.
Now let's go through some of the real troubling problems with Absolution:
* Weapon animations are odd (pulling sniper out of coat and no "pull sniper out/put sniper back in briefcase" animation anymore), as if pulled straight from Kayne and Lynch - a previous IO game. Plain-up lazy.
* Sacrafice of traditional Hitman gameplay for attempted deep and meaningful story that's just slightly better than Hitman 2's (story has never a strong point for these games and you feel less like a paid assassin for hire and more like an espionage hero on some bad revenge storyline). To top it off: 47's character is changed in an attempt to make him more human - several reviewers touched on this.
* Too much time is spent in cover, due to horrible disguise system in place (i.e. people of same disguise can recognise you two streets away, even if you're behind a car and wearing a mask). So expect to stay in cover at least 90% of the time.
* All missions take place in America in order to suit the story. BORING!
* One big sandbox style levels are swapped in for smaller segments with a degree of interactivity (possibly due to console technical limitations)... connected through doors, begging the question why this game isn't called "Doorman: Absolution".
* "Instinct mode" (while not needed and can be turned off completely) feels like a rip-off of the Batman Arkham series and gameplay too closely resembles Splinter Cell: Conviction (Point Shooting feature comes to mind). It's really not explained well, story-wise (how he can see a whole room of enemies now), and the "Blending" feature it offers is laughable, at best (it involves 47 concealing his face by placing a hand over said face or tilting his hat/some part of his costume; this would only make someone more suspicious... NOT LESS!)
* Bad level design - levels are built around use of "Instinct mode". Even if you play at higher difficulties (Purist, e.g., which removes the use of Instinct), levels are significantly harder to stealth-through, than previous games due to this fault. On top of this, there are garbage bins/closets conveniently placed all around the map where you can hide 2 bodies in or 1 body and hide yourself in it.
* Absolution almost forces you to break stealth at certain moments in the game.
* QTE's: they don't fit, are horribly used... and a QTE boss towards the end of the game.
* Too many button prompts and simplified gameplay.
* Some levels feel incredibly linear (towards the beginning) but open out unfortunately half-way through the game. They all share convenient props placed for the player and involve little-to-no thinking. A lot more obvious placement of items unfortunately.
* You are not free to move back or onto another floor but must continue forward while all previous actions in the past corridor/lower floor are ignored and forgotten. Enemies act as if you are not there which is quite odd. Player freedom = gone.
* Can't close doors, turn on/off lights or peek through keyholes anymore. Come to think of it, I barely remember picklocking any doors too.
* The nuns. Controversial huh? Let's stick them back in the game after that awful trailer and not give them much of a backstory. Sex appeal! WOOOH. Oh and make most of the women have gigantic breasts in this game. Not a serious point but IOI went overboard here.
P.S. If you think all of this is "petty" then you couldn't be more wrong. IOI issued a formal letter to fans apologizing mostly for what Absolution had done to the series, and promised Hitman 6 will return to its roots. Absolution, at times, is a mixbag and doesn't have enough uniqueness to standout from the ordinary muddy-brown 3rd person shooters of today. I think it's wrong to assume a series this old has only had Blood Money played by the majority... despite Blood Money arguably being the soul of this series (in many top 100 games lists) and practically flawless when compared to its predecessors.
P.P.S. This game was rated as mediocre overall and is mediocre IMHO. All of my friends have played every Hitman game to-date and while I can't say that'd be true for every fan... there's more than enough terrible changes (I haven't mentioned all of them from my review here) for even casuals to justify their hatred. Deus Ex HR showed old game series can be modernized without alienating anyone and I think IOI not having much control of Absolution led to what we got in the end. I don't mind if you like this game but find it hard to believe a fan would enjoy this, quite frankly. I loved Sniper Challenge but that was it honestly.
Pretty linear and closer to Splinter Cell than the older games.
I did, should I just go ♥♥♥ now?
I think Hank misunderstood what you meant. I agree completely about the tutorial level being a typical Absolution level in both design and appearance.
What's interesting is players new to Blood Money will immediately be turned off by that level but I will say to them "Dude -- the rest of the game is nothing like this!!".
Well, it's only partly correct, in H2 SA for example, coming to the final stage (yamamoto's inner castle) you had to complete 2 "missions" by just passing through, no targets to eliminate whatsoever; both of which felt like a liability to extend the gameplay (especially the tunnel part, or snow barren, whatever u chose to cross); you couldn't chose your gear between them either (unless you replayed after the game was beaten).
Just an example that the previous games had some similarities in this segment and by no means were "perfect", like many ppl imply.
It was by no means my intention to impose that i speak for everyone, or you in particular.
While i agree on most of your points and the fact absolution is by far not the best of the series, i feel many ppl (including you) try too hard with the critics.
For example the gear part: yes you could customize your automatic weaponry in BM, yes you got double golden revolvers and M4's as reward for perfect gaming (basically avoiding shooting) in contracts and SA, yes you had to carry your sniper either visibly or in a case, yes you could chose to start a level with an AK. BUT...did it really matter? Did you really pack that fully upgraded M4 or the aquired anti-material rifle for any further mission of your "perfect" playthrough?
Sure, after the level was done a hitman way, i did sometimes pack that modified or hard earned heat to pass through force, just for fun, but basically its not the point of a hitman game. This particular freedom was there, yet the game still encouraged the player to ignore it.
Again, just an example.
I don't want to further extend my explanations. I have my opinion and you have yours, and i don't wanna try to change your on anyone's opinion either. I still enjoyed this game, even with it's flaws. I was reluctant on getting it at release and abandoned it until a long time after, because of very harsh critics, which, i feel now, were exagerated. That is all.
Characters controls improved a lot, graphics are fine, it was near the perfect game, but the levels destroyed everything. Only China and Desert are old-levels like. And which imposed that is the story. But no, no one plays hitman for the story... What is fun in hitman games is to play in different countries to achieve missions, not to try to follow a narrative arc which look like a B movie.
Even developpers seemed to have understand their errors has they stated next one will feature open-levels like the old games.
"Well, it's only partly correct, in H2 SA for example, coming to the final stage..."
The Hitman 2 example I will concede as being right but I wouldn't call it a similarity to Absolution still. There was a reason for those filler levels and while you couldn't choose your loadout inbetween those 2 or 3 missions set in a certain locale (makes perfect sense), you still had the option to take weapons initially and bring some back by running to the exit with them. Regardless, Hitman 2 ended with a target for those 2 or 3 snow levels and it really didn't feel like filler to me considering how long those levels were and hardly anything was re-used between them.
Level design, appearance and reasons for those levels being in the game (Yamamoto being our target, it's personal story-wise, and his castle being heavily-guarded and 47 thus not being able to be dropped closer to the target's area) set it far apart from Absolution, where the plot simply demands it, not that a target happens to be in the area. I'd never call the original games perfect though. I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect game IMHO. Also, Contract's Bjarkhov Bomb level was not long at all and I hope that was an exaggeration from your original post :P. It's one of the quickest levels to speedrun in-fact.
"It was by no means my intention to impose that i speak for everyone, or you in particular."
Well I'm not sure how to interpret your statement then "which a true silent assassins among us never really cared, since u try to never use ANY guns anyway...EVER". Not trying to fight or anything but it came across in an imposing manner. Like I said, no such thing as a "true silent assassin".
"Did you really pack that fully upgraded M4 or the aquired anti-material rifle for any further mission of your "perfect" playthrough?"
Assumption and yes, yes I did. You'd be surprised honestly haha. More options is never a bad thing and if we had that logic "oh well, people won't use that so let's not bother with that" -- games would suck today. In Contracts there were 12 Silent Assassin rewards including a M4; double golden revolvers weren't in SA but in Contracts (as an Easter Egg mind you).
"... but basically its not the point of a hitman game."
Guess you hated Instinct Mode on Absolution too (Point Shooting was basically cheat-mode for people who were not being stealthy despite it not being "the point of a hitman game"). If you've played Codename 47 (later games become more stealth-focused and rewarded the player for patience) or seen half the popular playthroughs that exist on youtube for the Hitman series you'd know this isn't true. The name Hitman doesn't imply stealth; it's all up to the player. You were never encouraged to go all-out but you were never discouraged (like Absolution but strangly encouraged by Instinct) to go rambo. Not at all. It's a viable option.
"and i don't wanna try to change your on anyone's opinion either."
Same here, but useless replying to me and then stating "I don't want to further extend my explanations.".
"because of very harsh critics, which, i feel now, were exagerated."
I find critics can be goofs at certain times but there comes a time when almost all critics (except IGN and Gamespot - which are notorious for paid reviews) are calling Absolution mediocre and user reviews aren't looking good... that it should set off alarm bells.
P.S. The only level that remains similar to Absolution in level design, appearance and reasons for being in the game is the tutorial of Blood Money (in my mind). Even if you see the Hitman 2 snow levels as being filler they are still not similar or really comparable to Absolution's showcase levels and if they are filler: the majority of Absolution's levels are then filler to me. But yeah, opinions :)