[ALL] Hitman: Absolution

[killgod]

It's just a bag PP.

He's looking for excuses to groan me because he's sad over people ripping him in the PSN Network thread.

 

[Handleit_44]

Link: New 'Hitman: Absolution' Game Uses 'Avatar' Performance Capture Technology, Hollywood Talent

Square Enix is taking a Hollywood approach to its fifth installment of IO Interactive's bestselling Hitman action game franchise, Hitman: Absolution, which is due out next year. The Danish game developer worked with a cast of a dozen Hollywood actors who brought their virtual characters to life using both performance capture and voice acting to add a more emotional level of interaction to the game.

Among the cast of actors, Keith Carradine (Cowboys & Aliens) will play the new villain in the game, Blake Dexter. Marsha Thomason (White Collar) will step into the role of Diana Burnwood, who serves as protagonist Agent 47's handler and has a close relationship with the assassin.

"Diana is 47's only true human contact," Thomason said. "They've known each other an extremely long time, and in the Hitman world, she is what Q is to James Bond. So she sets the assignments, tells him where to go and who to kill."

The performance capture was done at Giant Studios, which James Cameron used for Avatar. A first for the game franchise, the developer worked with Hollywood talent to capture complex scenes with up to seven actors on the set at once. Blystad explained that the performance capture scenes focused on the drama that develops as the story unfolds. The new game places more emphasis on the emotional human stories that evolve, which is why they opted to hire Hollywood actors to bring these virtual characters to life.

"We had actors like Marsha and Keith come in and do full-body acting with facial and voice being captured simultaneously in scenes," said Tore Blystad, game director at IO Interactive. "Some of these scenes were very complex with all kinds of props and interactions amongst the actors."

The new game follows Agent 47, a cold-blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he once trusted -- and now hunted by the police -- he suddenly finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world.

"We've designed a more stylized, more serious, and darker game this time around in both the story line and the visuals," Blystad said. "The hope is that the movie will be going in a similar direction, and then when they both come out they will speak the same language. They won't follow the old Hitman games, but rather go with this newer direction."

Blystad said it was also important that this latest game deliver on the shooting action that the franchise has offered over the years. The drama that pushes the story forward serves as a cinematic layer on top of the core gameplay, which sends Agent 47 on different missions throughout the U.S. A portion of the game takes place in Chicago.

 

[Handleit_44]

Link: New game engine brings Hitman: Absolution to the masses

“The Hitman games of past have been very hardcore,” said Tore Blystad, game director at IO Interactive. “Even though the fantasy of the Hitman universe has a very universal appeal, the games have been so difficult to play, that it’s been more of an acquired taste. The biggest challenge that we had with this game was to make it much broader in every sense, so that it was easier to play and more accessible, but still retain a very strong, hardcore side as well. We don’t want to alienate any of our fans who have been extremely loyal for so many years.”

It’s been five years since the iconic bald assassin, known only as Agent 47 in the franchise, has gone on a virtual mission. During that time, the game studio has created brand new technology to bring a more cinematic interactive story to life. A story that turns the table on the hunter and has 47 pursued by the police and the agency he previously worked for.

IO Interactive developed the Glacier 2 engine to bring Hitman’s virtual world to life. The new game is set in the United States and one of the first missions the studio is showing takes place in Chicago. Blystad said the game engine was specifically built to create the different game features and additional qualities that the team needed for the gameplay experience.

“Everything in the game now is based on real-time feedback within the game engine,” said Blystad. “Every action is updating in real-time, which is a change from how we worked before. When it comes to the game’s features, we have a separate tech team and gameplay team that work together to ensure the new features work in the game.”

Blystad said the artificial intelligence (AI) that is featured in Hitman: Absolution is something that has taken the most time to develop. The gameplay revolves around player actions, and since there are many choices in every scenario, the AI had to be able to respond to any given situation at any given time.

“If you attack and enemy from any angle, than we’re able to have them fight back, or continue on in a normal state if you ignore them,” said Blystad. “There are similar things in games like GTA or these bigger sandbox games, but it’s on a much less granular level because we have a very strong focus on the abilities of the characters. You get so close to the characters in this game. They all have names, and they have all some kind of part to play in the story, so that they act as believable as possible is the most important thing for us. It’s the most central part of the game.”

 

[young2rice]

Oh god I always get scared anytime I hear about developers making the game "more accessible" to the market....

 

[Handleit_44]

IGN Editor:

I've seen the game. You guys will be able to read about it Tuesday. All I can say, as someone who has played through Blood Money something like... six times, as someone who silent assassin'ed pretty much every mission in that game, is that I'm excited for it.

Leaked screens:

 

[j.hen]

:jizz:

 

[Handleit_44]

Link: Eurogamer Preview

The methods and the pace feel a step removed from the previous games; this is stealth that's quick to climax, fast and direct in its action. Moving from cover to cover has a rhythm as well as a muscular grace, while the way our hero shimmies across ledges and leaps across gaps suggests the clumsy marionette stylings of past Hitman games are no more.

Stay still and the influence of another stealth game begins to seep through in bright, phosphorous yellow. Agent 47 now has access to Instinct, a feature that IO Interactive insists is an offshoot of his genetically enhanced, near supernatural abilities. Enemies across the map are highlighted in glowing yellow, and in a manifestation of 47's foresight their paths are laid out as a flaming trail.

In an effort to sidestep the problems encountered by Batman: Arkham Asylum (in which players would rely wholly on the comparable Detective Mode), there will be limitations in place. How exactly these will be implemented remains a mystery. The trail will, traditionalists will be pleased to learn, be optional, with harder difficulties removing it all together.

The improvisational element of the past returns with a visceral twist. Takedowns are savage and brutal, with Agent 47 taking whatever's to hand and transforming it into an instrument of death. A power cord gets wrapped violently around someone's throat, a marble bust comes thundering down on someone else's head and a baton is used to audibly snap a neck.

Environments are susceptible to player tinkering, and through all the bustle and noise of this new brand Hitman the old sensation of being given a murderous toy box returns. A fuse box can be sabotaged, used to coax one cop out while plummeting the others into darkness, raising the morbid question: who to kill first?

In the action that ensues, the most brilliant addition to this toy box emerges. Agent 47's targets are now much more than binary automatons; they're well-defined characters who respond to whatever obstacle you put in their way believably. Playing with the hunted before swallowing them whole looks to be that much more delightful than before.

there's a rich depth to the AI. Enemies will react smartly to their environments and work as a unit; if one hears a gunshot and another sees a dropped gun while a third sees you hot-tailing it into the distance, they'll pool their knowledge and hunt you down.

What really sets them apart, though, is their character. The cops of Hitman: Absolution are a lumbering, clumsy bunch, humanised by countless snippets of dialogue. They'll berate each other for their stupidity, or gently mock one another should one be touched by fear, and, most effectively, plead for mercy if Agent 47 gets them in his grasp.

One moment sees Agent 47 take a cop as a human shield, sparking off frenzied cries from the victim's colleagues as they call out to him by name. By making the prey so very human IO Interactive has made Agent 47 that much more of a monster, sharpening his dark, sinister edge.

 

[tigstah]

IGN Editor:



Leaked screens:

damn that reminds me, i need to play blood money.

 

[j.hen]

damn that reminds me, i need to play blood money.

Yes, yes you do.

 

[Handleit_44]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0w21Cvuq_A&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[EmpireWF]

Just...Wow.

 

[ryne candy]

After seeing the pics/vids, I went and got Blood Money again. I traded it along time ago and because of times like this, I don't trade in games anymore.

 

[killgod]

So someone made an image to depict their impressions from E3

 

[1ke]

[youtube]<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-h6xYbkXyLg?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-h6xYbkXyLg?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>[/youtube]

Its the first video on the page.

 

[j.hen]

There's a bunch of dudes right in front of him.. perfect opportunity to be holding the gun all sneaky behind his back like he does in every other Hitman game in that same situation.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Please don't make Hitman "more accessible." If any game should be kept the way it is, it is this game. There are plenty of ways to complete your objection, but each of them require some sort of planning and it will be complicated.

Messing with that formula can ruin the entire franchise. Yes, it will sell more units, but it won't be the same game.

 

[JBauerisGod]

Please don't make Hitman "more accessible." If any game should be kept the way it is, it is this game. There are plenty of ways to complete your objection, but each of them require some sort of planning and it will be complicated.

Messing with that formula can ruin the entire franchise. Yes, it will sell more units, but it won't be the same game.

Yep. Developers with this mindset are going to ruin the industry. It's already happened with almost all shooters being a carbon copy of MW now.

 

[ryne candy]

After playing for 2 hours of Blood Money, I remember why I never got far the 1st time I had it. I'm not the best stealth player and this game proves it. I just passed the 1st mission before taking a break at the Vineyard. It's hard for me and I'm just playing on Normal setting. I am having more fun this time around but I think it's going to be some time before I beat this game.

 

[ThunderHorse]

I don't remember much about Blood money.

but that one mission where you could kill the dude by dropping the piano on him and NO ONE would know it was you was legit.

iirc every mission could be done without you being noticed.

 

[Handleit_44]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWf3dPKYf1E&feature=channel_video_title"]Hitman Absolution Exclusive Run For Your Life Playthrough [HD] - YouTube[/ame]