[ALL] Hitman: Absolution

[Twigg4075]

I think I'm getting the game as a Xmas gift, so I restarted Blood Money and plowing through it. So far, I just passed the level where one of the guards sniffs panties with ether (hilarious). I'm only playing on Normal but already had to look at You Tube a couple of times and always think "man, I would never have thought of that." I forgot how you can't save mid mission and start it up after turning off the console....that sucks.

Yeah, that was the ONE main thing that I never liked about the Hitman games. Thanks for reminding me of that. There have been countless times where I saw a solution and thought the exact same thing.

 

[SethMode]

Yes, but I think an integral part of any good stealth game is taking your time, watching enemy patterns and patiently plotting your course of action. As long as the game isn't broken, which may or may not be case with this game, you can usually blame yourself if something goes wrong. There still can be trial and error though which can make lengthy sections very frustrating. MotN didn't seem to have any of that. You didn't have to plot too much because if you screwed up you only have to replay the last few minutes, tops, and even that's pushing it.
My main concern is that if the AI does have issues, even what may look minor on the surface, could be game breaking in a game like this.

I would say judging MotN by the demo doesn't really allow you to see how challenging it can become. There is some serious instances where you have to plot out each tiny movement (even when you're a leveled up badass) or boom, you're dead. The checkpoint thing just makes it so you don't feel like you're stuck in a situation that you can't fight your way out of because it's a stealth game. But anyway, I won't derail any further.

I personally liked that aspect of Hitman. The ingenious ways you could pull stuff off. Blood Money especially was THE game for plotting your movements and decisions wisely. I remember the Opera level (which was probably my favorite) where you can get a real gun that looks like the prop gun in the play, swap it out for the prop, rig explosives to the auditorium chandelier. Then, target 1, the dude in the play rehearsing, would get killed by the guy thinking he had a prop instead of a real gun. Seeing this, target 2, a guy that loves watching target 1 perform, finally comes running out of his booth and down the aisle when he realizes his friend is dead. That's when you blow the chandelier, which falls and crushes target 2. You walk away unseen, and get that sweet newspaper write up which essentially acts as if this crazy double tragedy happened at the Opera because they have no other clues.

 

[Twigg4075]

I would say judging MotN by the demo doesn't really allow you to see how challenging it can become. There is some serious instances where you have to plot out each tiny movement (even when you're a leveled up badass) or boom, you're dead. The checkpoint thing just makes it so you don't feel like you're stuck in a situation that you can't fight your way out of because it's a stealth game. But anyway, I won't derail any further.

I personally liked that aspect of Hitman. The ingenious ways you could pull stuff off. Blood Money especially was THE game for plotting your movements and decisions wisely. I remember the Opera level (which was probably my favorite) where you can get a real gun that looks like the prop gun in the play, swap it out for the prop, rig explosives to the auditorium chandelier. Then, target 1, the dude in the play rehearsing, would get killed by the guy thinking he had a prop instead of a real gun. Seeing this, target 2, a guy that loves watching target 1 perform, finally comes running out of his booth and down the aisle when he realizes his friend is dead. That's when you blow the chandelier, which falls and crushes target 2. You walk away unseen, and get that sweet newspaper write up which essentially acts as if this crazy double tragedy happened at the Opera because they have no other clues.

The newspaper write ups were really cool. That makes me want to pick up Blood Money again but you can't seem to find it anywhere. Was that one of the games that was supposed to be rumored in the HD Collection?

Edit: Just checked and yes it is. I guess I'll wait it out and hope it eventually surfaces. Why it didn't release to coincide with the release of this game is beyond me.

 

[Twigg4075]

There are trophy lists for the HD Collection games so it has to be coming soon.

As for this game, I was able to get the PS3 version from Red Box tonight. I played the first mission and did the Contracts tutorial. This game does seem pretty bad ass. It looks great with the exception of things like puddles on sidewalks. They look static and like they don't belong. Also, I immediately noticed no reflections in the van windows at the very beginning, something I use to gauge graphical fidelity in games. Otherwise it looks pretty "incredible" (in Swarley voice). The Contracts mode does seem like it could be a really awesome way to challenge your friends.

As long as the AI doesn't start becoming super human I can definitely see me buying this game.

 

[jms493]

sometimes with games like this you are better off just playing the game then reading some other strangers opinion on it. Remember the days where we bought games by the box art and the screens in the back? sometimes i miss those days.

 

[Twigg4075]

sometimes with games like this you are better off just playing the game then reading some other strangers opinion on it. Remember the days where we bought games by the box art and the screens in the back? sometimes i miss those days.

I don't. Those were also the days were you were lucky to get a few games a year. When you had to base those purchasing decisions off of box art you were mostly fucked.

 

[jms493]

I don't. Those were also the days were you were lucky to get a few games a year. When you had to base those purchasing decisions off of box art you were mostly fucked.

i just think we overcomplicate things sometimes....its a video game. sometimes i like the simplistic view of things. Seems like people spend more times researching about a game then actually freaking playing it.

 

[Twigg4075]

i just think we overcomplicate things sometimes....its a video game. sometimes i like the simplistic view of things. Seems like people spend more times researching about a game then actually freaking playing it.

That does happen a lot but I try not to buy into most of it. But when I read multiple accounts form different sites saying there is an inherent issue with the AI in this game you have to take note.

The problem is that some people say that the issue is prevalent and others say they haven't noticed any at all.

 

[jms493]

That does happen a lot but I try not to buy into most of it. But when I read multiple accounts form different sites saying there is an inherent issue with the AI in this game you have to take note.

The problem is that some people say that the issue is prevalent and others say they haven't noticed any at all.

Just wait till the game price drops and the send a patch out if there truly is a problem.

 

[Swarley]

 

[SethMode]

I don't think Twigg, or most people here, are going to never play a game that they're interested in based upon what someone else here says. And besides, no one here has said it was a bad game, I personally have said if you like the Hitman games, you'll like it. It just has some flaws.

I don't know if you're (jms) referring to people here or what, but with some of the gaming nerds on this site, impressions from others seem to do nothing more than dictate whether or not the game is bought at full price, or someone waits until it's on sale. I don't think anyone here "overcomplicates" things by researching games instead of playing them.

 

[Twigg4075]

Ok, so I'm severl missions in and there definitely seems to be plenty of times where enemies see you or become suspicious and there is no way they should. They'll see you from across a crowded room and shit. Also, I'm not sure if it's just on PS3 but I'm constantly seeing flashlight beams clip through walls. It's more annoying than anything but there have been several times where I thought I was about to be discovered only to realize I was alone on the room and a cop's flashlight beam was shining THROUGH a wall.

I'm also not a big fan of the checkpoint system, as I think others have stated. Most of the time they are place in conveniently places. But I just did the mission in the strip club and those checkpoints sucked. I found a way to sneak in and there was no checkpoint near my entry point. The only ones where near the normal entry ways and exits and they were usually guarded by a bouncer. They were all but useless because as soon as you got near them, disguise or not, they would be alerted.

I also mentioned the graphics before. Like I said, one of my pet peeves with graphics is whether you can see reflections in reflective surfaces like glass and mirrors. This game is real inconsistent with that stuff. Sometimes you do see 47's reflection but other times you don't and the surface is just intentionally blurred. The rest of the game does look pretty damn good except for maybe the overuse of light bloom.

 

[christguz]

I personally think it's a great game and worth the 6 year hiatus. Yes like every game ever made there are flaws but not big enough to give Hitman a bad name. BTW if anyone needs help with getting some of the achievements i will be more than happy to guide you through it!

 

[Twigg4075]

I personally think it's a great game and worth the 6 year hiatus. Yes like every game ever made there are flaws but not big enough to give Hitman a bad name. BTW if anyone needs help with getting some of the achievements i will be more than happy to guide you through it!

Oh, I definitely don't think it's a bad game by any means. It;s quite good actually. But it does have some technical issues and some gameplay issues that need to be addressed to make it a top tier game IMO.

Also, it sounds like you're playing on Xbox? Have you had any issues with freezing? The reason I ask is because I initially rented this from Red Box for PS3 and played up until the Rosewood level. I returned it and went back to the kiosk the next day and saw they had the 360 version so I figured I'd give that a try (especially since I still have those free rental codes Swarley posted a while back). The first thing I noticed was that the graphics seemed to be a bit "hazy" on the 360 version. But the most noticeable difference was that the game would "hiccup" and kind of hand any time a notification box would pop up. It was kind of jarring sometimes because the game would pause and then speed up as if trying to catch up. Agent 47 would run like 1000 mph after those pauses. But the WORST issue was when I got to the same spot I did on PS3, Rosewood, and the game froze while loading the level. My entire console was frozen so my only option was to turn it off. When I booted the game back up I got a message saying my save was corrupted and could not be loaded. Awesome.

I researched the issue and apparently it fairly prevalent on 360. So much so that people are encouraged to back up their saves.

Just a word of advice if you have the 360 version. And if you have both consoles and want this game I suggest going PS3.

 

[christguz]

Oh, I definitely don't think it's a bad game by any means. It;s quite good actually. But it does have some technical issues and some gameplay issues that need to be addressed to make it a top tier game IMO.

Also, it sounds like you're playing on Xbox? Have you had any issues with freezing? The reason I ask is because I initially rented this from Red Box for PS3 and played up until the Rosewood level. I returned it and went back to the kiosk the next day and saw they had the 360 version so I figured I'd give that a try (especially since I still have those free rental codes Swarley posted a while back). The first thing I noticed was that the graphics seemed to be a bit "hazy" on the 360 version. But the most noticeable difference was that the game would "hiccup" and kind of hand any time a notification box would pop up. It was kind of jarring sometimes because the game would pause and then speed up as if trying to catch up. Agent 47 would run like 1000 mph after those pauses. But the WORST issue was when I got to the same spot I did on PS3, Rosewood, and the game froze while loading the level. My entire console was frozen so my only option was to turn it off. When I booted the game back up I got a message saying my save was corrupted and could not be loaded. Awesome.

I researched the issue and apparently it fairly prevalent on 360. So much so that people are encouraged to back up their saves.

Just a word of advice if you have the 360 version. And if you have both consoles and want this game I suggest going PS3.

To be honest no, i did not have any issues with the game freezing or being glitchy like that. The problem that I did have and pissed me off was losing the save file. I believe I was up to Factory of Death and saved it there because i had to go to work the next day. Waited for the little save icon to go away and shut my xbox off. Next day I rush home, turn my xbox on and guess what? Save file gone. For someone odd reason it didn't save anything but the Achievements which is automatic and the Play Styles and Disguises. I was infuriated. So cooled off and started playing it again which it did kind of help me out with some the Challenges because i already knew what to do.

 

[Twigg4075]

To be honest no, i did not have any issues with the game freezing or being glitchy like that. The problem that I did have and pissed me off was losing the save file. I believe I was up to Factory of Death and saved it there because i had to go to work the next day. Waited for the little save icon to go away and shut my xbox off. Next day I rush home, turn my xbox on and guess what? Save file gone. For someone odd reason it didn't save anything but the Achievements which is automatic and the Play Styles and Disguises. I was infuriated. So cooled off and started playing it again which it did kind of help me out with some the Challenges because i already knew what to do.

Ouch. Glad to hear you decided to persevere. It's stuff like this that make me realize I really need to start using the cloud feature on Xbox. It's automatic on PS3 so I use it all the time. I haven't even tried it on 360 yet.

 

[christguz]

Ouch. Glad to hear you decided to persevere. It's stuff like this that make me realize I really need to start using the cloud feature on Xbox. It's automatic on PS3 so I use it all the time. I haven't even tried it on 360 yet.

Exactly my point as well. I really want to use the Cloud feature but I always forget to use when saving or starting a new game. I really should I only have about 9GB left on my hard drive. It's a 120gb in total.

 

[jms493]

I finished the prologue...interesting.


Hitman (3) by jms493, on Flickr


Hitman (5) by jms493, on Flickr

 

[jms493]

I am on the Hunter and The Hunted...I can see this game getting very hard.

I got some funny screens though.

See me?


HMA 2013-05-11 21-54-09-30 by jms493, on Flickr

AHHHH!!!


HMA 2013-05-11 21-37-46-58 by jms493, on Flickr

 

[jms493]

sonuvbitch


HMA 2013-05-11 21-46-05-41 by jms493, on Flickr