Step into the cold, calculated world of Hitman: Absolution, where every corridor hides a choice, and every shadow whispers opportunity. Agent 47’s latest descent into betrayal and survival transforms assassination into artistry, blending stealth precision with cinematic tension. From instinct-driven hunts to moral crossroads, this journey isn’t just about eliminating targets; it’s about navigating a labyrinth of loyalty, conscience, and consequence. Prepare for an in-depth exploration of a game that challenges players to master silence, strategy, and the thrill of improvisation.

Hitman: Absolution Review Pros

• Awesome graphics.
• 14.5GB Download size.
• Motion controls, including a sensitivity slider and motion support, are optional.
• Full controller support and for me the preferred way. 
• Graphics settings – Gamma correction slider, bloom, depth of field, and film grain. 
• Sound and language options – master volume, effects volume, music volume, voice volume, subtitles, dyslexia friendly font, and the text and audio language.
• Aim and camera options – Invert axis, aim assist, sensitivity sliders, cinematic point shooting, aim sensitivity, and view reticle on and off.
• Options available for what shows in-game – highlight interactable items, tutorial messages, show hints, instinct shows enemies, and instinct shows paths of enemies. 
• Controls options – haptic feedback strength slider, enhanced cover control option, action Joy Con layout, left-handed controls, View controls, and swap left and right stick presses. 
• Stealth action shooter gameplay.
• Opening tutorial section with ongoing pop-ups and a help menu, along with button prompts in the game world. 
• Full stats screen that breaks everything down.
• Gameplay- Play as Agent 47 and take out your targets any way you can. Use the environment for cover, take people’s identities and get weapons. All bets are off.
• Five game difficulties: Easy, normal, hard, expert, and purist. Each difficulty will tell you what changes to make before you go ahead with the difficulty choice.
• The game uses a health bar system, and there are health stations around to replenish. 
• Play how you want, as the levels are open enough that you have many options and routes to take, and that’s before you decide on whether to go stealth or all guns blazing.
• With so many ways to do your missions, you have so much replayability.
• Hit and activate checkpoints.
• Smooth animations.
• Level select for each location is finished, and you can see your current unlocks, progress and scores.
• When you do a challenge or anything that scores or deducts points, it will briefly pop up with a description. 
• End of level breakdown and rating.
• Points are scored for doing things like hitting your target, finding areas or special items and all that, but you lose points for failing sequences or killing innocents and non-targets, etc. 
• The mini map can help show objectives and enemies, etc.
• A truly brutal murder ridden puzzle game or an over-the-top action shooter flick.
• The pause menu lets you view the objectives, score, and inventory.
• Your view is third-person at all times unless the camera has a wobble. 
• Loadout- Choose what to take in from firearms to decoys to outfits. Unlock new options by completing challenges. 
• HUD- Shows health/instinct/equipped item and a mini-map. It’s minimal for a reason; the sticks and buttons can be on to help with the controls, but overall, it’s non-intrusive.
• Hitman instinct- which is basically Hitman/Batman vision. You can see targets and enemies through walls. This bar also goes down when you use it to blend in or walk past someone who may notice you.
• Challenges- Complete missions, but also do it in particular ways or do some extras to earn new gear or new starting locations, disguises, and weapons.
• Clear on-screen button icons to show what can be interacted with or what cover you can jump between, and an arrow shows. 
• Point shooting- This is like Deadeye in Red Dead. Activate it, then mark the targets and let go for a fast flurry of shots. It looks impressive and straight out of a James Bond film.
• Fast loading times.
• For a bit of mission variety, you may get missions with multiple targets.
• When you die, you restart the level. 
• Actions- You can distract people with items or environmental interactions, knock people out or kill them in many, many ways. Dump bodies into closets, bins or over a cliff.
• Murder simulator sandbox.
• Decent cutscenes and voicework, which can be skipped, but in-game, it’s all voiced, which can also give you clues and openings.
• A lot of truly jaw-dropping locations and vistas, even when playing on low, it’s borderline Witchcraft what they have done here with this port.
• Areas will have security or police or some sort of protection, so if you go in raw, you may well get told to leave, or if you don’t, you will get killed. The goal is to find disguises or take someone out and take their outfit. 
• Outfits enable you to go and do things you may not be able to do any other way. 
• Clear markers on screen show when someone suspects you, when they are after you or when you are in a restricted area. 
• More emphasis on the story than you would think, but it never gets in the way, and it can change somewhat depending on who or what you take out or do.
• Hide in lockers, boxes, crates and that. You can use Hitman vision to look around, but each hiding spot also has a look or peek button. 
• Innocent civilians can see you, and you may have to take them out to stop them from telling people or causing a scene. 
• Quick select radial menu for weapons, and it has a quick unequipped weapons, which is handy as having a weapon out is a recipe for disaster. 
• It is a living world, I mean, everyone has a path, but the world reacts to your actions; you can break people out of rhythm and have targets get spooked and leave. 
• I love playing these games as every game is unique and different, but it is always hilarious and stressful. 

Hitman: Absolution Review Cons

• No touchscreen support in any way, which is a missed opportunity. 
• Cannot remap the controls. 
• Annoying that you cannot view the masteries and unlock challenges when in-game.
• No own in-game achievements.
• There is no first-person view, apart from the camera going a bit crazy.
• You cannot save and load when you want. 
• Ugly textures in places, especially horrible, jagged buildings and backdrops.
• At times, the menus don’t always feel as smooth or clear as you would like.
• You can save whenever, but you lose progress in the level regardless of when you exit.
• The cutscenes can look low-quality next to the gameplay. 
• The tutorial is lacklustre and doesn’t always explain all the elements/possibilities or even the HUD.
• Bad ragdoll effects at times, but to be honest, it does look funny and breaks the tension.
• There are not a lot of accessibility options like Colourblind and text size, etc. 
• Having Blend in amd Hitman vision as the same action is not always ideal. 

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Hitman: Absolution

Official Website: 

Developer: IO Interactive

Publisher: Feral Interactive

Store Link:

Nintendo