Hitman: Absolution

For many, the sight of Agent 47’s bald head and neutral expression, and the telltale barcode on the back of his skulldome evokes a rare kind of warmth – like so many protagonists in video games, 47 is a true professional, despite the numerous balls-ups that his many players seem to put him through before they get it right.

Hitman: Absolution is the comeback for Agent 47, a professional assassin for a mysterious organization who has, in rare form gone rogue this time to get to the bottom of a mystery. Knowing they had to ramp things up this time, the game features a good-sized variety of ways for you to dispatch your targets, from straight-up shooting, to making things look like a convenient accident. You have a good array of weapons at your disposal along with disguises and a helpful instinct meter that lets you spot useful objects or bluff the guards.

For all that openness, though, the achievements and environments all seem to point to a handful of spelled-out means of killing your targets; it feels like picking one of a half-dozen options rather than making it up as you go. The game also makes clear it’s preference for you playing in complete stealth mode rather than kill-em-all, so you feel like you’re playing it wrong when you make the room bleed, rather than just playing things your way.

Absolution is a solid return to form, beautifully detailed with careful level design and strategy built in. The stealth and kill options feel a bit mechanical rather than organic, but that doesn’t stop this from being a very diverting few hours of play. [Alex Cole]