I've already talked your ear off about how Hitman: Absolution stands on its own, but now it's time to get to the important stuff... like how it stands up to the rest of the series. I'm gonna be comparing this one to Hitman 4 (Blood Money). I really can't speak for the first game (Agent 47) as i never played it, number 2 (Silent Assassin) may have been my introduction but it has not aged gracefully and Hitman 3 (Contracts) somehow made creative assassination so boring that i was forced to drop a piano on it after just 3 levels. So let's keep moving....
.... You heard me, move it!
Looks aren't everything but damn Absolution is a sexy bitch. The environments feel truly alive and i dare you not to be at least a little stunned the first time you walk through the Chinatown level. The environments are densely packed with little details around every corner; the trade off is that they are considerably smaller than Blood Money's. Since most of the missions are broken up into smaller pieces instead of one big bite, you'll be doing less in smaller environments even if it looks stunning while you're doing it.
Lookin damn good.
As far as freedom is concerned, Absolution is probably the most prudish game in the series. The previous games would let you choose your weapons, drop you into a biggish environment and say "GO"! From that point on you were free to do whatever you wanted so long as your target ended up deader than you. Absolution gets a little carried away adhering to it's story and forces you into escape and infiltration levels (sometimes you don't even get to kill anyone). The latitude the previous games gave you set the series apart from uptight squares like Splinter Cell (seriously Splinter Cell, you'll make someone very happy someday... just not me) and now the series is starting to play like every other modern AAA title....
Splinter Cell, it's not you, it's me..... no wait, it's definitely you.
Stop expecting me to change my mind, you're boring!
....Which isn't always a bad thing. Somewhere along the line, Hitman learned about fancy new things like cover systems, over the shoulder gunplay and melee combat just to name a few. Where previous games felt restrictive and (dare i say) awkward in what 47 was physically capable of, this game feels like you can take on the world. Sure it's a little overpowering now that you're as deadly as a legendary assassin is supposed to be but the game's (shockingly logical) scoring system helps keep you in check.
And doing stuff like this NEVER gets old.
Last but not least, I need to talk about the ending (don't worry, no spoilers). Absolution's final level.... kinda sucks; it's just more of the same from the previous 19 levels and while the story comes to a satisfying conclusion, you don't feel the rush a finale should bring. Blood Money ended with a truly cathartic bloodbath where you finally got to let loose on your nemesis and 20 of his closest, heavily armed friends (at your character's funeral no less). This violent set piece required you to use all the skills you've honed while playing the game and let you stop being subtle and start getting deadly; by comparison, Absolution's finale just lacks punch.
And if there's one thing 47 should be good at, it's going out with a bang.
Don't get me wrong, Hitman: Absolution is a very good game and I thoroughly enjoyed it.... but it has big shoes to fill (though i'll admit, my inner fanboy may have gotten out of it's cage for a moment). Absolution is not really an evolution for the series; it doesn't do a whole lot that's innovative or truly push the series forward in any way except narrative. If anything, it just brings Hitman into the modern era of video games and all that comes along with it, good and bad. This is definitely worth checking out, but longtime fans will still revere Blood Money as the pinnacle of the series.
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