Hitman: Absolution review

 

I am glad there are developers that have a keen focus of how to bring big console and PC releases to mobile without them feeling really clunky. This is to say that Hitman: Absolution is the second Hitman game released on iOS by Feral Interactive, and it is probably the experience I'd recommend most people opt for out of the mobile options available.

It's a goofy game that goes in a sort of off-kilter direction from the rest of the series, but it's still a glorified murder playground that these games have always been, and this one just so happens to be the nicest-playing one of the bunch.

Leave the world behind

Hitman: Absolution originally released in 2012 on PCs, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, and my impression of its reception at the time was pretty middling. It wasn't until the trilogy of releases after this one (i.e. World of Assassination) that Hitman felt like it was "back."

Part of this probably has to do with the fact that Hitman: Absolution somewhat abandons the design of whisking you between a variety of locations to assassinate targets and instead tries to tell a continuous story about Agent 47 going on the lam.

While there are still plenty of opportunities to take down targets in a variety of ways, there are also full levels solely dedicated to traversal, story beats, and other setpieces that Hitman's traditional structure doesn't really allow for.

Odd opportunities

As the fifth or so Hitman game I've played, Absolution takes the same goofy approach to its dark premise and leans into it at every opportunity. Nothing in this game gets as wild as the peak moments of Blood Money, but there's a more consistent amount of antics featuring nun assassins, wrestling matches, and more.

Each level also provides a good amount of latitude for how to achieve objectives and kill certain targets, and a healthy amount of challenge on top of that. Part of the fun I had in Absolution specifically was finding some ways to even bypass some of the intended solutions for completing levels, whether that be through finding the perfect escape route after taking an open shot, simply assassinating everyone in a level, or finding ways to play with explosives in new and interesting ways.

Of course, this led to a decent amount of needing to re-load from checkpoints, but I'll take having to do that over playing a game that really just wants you to complete objectives in the handful of ways they've designed you to.

Mobilized murder

Where World of Assassination felt like a port that didn't understand mobile and Blood Money -- Reprisal felt pitch-perfect--though aged--for smaller screens, Absolution feels ambitious and impressive like the former and like a game you'd realistically want to play on iOS like the latter. It looks great and plays well (though I had a few wonky issues with touch and opted for controller play), and features some great auto-saving, cloud syncing, graphics options, and more. It also doesn't devour storage space or require an internet connection, which is really nice.

There are still some pain points with the in-game AI sometimes acting in strange or unanticipated ways or a body sometimes just disappearing on you, but there are no game halting or crashing issues. Consider this acceptable-levels of jank, if you will, though I guess that depends on your tolerance for these kinds of things.

My guess is, if you are remotely interested in playing a Hitman game in this day and age, you should be well aware and onboard with the kinds of things come with the territory.

The bottom line

While Hitman: Absolution might not be the definitive or even typical Agent 47 experience, it is the title I would recommend ahead of other available options on iOS.

This port has been considerately developed for the platform while still delivering on modern console levels of scope and detail, and--despite the way it departs from tradition--it's still a very goofy stealth game about murdering terrible people in creative ways.