Here is where I would normally have taken a whole section of press release so you would know what this game was about. But the title really says it all and unless you have been out of gaming and movies for some time you should have at least a rudimentary understanding of what the game is and who stars in it. I’ll be nice and give the slightest of refreshers. You play Agent 47, a Hitman, not just an ordinary gun for hire but a breed apart. He has a barcode on the back of his bald head, a very nice suit with a red tie and the sharpest killing reflexes in the business. Simply put, he makes killing an art form and therefore makes himself an artist. This may sound like it was lifted from a press release but any fan of the series will smile and agree that this is the core of Agent 47 and so game developers that take on this character as a project have to understand that they have to create an artist so the artist can work his craft. A daunting project for a game developer and from what has been seen so far, one IO Interactive are up to.
E3 Impressions:
I walked by and in the Square Enix complex several times, sometimes to preview games, other times just to join the masses sitting in chairs like they are at a movie in front of a gigantic screen watching game trailers. Two that always caught my eye were Dead Island, one of the games I got to go hands on with, and Hitman Absolution, which was a short but very well done teaser trailer. I knew on the last day I would get a chance to check out the video demo but I still got pulled into the beauty of the trailer (and I’ll admit it, a well graphically rendered woman stepping into a shower kind of stops a person in their tracks), watching it to the end every time. So when my chance to go see the longer demo came up I was at the booth promptly on time and given a grimace of concern. A representative took me back to the screening room and through the little porthole window in it I could see a head literally pressed up to it and 5 people sitting outside waiting for the next time slot. As I found out it had started kind of quietly at the beginning of the show, everyone was interested but in a fairly nonchalant manner. Then as they saw the video screen, noticed every publication was raving about the demo previews they took it a little more seriously and suddenly the room was packed. I was offered to view other games, demo some, just about anything while waiting for Hitman screening but I just waited so that I could get a good seat and see what the fuss was about. Wow. Worth the fuss. I would sometimes forget I was watching a video game walk through rather than a computer generated animated movie.
The IO Interactive Glacier 2 Engine lived up to it’s reputation and created an experience so detailed and beautiful it was hard to believe this is going to be a sandbox game. To render such amazing graphics you would think that it would require limited options or exact paths of travel but it flawlessly executed every move, showed different opportunities to take different routes and the AI is so well designed that it can react to whatever you decide as the method and direction of attack. Simply put the video that everyone was watching on the big screen was a nice cinematic, but the gameplay video made you want to reach for a controller that very moment. The Instinct system is demonstrated flawlessly, showing Agent 47’s knowledge of his human prey and his understanding of his environments to show the paths of AIs and possible weapons in the area.
As Agent 47 you are also a master of disguises and can hide in plain sight if you have the guts and talent. This little write up was delayed because I expected by now for the play video to have been released but at the most there has been a leak through a European demo play through so you can see some of the level but you will have to wait to see the whole thing. Trust me, it is worth that wait. The video below is a bit of both a level spoiler and a demo video spoiler but I think doesn’t do either too much.
Demo Video
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