Hitman: Absolution Review

The save system is regularly disruptive to the world’s best assassin. It’s not so much a save system as a teleport system that ignores almost everything that happened in the level. Reloading checkpoints may position you between resurrected guards. You might be stuck in a corner with an ineffective, unchangeable disguise. Weapons return to their original spots and bodies vanish. The only things preserved are your current arsenal and major targets you assassinated. It’s often easier to restart the whole level than continue from one of these teleport saves. The save system is broken and the only time it works is when it doesn’t matter what has happened in the preceding areas.

Contracts mode turns every story level into a player created sandbox with up to three targets. It allows you to take sanctioned revenge on pesky civilians or guards that caused you grief during the campaign. You can play friend or global challenges, earning extra points for haste, exploration or following set rules. These points give you money to buy or upgrade weapons that can be equipped before missions. There is a simple elegancy to this mode but it also demonstrates how many contrived accidents are designed for the story targets. Perhaps future Hitman games could let players create accidents in a freeform, natural way. Contracts mode further improves the replay value but doesn’t counter all the problems.

Time for a Judge Dredd quote; "I'll be the judge of that"

Despite all the flaws, Absolution is a game that rewards replaying sections dozens of times. The search for perfection or alternative solutions drives you through missions in much the same way it did in Blood Money. Absolution needed more open sandbox assassinations and less evasion levels. Some levels are clustered together to provide unnecessary continuity. Continuity that breaks when the save system ignores events or the level transitions change your clothes or arsenal. There is still satisfaction when stealth, disguises and assassinations work. It doesn’t get much better than strangling your target and escaping undetected in a police uniform. Once you acknowledge Absolution’s sins and virtues, you will see a worthy entry in the Hitman franchise.