That laser is a bastard

Overall Rating: 3.67 out of 5 stars
Imagine Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell) in 2D, motivated by a cattle prodder, timing is everything.

Plot:
There’s no story really, you play a bastard, cloned to escape security systems.

Story/Campaign Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Action, Indie, Platformer
Developer: Curve Studios
Publisher: Curve Studios
Release Date: 29 Nov 2012 (AU)
Platform reviewed on: PC

The ‘Dynamic Ecosystem’ hopes to add alien plants and wildlife. Mmm yeah I can just see me making my own alien animal farm in space with a pointless floating lava moat to keep the evil creatures out, unless Apple has got a patent for that.

Players combat, stealth and mobility skills will be tested in 10 distinct maps that feature a variety of challenges. Find creative ways to eliminate as man targets as possible, fight off waves of enemies or take out targets in drop assassinations. If you fancy non-lethal challenges take a dip at infiltrating a mansion and collecting loot or shooting down whale oil tanks as they rain from the sky.

Dunwall City Trials will also feature a new set of achievements and trophies as well as an online global leaderboard.

“Xbox 360 Achievements and PS3 Trophies are the recognised ‘go to’ sites for anyone interested in getting the most from their game’s Achievements and Trophies…”
“Their extensive knowledge coupled with our studio talent will make for a uniquely crafted list with insight from the experts, offering gamers real challenge and reasons to chase every possible reward. It’s a new approach, but we think it will be a lot of fun and a great way to give player’s an insight into this increasingly important element of game design.”
- Clive Moody, Executive Producer, Codemasters Racing Studio

Hopefully we can say goodbye to those “Successfully launched the game” achievements, although I think that’s a valid achievement given the quality of testing games go through.

In Absolution, Agent 47′s character develops through a clear storyline. The story itself is quite mediocre in terms of the plot, and you can pretty much tell what’s going to happen. Without trying to give much away, it can be summed up with one sentence. ‘Try and find the girl while killing a bunch of people’.

Agent 47 picking up chicks

In Contracts mode players can carry out contracts, they can create their own and share them online. Players can setup competitions for contracts and invite friends to participate, seeing who can complete the contract the fastest. By successfully carrying out contracts, you are rewarded with Hitman Money, which is used to unlock weapons, parts and outfits.

The stealth is quite similar to other Hitman games, requiring you to use effective cover and disguises to slip past undetected. Absolution’s main feature is Instinct, a complete game changing addition, which allows Agent 47 to use his superior senses. Instinct has four key features, spotting objects of interest, anticipating enemy movement, blending in and point shooting.

Yessss come to me my precious

Cute & Deadly

With the AI receiving an IQ boost (probably a bit too much) due to this you will be using Instinct a lot when you play Absolution. The NPCs like police/guards/chefs etc. will realise you’re not really one of them pretty quickly. This means you can no longer put on a disguise and stand next to people without them suspecting a thing. This is where Instinct’s blending feature comes in to play allowing you just enough time to blend in and slip past.

Agent 47′s heightend senses

Point Shooting

Point Shooting allows you to utilise Agent 47′s true lethal potential. With Point Shooting you can mark multiple targets and execute them in one swift action. Designating targets uses up a lot of Instinct very quickly so selecting your targets fast would be advisable.

Absolution features some very large levels, to make it less painful, a Checkpoint system has been implemented. By activating a marked checkpoint, you can always replay a scene, very handy for when you mess something up. This saves having to restart the level when you make a tiny miscalculation. The checkpoint system also has its failure, if you end up restarting from a checkpoint, any entities you killed/subdued prior to the checkpoint will respawn, and any weapons you dropped or disguises you change out of will no longer be there.

The visuals are very current gen, there nothing ground breaking to report about it. The only noticeable difference between the Lowest and Ultra settings is more grass and detailed shadows/vegetation in higher settings. In terms of performance even with the lowest graphics settings, your system can be reduced to a crawl in some cutscene/stage transitions.

Difference between Lowest & Ultra graphics setting

Story Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Visuals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.13 out of 5 stars
Verdict: Lives up to expectation, best stealth game since Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: 20 Nov 2012

Platform played on: PC

Check out the gameplay preview, caution it may contain spoilers.