Hitman: Absolution

Hi chaps

A bunch of answers to a bunch of questions below. I hope you can use some of them. If you've got something that's been left out, it's probably either a double or something I have absolutely no answer for at this time.

Would you say that the changes being made to the game are additions to the franchise, rather than replacements?
Obviously changes to the game engine will benefit this title and any future titles, so you will see the dramatic improvements to the AI and the graphics in later games. Beyond this though its too early to say what ideas from Hitman Absolution will carry over into later Hitman games. I’m sure we’ll want to listen to the comments from the fans when Absolution ships and we’ll monitor what gameplay features people are enjoying and respond from there...

Suppose I'll throw in a non-Absolution question as well: Do you know if there are there any plans for another Hitman book?
I have no information on a book, I’m afraid. I know that we’re looking at various different partnerships it’s just too early to say what will or won’t happen though...

Will there be rewards for players that play stealthy and achieve Silent Assassin?
Yes. Stealth is still the primary way to play Hitman.

Will we be able to manually save our game at any point, like in all Hitman games so far?
That remains to be seen but currently, no. It could change, however, depending on how play testing goes.

Could Glacier 2 handle the same amount of same sized levels as Hitman 2: Silent Assassin?
Glacier 2 is far superior to G1 so it can do everything the old engine could and more on top!

Is there variety to these safe spots? I don't want to see donut boxes in every table in the game, like in Blood Money there were those body-sized boxes conviniently placed everywhere.
We’re obviously going to create safe spots that make sense to each environment where safe spots would be good to have. You will not see doughnuts all over the place. They will likely be fairly obvious but not I’ve not seen anything glowing. As with most of the gameplay, you should take your time to poke around the environment to identify these places.

Can we recharge the Insinct energy doing REAL Hitman stuff; not by silently killing innocents, but by sneaking around, knocking someone unconscious and taking their clothes?
We will have lots more details on what Instincts is and does later on. But, basically, the idea is that you gain instinct by being a hitman, not by acting like a gun nut.

Will there be more dialogue in the game than previous titles?
There will be more talking this time around, yes.

Why did you decide to remove the newspaper feature? will anything replace it?
That’s very much up in the air right now. We’ll see what works best.

Overall, as the creators of the Hitman series from the very beggining, are you happy with this game so far?
Yes. The team is doing everything it can to make the absolutely best Hitman game ever, and I personally think they’re succeeding. It plays incredibly well already.

For those of us that don't want to bother with 'Instinct' will we be getting the traditional satellite map to navigate around the missions?
No. You will have to rely on the mini map and your own judgement.

How does "instinct" work? Is it a power that is limited in some regard, or lessened depending on difficulty?
We’ll get into loads more details on instincts later on, but for now, suffice to say it’s not something you can use all the time (especially on harder difficulties).

Since this is a more "personal" story, will 47 be getting paid for his contracts and buying upgrades like Blood Money, or is it a collection only system like that seen in Contracts and SA?
You will have to wait a little while longer for details on the story.

Do you guys have any ideas for a pre-order pack?
Yes. And special editions. I’m not aware of what the end products are going to look like but I know that the guys are looking to craft some sweet stuff for the collectors out there.

What made you guys pick Chicago as the location? Not that I'm complaining, just the thing I'm most curious about.
It seemed to fit well with what we wanted that part of the game to show. We’ll get into loads more details on the locations later on.

Will there be any daytime missions ? all the artwork and screenshots posted are at night while its raining.
Yes, there will.

Will you guys be at gamescom 2011?
We are looking into it at the moment. I’m not sure we’ll make it but it hasn’t been ruled out yet.

The checkpoint system. Are the checkpoints just going to be used to tie in larger areas together? Say, if you were to remake some H2:SA missions with this forumula, Hidden Valley, At the Gates and Shogun Showdown could be just one larger level in which the old three levels were just areas separated by checkpoints. Something like that.
Yeah, something like that. We’ll talk about it more later on (holy mama, I get to say that a lot today).

Will it, theoretically, be possible to beat the game without ever firing a gun?
Well, honestly, the game isn’t done yet so I don’t really know. I know that the ambition is that you should be able to get through all levels without taking out anyone but your intended target.

Can we expect to see the entire E3 demo at some point in the future?
Possibly. We’re looking into how to best show this to the world.

For pistols with sound suppressors, will there be two variants of the gun (a sound suppressed and non-suppressed version like previous games), or will 47 be able to pull out a sound suppressor and thread it onto the barrel?
Right now, he pulls out a suppressor. That is subject to change, though.

Are bullet-wound decals still in the game? Overall, how much gore (which is always a good thing) can we expect?
Yes and not that much. You shouldn’t make a mess if you’re a Hitman, you know

NPC's sound more individual and emotionally driven than before. If this is the case, is the following scenario possible: you silently cut some cop's throat and then leave the body. A friend of his comes along, finds the body, and gets more upset/worked up than other cops might get, and perhaps start swearing revenge, break down crying, etc?
With the current AI system, yes, I’d say that was possible.

Any female assassination targets?
Yes.

Any hard, ultra-hard, insanely hard to get achievements/secrets/rewards planned?
Oh yes. You don’t get to be a Silent Assassin by playing this casually.

Any "new game+" or special collectibles (i.e. hidden packages in GTA, the cheese locations in every level in Perfect Dark even though they took out the reward at the release) added for fun replayability or longevity of the game?
Well, we have the surveillance tapes and I know that the boys are looking at implementing other things but getting the core game experience perfect is top priority right now. In-game collectibles are more fluffy items. The gameplay and the levels should offer plenty of replayability for you all.

There will still be the rating, but what about the statistics? still there too?
We’re tracking a number of things so, yeah, I’m guessing that stats are also still shown.

When will the e3 gameplay demo be released?
If you mean, when can you try it, the answer is ‘never’. We are not going to release the E3 demo for the public.

If we turn off the instinct mode, will we have a map (via older hitman games) to rely on to know where to go?
No.


Will there be easter eggs like the ghost in Contracts?
There will be Easter eggs, yes.

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Nick@IO schrieb:

Sorry about the delay, guys. People have been on vacation very on-off here so getting info isn't always easy.

What other tricks will we be able to use to throw off police and guards?
Hitman is going to have a few tricks up his sleeve but it’s going to be up to you to use them well. If you figure out how to play the AI well, you can use a lot of things to cause distractions to get the job done without them suspecting anything.

Based on the audio from the demo that's now been posted, is the actor voicing 47 a placeholder, or will he be playing 47 in the actual game?
The voice heard in the audio is the final actor.

Nick, could you please confirm or deny the existence of a "tag and kill" mechanism in Absolution? (which was mentioned in a GameInformer article)
I cannot, no. We’ll get into more details on gameplay features later on.

Ok, what about the music of this game?? Is it going to be orchestral, or electrical?? Or will it be Heavy Metal?
It’s a mix of a lot of things and it’s going to be fitted directly to the experience in a way that’s never been done in a Hitman game before. You can check out Jesper Kyd and Peter Peter’s previous work to get a basic idea about how they do things but keep in mind that we’re obviously doing things our way.

Will there be more maps than in Blood Money? It was so short game.
The game is pretty long. I’d say it’s about the average length of other Hitman games but since we’re not done with the game yet, it’s tough to estimate exactly. Replay also plays a large part in terms of how much time you spend with the game.

Will the targets have bigger background stories?
Yeah. Keep your eyes open. You’ll likely get to know some of them before the game comes out.

Will there be missions large enough for using a sniper Rifle like previous Hitman installments?
I think it’s safe to say that the sniper rifle will be making a lovely comeback.

Besides some usable props as weapons, will there be a big selection of firearms and upgrades for all of them?
It works a little differently this time around but Hitman will have a nice variety of weapons throughout the game.

With no Map screen this time round how do we find our target, do you have find them and then visually verify them by the clothes they're wearing, they're accent, etc.
It depends a little bit from level to level but overall, yes, you need to be a little more hands-on this time around.

Will they continue using the Blood Money formula? (5 fully customizable weapons)
We’ll be talking more about weapons later on, I believe.

Do you have to buy your ammo between missions?
No.

How many guns can you carry in your suit? (5 revolvers and 4 smgs like in past games or have they developed a proper inventory this time?)
That’s not gone through final design yet. It’s not going to be everything you see but choices will be made available to you, which is a big part of the game, so you will have access to more than two weapons at the same time. You will not have an inventory like the one in DX: HR, for instance.


Can you keep the melee weapons you find in levels?
Currently, you can only have one melee weapon at any one time and, depending on the levels, some will likely be able to be carried over to the next one.

Are we able to retrieve blueprints of buildings, since ICA isn't providing satellite images for 47 anymore?
Not currently, no.

When can we expect the next 'media wave'?
Very soon!

Will the multiplayer mod (if there is one) be coop or player vs player oriented?
Who said anything about multiplayer?

Will the cinematics run on the game engine or will they be pre-recorded videos like for the 2 last games?
It will be a combination of both.

Will 47 still work for an organisation, or will he just be a fugitive throughout the game?
That remains to be seen.

Will blood affect disguises at all? Like if I shoot somebody in the chest or slit their throat, will the disguise I can get from them be bloodstained?
No, not currently, but being messy will leave traces around that guards or civilians will react to.

The 'big name' games such as Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire and Halo have all had DLC's released on the Marketplace and PSN shortly after the game was released. At this moment in time is there any word on a Hitman DLC?
No, we’re not in a position to talk about DLC yet. We’re still trying to finish the main game.

Have there been any discussions about the Achivements/Trophies that will feature in the game. Obviously there will be some but has there been a discussion on what any of them could be? (I know this is a longshot but its worth asking)
Sure, but we’ve not locked them down yet. There will some tough ones in there.

All of the missions take place in the United States which at first I was annoyed about but if it comes out looking good then I don't mind, my third question is how much variety will there be in the missions? I for one loved 'A New Life' because it was a simple hit in a guy's house which for me was a lot more realistic than going into the White House and killing somebody.
The team is going for a lot of variety, which was also what was demonstrated at E3 – going from a quiet stealth element in the library to a more high-paced chopper scene, back to stealth with the hippies and finally some tense disguise gameplay with the cops. The ambition is to create a lot of variety like that so that there is a good flow of different experiences throughout the game. Mind you, within those scenes, options are available for you to play differently than what we showed.

Do the guards have more ways of reacting to illegal/suspicious things happening? In previous Hitman games their reaction has mostly been shooting me in the face and asking no questions.
Yes, the AI has been reworked from the ground up, which means it will be able to do a lot more. We’ll be covering AI fairly soon so stay tuned for more on that.

Will the enemies know 47 is in there in most of the levels? In previous Hitman games the enemies (Requiem and some others being exceptions) didn't have a clue he was there... Until it was too late and 47 was far away. So can we just walk in the suit like any other person without cops shooting us in other levels than what was shown in the e3 demo? To me part of the charm has been just walking in the suit, scanning the area, at my own pace, before finding a disguise and getting the job done.
That depends on the level. The E3 demo showed a level where Hitman was on the run – it’s not going to be like that all the time, of course. There will be levels where you will go in and nobody will know you and you can go totally old-school Hitman on those.

Will we be able to kill people we are supposed to not kill? Like if there is a person we are supposed to protect, can we still kill him? Of course this will result mission failure, but that's the point. If you can't actually fail yourself, there's no risk, there's no tension.
You will be able to fail, yes.

Will there be location-based damage on 47 or the NPC's? Will we see people limping because of a shot to the leg?
I’ve not seen that implemented, no.

Will Guards have limited ammo? Because so far, all the guards have unlimited ammo for their guns.
They’ll keep firing until you’re dead.

Can we still choose to knock people out, rather than killing them? Will syringes/chloroform make a return?
You can, yes. There are multiple ways of taking out enemies.

This is an important one will the sniper rifle suitcase return? and will we be able to use a sniper method on any mission like in blood money for example or will it be restricted to certain sniper foucsed assassinations?.
Yes, the sniper rifle is in the game. The suitcase is also there but it plays a slightly different role this time around. And while you could potentially use the sniper rifle on a lot of levels, some are more suited than others.

Will we have the freedom to finish each contarct the way we please (sniping,bomb,accident,) or will there be special methods in each mission for diversity?
That depends a little bit on the levels. Some levels are very open and free while others are a little more narrow in terms of what you can do – either because of size or location (e.g. using a sniper rifle inside a small building isn’t really all that effective). You will always have the choice of gameplay style ranging from silent assassin to madman to whatever fits you in-between.

With instinct you’ve mentioned earlier that it can be turned off in higher diffeculty levels yet the developers said that we need to use it to do hitman like skills like blending and such so please can we know what exactly is instinct, how can we use it and such things?
We’ll talk a lot more about instinct later on. If you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to but it will likely make the game more challenging if you don't. Blending in is one example.

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....