Checkpoint Breached: Hitman Absolution: You're doing it wrong

I can't tell if I'm getting old, or hateful, or what, but seriously, people need to chill the fuck out. I'm not sure when it happened, I'm starting to think it was right around the time the 360/PS3 generation happened and everyone got so damn entitled. I've spent 23 hours playing Hitman: Absolution and it's wonderful. Seriously, I'm being sincere, I love this game and feel it's a worthy heir to the Hitman throne. And if you disagree, I'm going to spend this entire post proving you wrong so read at your own discretion.

Effort is something seriously overlooked in today's gaming environment, unless you're indie, then you get a pass for some stupid reason. Hitman: Absolution is an effort, and while it's not perfect, it shows a risk, a chance taken to be better while preserving an idea. Is it perfect? Fuck no. Is it worthy of being touted as the "End of the Hitman Series"? Fuck you. No, really, I don't like you. If you complain about video games becoming "generic" and turn around and stifle innovation there's really no use for you in the video game community. You can have one or the other, pick, now.

I've loved the Hitman series every since Hitman 2. They're incredibly difficult, they're punishing, they're unforgiving and it's great. Stealth games, so I've figured out, are a play on the puzzle game. It's a puzzle game without a set solution. It's open ended, difficult, and requires restarts. Hitman Absolution achieves this provided you, yes you, didn't fuck it all up. You played on the wrong difficulty.

Now this is the fault of the devs as well, I'm not denying that they made the game have the possibility of being too easy. Hitman is not an action game, but they made it possible to play it as an action game, which is a bit of a problem.

But what's seriously overlooked is that this is a choice. If you play below any of the "Professional" difficulties, you're doing it wrong. The lower difficulties are for action game people, or people who have never played Hitman and don't know what's going on. If you play it on a higher difficulty, it is, in my humble opinion, is a proper Hitman game.

Proper

There's a lot to like here. One of the main criticisms this game has received is the addition of the storyline. And I understand, I really do, Agent 47 is supposed to be the anto-hero. He's cold, he's calculated and he doesn't exist. But I think it's nice for him to have motivation. I don't really know how to convince you, but I like it. It's not as if they made him all squishy and human, he's still the same cold-blooded killer you've loved, he just has motivation beyond money this time.

Her

It's good character development, it really is. It doesn't destroy Agent 47, it enhances him. But I digress, this is a worthy Hitman game. The levels are challenging and thought out. The new stealth elements and actions are a good addition. Something that's overlooked a lot is that the previous Hitman games were not hard only because of their design, they're also difficult because of their limitations. The AI code in Absolution is top notch. I've always wondered why people didn't recognize that you weren't one of the doctors they've worked with for years, or that guy is definitely not on their construction crew.

I'm new

The levels are nice, and while I greatly miss the customization of guns from Blood Money, but I don't care. The progression is better, the levels make sense, it's a nicer game. Innovation is stifled and I'm not having any part of it. I love this game and it is Hitman, whether you like it or not, it's a worthy successor. There's characters, they're real if a bit extreme and it's just lovely. The gameplay is well thought out, challenging and rewarding. Now I need to go garote more people, if you'll excuse me.