Conclusion and Observation

The Hitman game series has always been about stealth game play based upon a simple premise: you are a genetically engineered clone who has arrived at this life and lifestyle more as a victim of circumstances than by choice. You were created in a lab and trained from birth to be what you are, a lethal killing machine.

In theory the whole point to that is to explain how an otherwise likeable character could be capable of so repulsive a career choice. And that is the important point: as obscene as his job is, the vast majority of the people that Agent 47 is contracted to kill are genuinely bad people who we can, for the most part, agree need killing. As to the flip-side of the coin, 47 is in fact a likeable character, which makes the attraction that the games hold all that more difficult to explain to your average grandparent let alone parents. I mean the excuse, “he needed killing” may work in Texas, but almost everywhere else you are going to hear it suggested that maybe that is not as justifiable a reason as it sounds.

We are not here to judge the morality that exists in the world of Agent 47 and the ICA, in fact the point to these games – to this long series of games – has always been about the growth and maturation of Agent 47, his moral outlook, and his personal conscience – and it can be easily argued that in karmic terms he has come a very long way since the man we first met in Codename 47.

The Hitman: Absolution Launch Trailer

The events of Hitman: Absolution and its Story start out in a manner that is fully within the realm of tradition in this series. Agent 47 enters from stage left, a fully supported member of the ICA's action and hit teams. But when he exits stage right, after the very first Chapter, all that has changed. The experience of playing as Agent 47 lacking the support of the ICA and his traditional relationship with his handler have changed the face of this series in a significant way. In fact it is fair to say that the departure from the established formula here presents every indication for clues to the future of the series.

What that appears to suggest is that Agent 47 is no longer restricted to the narrow definition of what it means to be Agent 47, and that is saying something. We can only imagine what it is like when the gloves and the suit are hanging in the closet. Does he play video games for amusement? Does he build ships in a bottle? Jigsaw Puzzles? Or perhaps he paints and plays the violin. This side of his life was never shown to us nor for that matter hardly any personal existence. The first taste of that we are exposed to is here, in Absolution, when we see Agent 47 in a bath robe sipping whiskey. Who knew he even drank?

While Absolution has received some very negative comments from hard core fans of the Hitman series – gamers who really only wanted a repackaged Blood Money to play – serious fans are celebrating this monumental addition after seven years of wait with open arms and smiling faces – and it was, without question, worth the wait. If you are the sort of gamer that reads the conclusions section before you play the game or read the guide, then you now know what is coming and you can only be happy and satisfied with the knowledge.

This was an excellent romp through the Hitman universe, and we can only hope that the unexpected existence of another, female, clone, means that the future is bright and will be filled with a tag-team set of augmented assassins.

We hope that you enjoyed this guide as much as we enjoyed creating it. Have fun, and try not to die.