Real Men do it with Garrote Wire
E3’s hands-off demo took place much later in the game, sometime after Agent 47 has a falling out with the International Contracts Agency and is now on the run.  This is made evident by the assassin having had his trademark barcode tattoo removed from the back of his head but more so than that he seems even more cautious than before.  His crusade against his former employers at the ICA has brought him to the small South Dakotan town of Hope, a scene that feels just like any other small town you can drive through in the United States, albeit from a very outdated perspective.  Agent 47’s targets are members of a greaser gang called the Cougars that holds control of Hope, the leader of which, Lenny, is about as dumb as a post save for his knowledge of a woman named Victoria whom 47 needs to find.  Before you can interrogate him however several of his cronies need to be dealt with first, a task our demonstrator went right to.

Sneaking in through the backdoor of a small convenience store, one of the gang members is chatting up the female clerk as 47 hides behind cover.  The target finally leaves, heading upstairs behind the counter, the giddy clerk all too oblivious of our favorite bald assassin.  To distract her, 47 activates a radio on the counter behind him which draws the woman out, allowing him a slim window to sneak by and head upstairs.  Spying the target looking out the window and talking on his cell, 47 sneaks up quietly and suffocates the man with his trademark piano wire.  After hiding the body in a closet we head back down the stairs only to find that the clerk has returned to the counter and is blocking 47’s progress.  Rather than kill the innocent woman was saw the assassin withdraw his trusty Sliver Baller pistol, complete with suppressor, and fire on the car just outside the front of the store.  With the car alarm blaring and the clerk investigating the player easily slip out the door from whence he came, scott free.

Much like its predecessor Blood Money, Hitman Absolution builds on the 2005 hit’s grading system but this time in a far more real-time focus.  Rather than forcing the player to play through the entire level before knowing the results of their run a corner of the screen’s HUD indicates the player’s current skill status, grading the player based on kills, the method thereof, whether you were detected, etcetera.  The IO Interactive rep for today’s demo clearly wants to show off the potential of what the new Glacier engine is capable of though so we weren’t in for a showing of what I Silent Assassin run would look like, especially as we started after the next target.

Across the street in an autoshop lies the next Cougar but unfortunately the place is covered with police officers.  Sneaking behind some tires 47 enters the shop quietly, making his way upstairs toward the victim.  After sneaking around for a bit though 47 is spotted by an officer.  Before he can react though 47 shanks to man, his lifeless body hitting the ground with a loud thud.  Our demonstrator decides to not hide the body and continues upstairs, eventually finding the Cougar member.  47’s next kill is a little more brutal, running the man straight through with a screwdriver.  Finding some C4 and certain that the cops will eventually find their now deceased fellow officer our player decides to make the deaths an accident, dragging the target’s body outside behind a leaky gas pump.  Sneaking back through the shop the player hides behind a stack of old tires as an officer is blocking his escape route.  Equipping the C4, the player tosses it next to the gas pump, causing a loud enough thump to draw the cop’s attention away.  Slipping by, the cop has no time to react as the player hits the trigger, causing a huge explosion that kills everyone in the vicinity.  As more officers converge on the scene none of them take notice of the conspicuously well-dressed bald man walking away from the fiery scene.  Two down, three to go.

The Streets of Hope
The next target is located behind the autoshop.  Maneuvering behind an adjacent building, 47 slips behind a fence, entering a large yard.  47 is now trespassing and will be caught if seen so the player needs a disguise to walk around freely.  Before he can do anything about that though a dog locked behind a fence begins barking at him.  47 quickly hides in an outhouse as a mechanic comes over to investigate.  As soon as the mechanic gets within range and turns his back the player comes out, grabs the man and knocks him unconscious.  47 changes into the man’s outfit and, to avoid suspicion at their missing colleague, the player finds and tosses a bone into the dog’s pen, silencing it.

Now properly attired for this part of the level our demonstrator took us further into the year.  Using 47’s new Instinct ability, the player averts the suspicion of a mechanic who didn’t recognize the strange, new bald man with a bloody bandage on the back of his head.  Instinct also allows the player to see AI patrol patterns and NPC’s predicted movements in a certain area, albeit for only a short time.  In the next section of the yard the player comes across a group of mechanics all sitting around along with the third target.  The door is guarded by some well-armed thugs and it’s clear that no one dressed as a mechanic is going to get inside. 

It is at this point that our demo player decides to show off another one of 47’s new abilities: Point Shooting.  Using the same power guage as Instinct, Point Shooting allows you to mark targets in an area and, with the press of a button, execute them all with your chosen weapon.  The ability is much like what John Marston utilizes in Red Dead Redemption, slowing down time to mark your targets and returning to real time as 47 begins dispensing death in the form of lead.  The player marks all the targets in the vicinity and kills them all silently with 47’s silenced Silver Baller.

Only two targets remain as 47 activates his Instinct ability again and spies the fourth Cougar who is making his way downstairs, coming outside through the door that the thugs were guarding.  With little time to react the player simply chooses to shoot the target in the head, preventing him from raising the alarm.  With the four lieutenants dead all that remains of the Cougar gang is head honcho Lenny himself and, what do you know, judging from the Instinct vision it appears that he’s in a barber’s chair about to get a shave.  It’s almost too good an opportunity to not take advantage of.

Climbing up the edge of a building, 47 slips through a window and surprises a barber, knocking him out cold.  Once again the player trades disguises, going from a greasy mechanic to that of a clean cut hairdresser.  Equipping the victim’s razor blade 47 descends the stairs into the barber shop proper where Lenny unwittingly awaits in his chair.  As he comments on the new barber and his very “hands on” approach to giving a clean shave the music rises and the demo ends.

The World’s Deadliest Assassin
Ever since last year’s debut of Agent 47’s latest adventure fans have been skeptical as to whether Absolution would be a well and proper Hitman title.  Despite having one of the most improper marketing campaigns in recent memory though IO Interactive is assembling a game that series fans will be proud to own when it arrives this November.  With a mix of classic sandbox level design, new character abilities and story-driven transition levels, there is absolutely a lot to like and look forward to in the next Hitman.