Hitman: Absolution review - "Escaping the agency via another platform!"

• Experience the turning point of Hitman on a personal level
• Follow the story of Agent 47 as he assassinates his way to answers
• Approach each target with whatever method makes sense to you

There's a scary number of people who fantasise about being the ultimate assassin, and maybe someone somewhere should be keeping an eye on them. IO Interactive is both responsible for this and the only reason they aren't acting on these fantasies.

Their Hitman series has been releasing titles featuring a born-and-bred assassin who uses everything from a silenced pistol to a rubber duck to accomplish the job. Although Hitman: Absolution was initially released in 2012, it has since been updated to thrive on mobile platforms. It marked a significant change in the series' quality, so let's see how it holds up on some of the lighter devices.

What is Hitman: Absolution?

The usual Hitman story follows our machine-like hero Agent 47 as he's sent out to eliminate a variety of individuals, and Hitman: Absolution is more of that. However, it does make the effort to prove that Agent 47 does have something resembling a heart in his torso.

The story begins with Agent 47 being tasked by the agency to take out his former handler, Diana Burnwood, for acting against the agency. The act involved rescuing a young woman who is currently on track to become a killer much like Agent 47. As a last request, Diana asks Agent 47 to take the young girl somewhere safe, away from the agency, to ensure she doesn't turn into him. Agent 47 is now a guardian, and his protection involves a lot of killing.

Hitman: Absolution is absolute

When it comes to the Hitman franchise, we're looking for three key elements: freedom, immersion, and complexity. With Hitman: Absolution bringing its changes to the mobile platform, it effectively covers all of them. Although not nearly as open-ended as predecessors, there's still freedom in how you play through each level.

Whenever you start a mission, you'll spawn in a designated starting point, and from there, you can explore the map as you see fit. As long as you're able to identify the target and successfully eliminate it, all the blanks between that point and the start are waiting for you to fill them in. You can make multiple mistakes in the same mission and still find a way to turn it around (taking advantage of the target's better judgment).

Now let's move on to immersion, one of the more difficult elements to master. Still, from the moment you step into the neatly-tailored suit of Agent 47, you're part of his world. Although the open-world aspect is somewhat limited, each mission area is its own unique environment with its own distinct atmosphere.

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• Hitman: World of Assassination review

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Agent 47 remains the constant in the chameleon that is the mission list, with all its layout and winding paths, some obvious and others a bit more obscure. As you keep your mission in mind and spend time surveilling the area, you realise that you are doing your best to become part of the world to better perform within it. Before you even know it, you're suddenly immersed in the routine of your surroundings.

Then there's complexity, which is one of the things that made Hitman shine in the first place. Despite all the weapons and combat training that Agent 47 has, you likely don't want to rely on them unless you have to.

Once you get a feel for the area you're in, so many ideas will come flooding into your head, and many of them can be achieved. If you have access to the target's food and drink, you can slip in some poison. If you find a good vantage point, you can snipe the target from the other side of the map. Find your way into the target's private room, and it's perfectly fine to blunt force trauma them with your knuckles. A large part of the fun is all about finding all the different objects, disguises, and devices you can use in your mission to do your job.

The doubt of Hitman: Absolution

Hitman: Absolution marked a substantial shift in the series, which divided parts of the community. Some of the reasons can be viewed in its transition to the mobile platform. The primary issue is a technical one, in that this may be too complex.

Considering the sensitivity of many of the missions, Agent 47 needs to be sharp, smooth, and able to adapt quickly. Unfortunately, touchscreen controls aren't really suited to this kind of experience, and you start to dread any unexpected firefights. Everything runs smoothly, so it may be worthwhile to invest in a controller accessory to ensure proper gameplay.

Staying on the technical train, there's a substantial effort to make it so that Hitman: Absolution isn't too demanding, but there's only so much that can be done. A fair number of older models support it very well, but it'll take up a lot of space and drain your battery quickly while you're fiddling with the menus. If you want to enjoy yourself without being tethered to a wall so that your device can stay fully charged, consider getting a newer model.

Time to absolve Hitman: Absolution

Hitman: Absolution is a 3D stealth game following a trained assassin as he eliminates numerous targets across different environments. Though the missions are more contained and linear, you still have the freedom to explore within each environment, engage with your surroundings, and play with all the different options available to you.

It runs well on mobile devices, but it will definitely test the limits of older models, especially since you'll want to plug in a controller accessory for better gameplay. Once you've got it up and running, there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't give this hitman a chance.