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When Square Enix announced that it was going to return to the Hitman franchise, it was like an old friend coming back to visit after an extended vacation.  Agent 47 had been in hibernation since Hitman: Blood Money came out in 2006, and while Io Interactive had been working on other franchises, most people just wanted them to get back to the Hitman franchise.

Things have changed a bit for the longtime hitman, as Agent 47 is on the run in a large city, and with no friends to speak of that can help him out of a jam.  He has to rely on his skills to navigate him through the treacherous web of deceit that has been cast upon his life.

Of course, with changes like this, where Agent 47 is now the hunted, rather than the hunter, can cause some friction with longtime fans, but it seems that there was no need to worry.  While we watch several police squads try to take down 47, he slowly worked his way around the room, taking out targets slowly and methodically, while making his way out of the building that he had been cornered in.

Enemies are also getting a retrofit, so they no longer seem predictable, or follow generic patrol routes.  Instead, Io interactive has brought a new thing called Intelligence Spectrum AI into Hitman Absolution.  With this new behavior AI, enemies will use a cause and effect behavior to decide how to react to certain events.    The goal was to create NPC characters that acted more with normal, human-like behavior when put under pressure.

One complaint that could still use a little more work is the disguise system.  At one point in our demo, Agent 47 had escaped the police, and had taken up the cop’s outfit as a disguise.  He was able to move freely, and the reaction meter was still present, so you knew if someone was on to your disguise, but the disguise still do not give enough change to be believable.  The cop outfit did have a hat that covered most of the barcode on the back of his head, but it still seems to be a long leap to think that if there is a citywide manhunt for 47, a boat load of cops would miss the barcode on the back of his head while in disguise.  The disguise looked great, but it still seems a little out of place, but we have accepted it for this long, what’s one more game.

The world and the characters in them do look a lot better, which should be great news to fans of the series that were getting a bit tired of the same rough patterns for characters in the Hitman universe.  Characters have a lot more detail this time around, and a general cleaner appearance all around.  47 has obviously received the most work in the visual upgrade, and it does show.  The abandoned library we were in was also well detailed, with dynamic lighting, particle effects and more sprinkled throughout the environment.  There were a few minor glitches here and there, but you expect that with early alpha code.

Overall, Hitman Absolution is shaping up nicely, with plenty of time to create a solid, assassination experience in 2012.  Look for more on this title as we get closer to release.