History VideoGame / HitmanAbsolution

''Hitman: Absolution'' (2012) is the fifth game in the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series by Creator/IOInteractive, and the only one to be ([[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney exclusively]]) released for the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation of consoles.]]

An UpdatedRerelease of the game is part of the ''Hitman HD Enhanced Collection''[[note]]Released January 11th 2019[[/note]] for UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne, along with its predecessor ''Hitman: Blood Money''. Both games run on 4K and 60 FPS, and come with various other graphical improvements such as shadow quality.

** "Fight Night" contains an alternate door and vent that 47 can climb through to get into the arena, which only requires finding a keycard hidden in a crate behind the campervan nearby. The second part of the mission can also be skipped by dropping stage lights onto Sanchez, which requires a more stealthy approach.
** "Birdie's Gift" has a door leading to the office of gunshop owner, and within that office contains a safe that requires the combination to open. Said safe contains the key for the display case holding 47's silverballers.

* {{Stinger}}:

** Sanchez's fight uses consistent button prompts, so it's actually quite a lot easier than the actual guard brawls.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Although it introduced a lot of new problems, this title did introduce fixes to several annoyances from the earlier games - fixes that would later make a comeback in the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy''.
** The introduction of choke holds lets 47 to knock out [=NPCs=] unarmed, giving you more options when it comes to dealing with them. Previously non-lethal options were extremely limited (sedatives) or required cheesing the game mechanics (human shields in ''Blood Money'').
** Almost anything you've picked up can now be thrown to distract people.
** While ''Blood Money'' allowed hiding inside closets and storing bodies in bins, both can now be used for both. In addition, they can now store two bodies at the same time and disguises can now be taken from hidden bodies; so you're no longer screwed if you forgot to change clothes before hiding the evidence.
** The game is a lot more generous in showing what you can interact with than the earlier games - the HUD now now shows button prompts when something can be climbed, poisoned etc. This is especially helpful when it comes to accidents, since - unlike ''Blood Money''[[note]]a game that could be frustratingly inconsistent when it came to using ledges, with some having invisible walls and some not[[/note]] - you can now tell what ledges allow pushing people/bodies off of.

''Hitman: Absolution'' (2012) is the fifth game in the ''{{VideoGame/Hitman}}'' series by Creator/IOInteractive, and the only one to be ([[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney exclusively]]) released for the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh generation of consoles.]]

##Jade Nguyen is the ''de facto'' second-in-command of ICA, TheDarkChick to Diana's voice of reason, and the final target of ''Absolution''.

* InjuredPlayerCharacterStage: 47 starts "Attack of the Saints" already heavily injured, to the point where on Expert difficulty, he cannot survive any damage until the player first a First Aid Station.

* StockShticks: If you initiated a bar fight at Great Balls of Fire, 47 becomes the talk of the town. This leads to some humorous chatter in the courthouse parking lot:
-->'''Cop #1''': So this bald guy walks into a bar, right?\\
'''Cop #2''': Hold on now. Is this a joke?\\
'''Cop #1''': --? NO!

* OpenSecret: Previous games in the series had the International Contract Agency as an extremely secret clandestine organisation, connected to most major nations' secret services and the UN, only ever operating through proxies' proxies. After their reformation in ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]'' however, ''something'' changed, as they began to send large squadrons of highly conspicuous operatives in garish ICA uniforms and marked vehicles to take over urban centres, where they cordon off streets, search houses and round up civilians like a paramilitary force. So much for secrecy. At one point in the game, Travis swoops down on a South Dakota courthouse in an ICA helicopter and declares to the town's sheriff over megaphone that they're taking over. Like with many aspects of ''Absolution'', the following game; ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', would later retcon this behaviour and the ICA goes back to being a secretive clandestine organisation, and ''VideoGame/Hitman3'', without going into spoilers, further retcons it.

* OddballInTheSeries: ''Hitman: Absolution'' is very different from the other games in the Hitman franchise. The missions are somewhat linear and some of them doesn't even involve killing specific targets at all, requiring just to get from some point to another. Even plotwise, this is the only game so far which pits 47 against the ICA.

* OpenSecret: Throughout the Hitman series, the International Contract Agency had been protrayed as an extremely secret clandestine organisation, connected to most major nations' secret services and the UN, only ever operating through proxies' proxies. After their reformation in ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]'' however, ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries something]]'' changed, as they began to send large squadrons of highly conspicuous operatives in garish ICA uniforms and marked vehicles to take over urban centres, where they cordon off streets, search houses and round up civilians like a paramilitary force. At one point, one of the ICA directors even swoops down on a South Dakota courthouse in an ICA helicopter and declares to the town's sheriff over megaphone that they're taking over! So much for secrecy.

* TimedMission: You have 5 minutes to reach Dexter's heliport. If you do not make it on time, Dexter will detonate charges on the rooftop, demolishing the penthouse and killing Hitman.

* "Point Shooting." This activates BulletTime and guides bullets before you fire them.

* Instinct also lets you SherlockScan the walking paths of [=NPCs=] and various traps.

* BarBrawl: 47 can ignite one in the Great Balls of Fire tavern by cutting power to the jukebox.

* DeliveryGuyInfiltration: Defied when 47 infiltrates Layla Stockton's penthouse. He does find himself sharing an elevator with a sushi deliveryman, but chooses to climb out through the escape hatch rather than [[MuggedForDisguise take the man's outfit.]] Good thing too, as the GenreSavvy and/or trigger happy guards riddle the poor sushi guy with bullets as soon as the elevator doors open.

* GenreShift:
** ''Absolution''[='s=] is a fairly standard "Revenge Movie" premise. The story ties you down to rural America and you spend most of your time in bleak, monochrome locations, particularly those blasted factories and labs. If you count the original sites of the ICA training levels (Australia and Cuba), we've already visited more countries in the first episode of ''Hitman'' (2016) than ''Absolution''. (The epilogue takes place at Diana's tomb in Cornwall, England.)
** What happened? Answer: Entrusting development to the ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch'' team. They fundamentally changed what the ''Hitman'' series is about. It's clear in the linear level design, and the emphasis on CollidingCriminalConspiracies. The game prefers to let you watch events unfold, rather than actively participate in them.