Skip to main content

Hitman: Absolution confirmed in teaser trailer, details coming at E3

hitman-absolution
Image used with permission by copyright holder

We haven’t seen a new game in the Hitman series since 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money. There’s been a (not very good) movie in the interim, and both the developer, IO Interactive, and the publisher, Eidos Interactive, were acquired by Square Enix in 2009. The hiatus is understandable, but fans of the series’ unique blend of stealth, action and Rube Goldberg-ian murder ploys are ready for more. Now we know for sure that more is coming, and soon.

There have been rumblings in the past few weeks and months about an upcoming Hitman game, but it hasn’t been officially confirmed until now. There’s a debut teaser trailer online for Hitman: Absolution. It shows nothing even resembling gameplay and very little beyond that, just a brief glimpse of a silencer being screwed onto a pistol muzzle — presumably by Agent 47 — and a snake coiled around the assassin’s trademark handgun. The teaser concludes with a recognizable barcode in which the numbers “47” and “110706” are highlighted, which probably means that an official announcement is coming during E3 on June 7.

It’ll be interesting to see how the trends in gaming over the past few years might have influenced development on the latest Hitman. While the series introduces new quirks with each subsequent game, it’s really remained fundamentally the same experience since the beginning. You are given a target and a map to traverse in your pursuit of that target. Scattered all around the map are various points of interaction– disguises, traps, weapons, lackeys to avoid, crowds to blend in with and the like. Any number of paths can be followed to take out a target, but there’s typically one in particular that is the “ideal,” in the sense that it is completely stealthy. 47 is a professional after all; going in guns blazing is far too… messy for his unique sensibilities.

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
How to import Hitman 1 and 2 levels into Hitman 3
hitman 3 how to import 1 and 2 levels transfer

Hitman 3 is here, and developer IO Interactive has implemented a way to carry over your progression from the first two games (Hitman and Hitman 2) into the new experience. You're able to play the entirety of the first two entries within Hitman 3, giving you a convenient way to enjoy the Hitman: World of Assassination series in one package. If you transfer your progress from the previous entries into the new game, all your XP and unlocks will be made available in the new game, but doing so isn't as straightforward as you might expect.

In fact, it's fairly complicated. In this guide, we'll show you how to import your progression and content from Hitman 1 and 2 into Hitman 3.

Read more
Hitman 3’s best feature is only available on Google Stadia
Hitman 3 Stadia

One of my favorite aspects of Hitman 3 is how it has become a singular location for the entire "World of Assassination" trilogy — if you own all three games on one platform, you can access any of their missions from within Hitman 3. It makes World of Assassination an actual mechanic rather than just a subtitle for IO Interactive's games.

Google's streaming video game service Stadia takes things to the next level with its "save state" feature. When playing the game on Stadia, a player simply has to take a screenshot or video capture of their game, and the service ties all of their current settings to that image. It will then generate a link they can send to a fellow Stadia player, and when they open it, they are given the option to play that save state.

Read more
How to solve the Dartmoor murder mystery in Hitman 3
hitman 3 how to solve the dartmoor murder mystery h3 preview agent47

Out of all of the levels in Hitman 3, Dartmoor is easily the most interesting. It turns the traditional formula on its head, tasking Agent 47 with solving a murder rather than committing one. The Dartmoor murder mystery is a bona fide whodunit, with clues, puzzles, and evidence scattered throughout the level. Put on your detective cap; we're going to show you how to solve the Dartmoor murder mystery in Hitman 3. 

There are three possible outcomes to the Dartmoor murder mystery. Many of the nessacary pieces overlap with each other, so we recommend going through all the steps below, even if you just want to find the true murderer.

Read more