Hitman: Absolution

Hitman: Absolution feels like the franchise’s moody art phase, the experimental album between two chart-topping hits. Think Max Payne 3 with a barcode tattoo. It’s stylish, slick, and uncomfortably personal, but it also stumbles in ways longtime fans won’t ignore.

This is the weird Hitman. The one where disguise is a gamble, checkpoints replace save scumming, and the story tries to make you feel things about a bald assassin raised in a petri dish. You’re still Agent 47, yes, but you’re also a fugitive, a protector, and a guy doing a whole lot more sneaking than sniping. Assassinations take a back seat to linear sneaky escapes and cutscene-heavy exposition, which sometimes feels like you’re moving through a corridor of plot rather than a sandbox of opportunity.

And yet, Absolution still gets a lot right. Each of its 20 missions brims with style, whether you’re blending in with a gang of luchadores or choking out rednecks in a cornfield. Instinct Mode gives you a combat edge and tactical awareness, while Point Shooting lets you live out that brief fantasy of being 47 and John Wick. It’s not as freeform as Blood Money or as refined as the World of Assassination trilogy, but it does invite improvisation and rewards patience.

It may be the franchise’s black sheep, but Hitman: Absolution isn’t without bite. Once you stop trying to force it into a mold it clearly wants to break, you’ll find a killer worth understanding, even if he takes the long way around.