Hitman: Absolution dev talks simplfying controls

Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad talks about refining the game's controls to make them more intuitive, without removing Agent 47's wealth of murderous options.

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Hitman: Absolution marks the triumphant return of Agent 47, but developer IO Interactive is tweaking the classic formula a bit to streamline the assassin's options. Game director Tore Blystad says the wealth of mechanics and options means the controls can't intuitively support it, which necessitates some changes.

"I think, from a control point of view, everyone wants a unified system because it gives a better input; if you can pick up a game and instantly know how things are mapped out," Blystad told Rock Paper Shotgun. "We've been trying that a lot, but we still fail because we have so many extra mechanics that we're running out buttons really quickly."

He says the old game had too many menus and options to offer clarity to the player. "How do we make this simple to understand? We're getting closer to that but without compromising, how to say, fidelity or choice, then making it more obvious for the player how to play the game."

Despite the attempts to simplify the controls, the central gameplay of giving Agent 47 options is remaining a major part of the game. To that end, the team is aiming to make the difficulty more reactive to the player's decisions. "If you go in guns blazing, we know how many NPCs will go into combat mode or send out hunting parties for you, if you run away," he said. "You can seamlessly go back and forth between all these different states. And this is how to show off without trying it out and seeing how my play style is reflected in how the game presents the world to me. This is the biggest challenge we've had, to feel linear but not be linear."

Hitman: Absolution is due for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 this year, and is one of Jeff's most anticipated 2012 games.

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  • reply
    January 11, 2012 10:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Hitman: Absolution dev talks simplfying controls.

    Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad talks about refining the game's controls to make them more intuitive, without removing Agent 47's wealth of murderous options.

    • reply
      January 11, 2012 10:54 AM

      D-Pad and murder button.

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      January 11, 2012 11:48 AM

      Why does no one talk about how they are removing the open levels? On Rock Paper Shotgun it's all "don't worry about the shooting it's still a stealth game". I don't give a shit, Splintercell is also a linear stealth game. This is Hitman, and Hitman should not be linear. But nope, it has to be all fucking cinematic again. Gotta appeal to those Call of Duty fans, even though they are too busy constantly buying Call of Duty to notice any other game.

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        January 11, 2012 11:57 AM

        Did you not see that playthrough in the library? That didn't look linear to me.

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          January 11, 2012 12:10 PM

          What so a big room counts as non linear now? Because that's all it is, a big room where you can hug the left wall or hug the right wall or shoot your way down the center. The developers have said themselves that they are making the levels that way, connecting "open" locations like that with bottlenecks so you have to go through those stairs at the other side of the library. If that counts as nonlinear, then Call of Duty is nonlinear.
          No, this is Splintercell with disguises. I know some people will see they like the sound of that but fuck them, Hitman is way better than that. At least, it used to be.

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            January 12, 2012 12:27 AM

            Go play Blood Money again. Most levels may be large in size, but the general path to go is well defined. They are not as open as you may be wishing for.

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      January 11, 2012 11:58 PM

      Intuitive, yeah right. It's just to appeal to the console fans who are used to twitch-based schlock like Uncharted. Don't dumb down everything for the sake of mass appeal!

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