Hitman: Absolution to be "more accessible" to the masses, still for the core

Io Interactive has said it plans to make Hitman: Absolution more accessible to a wider audience while remaining true to the core.

Speaking with DigitalTrends in an interview, Absolution director Tore Blystad said the learning curve of the previous games in the series may be off putting to newcomers, so the firm is looking to make it less intimidating.

"The Hitman games of the past have been very hardcore," said Blystad. "Even though the fantasy of the Hitman universe has a very universal appeal, the games have been so difficult to play, that it's been more of an acquired taste.

"The biggest challenge that we had with this game was to make it much broader in every sense, so that it was easier to play and more accessible, but still retain a very strong, hardcore side as well. We don't want to alienate any of our fans who have been extremely loyal for so many years."

Blystad went on to discuss how the AI in Absolution benefits from the firm's new game engine, the Glacier 2, and how it allows the characters to "act as believable as possible," and even said it was "the most central part of the game."

"If you attack an enemy from any angle, than we're able to have them fight back, or continue on in a normal state if you ignore them," he said. "There are similar things in games like GTA or these bigger sandbox games, but it's on a much less granular level because we have a very strong focus on the abilities of the characters."

Hitman: Absolution will be released next year on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Expect to see more of it at E3.

Thanks, EG.