hitman sniper

Six years is a long time in this industry. I mean, not to Valve, but to most developers, that's a pretty long time to sit a franchise out. In his hiatus, "Codename 47" was pimped out to Hollywood by IO Interactive. The pay-off was a surprisingly passable action flick, by game-to-flick adaptation standards; it would have made Uwe Boll sweat nervously as he twitched whilst giving his collar a tug.



Nevertheless, with Blood Money a very fond, but distant, memory, I am pink with barely controlled glee to hear that "47" is back. Blood Money closed with our smooth-headed protagonist faking his own death in an attempt to flee The Franchise, an act that will no doubt catch up to him in Absolution, the fifth instalment in the franchise that has spanned over a decade.



Those keen to return to strangling people with piano wire will have to wait until November, though if you want a small taste of things to come for "47" in Absolution, there's a simple solution. Pre-order it.



Square Enix has teamed up with retailers to reward those who front up and drop early dollars for the next instalment in the franchise. It doesn't represent the final quality of Absolution by any means, but as it's built from the same nuts and bolts, it's the taste that should quench the thirst of hungry fans.



Dubbed "Sniper Challenge", the small stand-alone digital download sees you, as "47", perched atop a Chicago building with a suppressed Kazo TRG sniper-rifle, overlooking a lavish, high-profile rooftop shindig. You're tasked with executing the priority target, along with his entourage of fourteen guards. You can blaze away recklessly, but once alerted the party-goers begin to frenzy, making it a bitch to land that key kill shot. The silent approach is the ticket to success, as it has been since day dot.



While you can play it cool, picking off guard after guard with precise melon-poppers, closer inspection reveals dozens of plausible ways to lead this entourage to an early grave. A broad-shouldered guard stands, chest-puffed out, in front of an elevator; so you use all your cunning to place a well-aimed shot on the buzzer, the door reels open rendering the guard quizzical as he peers down the shaft mystified. Turns out curiosity did kill the cat, as one last shot sends him hurtling down the same shaft that occupied his last thoughts.



This action unlocks the "Elevated" challenge, rewarding the player with an ever so slightly better point modifier. Every point counts. For every challenge you cross off the list, you strengthen your chances of scoring huge points and reaping the rewards that carry over into the full-game of Hitman: Absolution. The key to scoring big points is keeping a low-profile, if you're suspected for even a second you can kiss that two-times multiplier for "Silent Assassin" gone! If you're patient, though, you'll prevail.









One of the year's better hidden oddities is a part of Sniper Challenge, too. If you aim for scope skyward and look closely, you can see a small cloaked figure hunched over on a beam affixed to the roof. Knocking this guy off of his perch will send him plummeting to the supposed barren city streets below, accompanied by the screeching of an eagle—a clear Assassin's Creed reference if I ever did see one. On that, how are the streets empty? It's twilight in Chicago, am I the only one that finds that convenient?



It stands up well enough visually; the ragdoll animation is still hilarious when bodies happen to fall right. Seeing the Altair-esque figure falling like a comet, all the while bouncing off of the sides of building made me grin like a sociopath, as I followed him as low as I could with my scope.



All in all, it's a blast. You're not going to drag your first play out to the full allotted fifteen minutes, though. If you're anything like me, you'll blow your wad in the first thirty seconds and ruin everybody's good time. Luckily, it's that addictive that'll keep revisiting in the hopes of one-upping your own score and those bookending you on the leaderboards. Plus, as a pre-order bonus, it's set at just the right price: free.



But given the quality of some of those terrible half-arsed XBLA titles, like Fable's Pub Games, IO could have gone the cash-grab and smacked a ten buck tag on this and I wouldn't have judged them. So if you're planning on following "47" as he scalps his way through another chapter of his sordid, secretive life, do yourself a favour and pre-order Absolution and score yourself a free copy for "Sniper Challenge" and unlock a few goodies for the full release in November, late this year.



"Sniper Challenge" is available from participating retailers now when you pre-order Hitman Absolution and will be available to download on May 16th.



--Article by Brodie Gibbons