Hitman: Absolution NPCs have dedicated identities

Enemies in Hitman: Absolution won't be nameless goons like your garden variety stealth (or action, or stealth/action) game.

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Enemies in Hitman: Absolution won't be nameless goons like your garden variety stealth (or action, or stealth/action) game. According to game director Tor Blystad, Agent 47's latest gives a dedicated name and identity to each NPC you come across.

IO Interactive is also focusing on giving NPCs a wide range of responses to their changing environments. Blystad said that the studio recently held a "big" audio recording with more sessions planned.

"We have a script of 2000 pages for the AI alone. It’s huge," Blystad told Videogamer. The first gameplay footage of Hitman: Absolution (below) shows off just some of the AI's varied responses to the world.

What stops every piece of planned audio from making it into the final product? According to Blystad, "logistics and memory" will determine how much content the team can "cram in."

Of course to a true stealth assassin, targets won't have a moment to say a word and their name is completely inconsequential.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 23, 2012 3:30 PM

    Xav de Matos posted a new article, Hitman: Absolution NPCs have dedicated identities.

    Enemies in Hitman: Absolution won't be nameless goons like your garden variety stealth (or action, or stealth/action) game.

    • reply
      January 23, 2012 3:34 PM

      [deleted]

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        January 23, 2012 3:46 PM

        I used to be an NPC like you, then I got a garrotte to the neck.

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      January 23, 2012 3:38 PM

      So instead of my after-level report saying that 3 security guards were found strangled to death in garbage bins, it'll say that John Smith, Reggie Murphy, and Blaise Fimmerjam were killed? Lovely.

      I don't really care much about that though. More than anything I'd just like to see some less-clunky controls.

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      January 23, 2012 4:47 PM

      sucks the lack of audio responses will be "consoled" and limited.

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        January 23, 2012 9:35 PM

        Ah yes, the consolitis. A horrible disease, it has plagued PC games for ages now

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      January 23, 2012 9:50 PM

      a nice touch I guess but no one was asking for this - i just want the rest of the game to be awesome

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