Feral Interactive is no stranger to the porting business, having made a name for itself as one of the studios to go to if a publisher is looking at bringing their hits to the likes of PC, Nintendo Switch or mobile platforms. Alien: Isolation on Switch is a standout example of the team’s top tier work, while a personal favourite was the twin pack of The Lara Croft Collection for the same system. Feral’s latest project is due to come to Switch soon, but before it does, it is iOS and Android that receive a portable version of Hitman: Absolution.
With Hitman: World of Assassination on Nintendo Switch 2 opening the door to a whole new group of players that have gotten to know the joys of taking the reins of Mr. Agent 47 as he sneaks his way through all manner of scenarios, it is wise to see the series expand its horizons with older entries releasing on current platforms. Hitman: Absolution may have originally come under a little fire for departing from an open-ended structure, instead being more linear in its level design, and for that reason, new fans may wonder if they will get the same satisfaction out of this title if coming off the back of the modern Hitman trilogy.
The answer is…not quite, but that doesn’t mean a good time won’t be had. There is undoubtedly a difference in how stages play out compared to World of Assassination, with Agent 47 following sequential paths that require him to focus on handling each area as they are entered. The contrast compared to being plonked into a sandbox and taken off the leash means it is difficult to attain the highs delivered in the franchise’s recent offerings, where there is a huge payoff for being able to freely explore and plan out wide-ranging scenarios that ensure a different playthrough almost every time.
Hitman: Absolution still provides creativity and humour in plenty of doses, though. Dressing 47 up in all sorts of disguises and playing around with enemies to mess with their heads – and cause a bit of disorder in the process – is still as gratifying as ever, and the option is always there to go full shooter mode if the need arises. It might not be the most fulfilling experience going in guns blazing, but it can get the job done. Just don’t expect much in the way of reward afterwards.
The narrative centres on Agent 47’s former employer having gone rogue, with Mr. Hitman having to take out one of the few people that has been close to him for so many years, getting swept up in protecting a young girl in the process. It isn’t much to write home about, not quite presenting the intrigue and depth of the individual targets in World of Assassination, but story isn’t really what most are here for.
The big question is how this all comes together on mobile platforms. Booting up Hitman: Absolution presents a broad range of customisation options that is astonishing in the amount of scope it offers. Controllers can be connected if desired, but if opting to go the touch screen route, everything from interface button sizing and opacity to the locations on the screen you wish for them to appear can be modified at will. It catches off guard how much freedom is given to arrange the in-game menus to the level presented, and there are tons more options in the background, including framerate choices, making one wonder why console games don’t deliver the same depth at times.
A context-sensitive control scheme can be selected, meaning prompts will change depending on what the player is doing. Rotating the camera in certain situations will enable specific functions to crop up, but the fixed controls option feels like the preferred method for a more reliable experience, ensuring actions come out when and where demanded. Moving around is simple enough, where dragging the left thumb as if pushing a controller’s analogue stick will smoothly guide 47 around (the interface can also be switched to the opposite side), while the other thumb handles the camera. It’s simple and works.
That said, it is fiddly. Played on an iPhone 13 Pro Max, there is adequate room on the screen to view most of the action, but there is no question that it can be an issue to see and hit certain commands with 100% success rate. Screw-ups are almost always assured in any given level due to the need to keep one eye on the icons. The iPad fares much better in this regard, where it is a lot easier to see what’s going on. Couple this with a gamepad, and you’ve got the ideal combination to experience this game.
What holds Hitman: Absolution back is the slightly archaic save system. Checkpoints must be activated manually once they are found in order to save progress in a current mission, while dying will mean restarting at the last checkpoint. If you want to quit the game, though, Agent 47 is going to need to start from scratch the next time it is booted up, with the level needing to be played from the beginning all over again. Without permanent autosaves or the ability to save manually at any point, players are forced into completing a level more or less in one sitting. Whether changes will come down the line, particularly with the Nintendo Switch version still on its way, remains to be seen, but with player-created scenarios due to arrive in an upcoming Contracts mode update, fingers crossed this can be implemented.
