PAX Prime 2012: Sven Liebold of IO Interactive Talks Hitman: Absolution

Cody, Meagan and I got the chance to check out Hitman: Absolution on our trip to PAX. Check out our interview and b-roll I jacked from Game Trailers to cover edits exciting in-game footage.

This game looks amazing. I didn’t have any long play footage to work with, but there are tons of neat little details in the levels that make them feel alive. There are townsfolk just going about their daily routines, low ranking goons carrying out the high priority target’s orders, and in one memoreable scene from the demo, a freaked out hippy doing the least succesful job of destroying evidence in recorded history. (Hint: it has to do with the “tomato plants” Sven mentions in the interview.”

And the contracts mode really is a welcome addition. To create a contract for your friends (or anyone online, really) the attempt, you have to play through the level that way yourself. Once you complete the mission you can make little tweaks to the parameters, but you have to prove that the goal of the mission is attainable yourself.

I’m excited for this game mode, not only because it sounds like such a fun idea, but because is also seems like a great way to add the now often publisher-mandated multiplayer mode to an ostensibly single player experience. I’m not saying that’s what happened here, I’m just saying any devs getting pushed into adding on a multiplayer mode their game didn’t need should look to this as an example of what to do besides team deathmatch and capture the flag.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this one when if comes out November 20.

And just for the hell of it, here’s some notes on the event/preview/video:

• This was by far the best open bar of PAX. They had some Hitman themed drinks (that were just renamed stuff I really wasn’t in to), but I ended up getting lots of other stuff. Most notable was a pretty good mint julep someone else ordered, but wasn’t Southern enough to finish.
• Now, I’m sure the developers were picking the coolest parts of the levels we saw, but I was impressed with the number of ways you could approach your goals.
• Sorry if the audio levels or quality change a little from time to time, but I was still getting used to our equipment. Cody’s questions ended up a little too quiet, so I had to manually adjust the levels through the whole video. Hopefully it isn’t too bad, but if you think you’re hearing something weird every once in a while, that’s probably it.
• More press events should have buffets.
• 3:43 is way longer than I’m used to editing. Major feature stories on local newscasts are usually less than two minutes. It’s nice not to have to cut the interview down to one or two five second sound bites.