Hitman: Sniper Challenge is Here, Antithetical to Hitman In Every Way

This week, people who have pre-ordered Hitman: Absolution have gained access to a completely separate mini-game called Hitman: Sniper Challenge. Available on both consoles and steam, it places Agent 47 in a type of bad-guy shooting gallery where he must eliminate both a central target along with all of the target's bodyguards.

It's also completely antithetical to everything that Hitman is supposed to be, and raises my levels of concern over the franchise to zenith-like levels.

Let's start with the elimination equation of the mini-game. The player get's points, not for eliminating his main target in the most efficient way possible, but by pulling a Pulp Fiction and "killing every mother-fucker in the room." The game tries to explain this away by saying that the "client" is requesting that the hit be done in this fashion but that's like Bethesda saying "a high wizard of Tamriel has conjured Ak-47's into Skyrim" as a narrative ploy to combine your dragon hunting with some COD action.  The intention is clear. Points for kills. Sure some extra points are given for headshots, and being able to hide the body in some way through clever shooting. But this is only the bare minimum of the savy with which Hitman should be carrying out his deed, and only a thin veneer hiding the developers true intentions.

In a true Hitman experience, kills beyond the main target are counted against the player. They show a lack of skill on behalf of Agent 47 who was forced to make his presence known before delivering the main strike.  Agent 47 is not supposed to be a gun-toting machine of death, he's not even supposed to be a bullet. Agent 47 is supposed to be a virus, taking root within the most vital of organs, blending in with the other cells, and causing chaos from within before doctors even detect that he's there. Agent 47 is like AIDS, a wonderful -fun to play- version of AIDS.

And don't ask me why no one is hearing sniper shots from the building next door, or why when guards start to disappear the main target doesn't just take the elevator downstairs and drive away. Yes, yes. "It's a game!" you say. But Hitman games are supposed to be dynamic living worlds in that way. Worlds that react to the knowledge of your presence, not continue blindly on as you blow up mines with your sniper rifle from 300 ft away.

Why are there mines around the dance floor? That seems dangerous.

Maybe I'm being finicky, but this isn't without reason. Although we have been promised to be shown some true open-world, hiding in plain site, Hitman action at this years E3, we just haven't seen it yet. In fact, everything we keep seeing is contradictory to the Hitman formula. This Hitman: Sniper kill-kill Elite V 3 XTREME is only the latest. And the funny thing is, it does look fun. I'm not denying that. But the gameplay found in this mini-game can be found in other games already...in one game in particular that just came out. Hitman is supposed to be a genera unto itself. Historically, it has offered us gameplay that we couldn't just find by swapping out another disk, and that's the point.

I'm clearly hoping for some good news about this franchise to come out of E3, and even though I may be ranting here, those hopes are still high. Square Enix just isn't helping.

Oh...and if someone can actually make that AK-47 mod for Skyrim I would be very grateful.