Hitman Absolution unmasked by IO Interactive

The cat was so far out of the bag with the fifth Hitman title that the distance between cat and bag could no longer be measured by mere human instruments. However, IO Interactive has now officially announced the game as Hitman Absolution.
Now, if I remember my Catholic doctrine correctly, absolution concerns the forgiveness found in confession. So maybe Agent 47 (for he will be returning) is starting to feel a bit guilty about all those times he murdered a clown, stuffed the body in the back of a van and wore its clothes. He did pop up in a confession box cutscene during Blood Money after all.
If I had to guess though, I’d say IO has just chosen a trendy word to use instead of calling the game Hitman 5.
According to the press release, Absolution will be “a personal journey” for our anti-hero, placing him “at the center of a dark conspiracy.” A few “completely new features” are also teased, but not expanded upon. Oh, except IO’s brand new “Glacier 2” tech engine, which means the game is being build from the ground up. Fancy.
Speaking of teasers, there’s one of those pointless, show-nothing videos to accompany this announcement. Thrill, as it reveals that the game will feature a gun and uses a snake as some kind of metaphor (there’s that Catholicism again).
Hitman Absolution is expected next year, on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Further details should emerge at E3.
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