Developer IO Interactive talks about the new Contracts mode, realism in game and the world of Agent 47.
IO Interactive lead designer Torben Ellert talked to vg247.com about Hitman: Absolution’s new Contracts Mode and about the game itself. “I think it’s important as you have the ultimate straight man in the middle and if it was just him in a realistic world the game would really become grim. By twisting the world just a little bit you come to a setting that can have dark humour in it.”
“In the first game 47 walks up to his target – who I think was a big fat man sitting in a restaurant – and says utterly deadpan, “Fatty foods an kill”. I mean, that’s great but it only works because he’s the straight man and the world around him is so twisted.”
Ellert believes that realism in games increases, which gives developers more room to challenge expectations. “I think as the industry grows there’s more space to do things that would have been impossible. When I look at the Mass Effect games, or when I look at what those games do for relationships between characters, I think, ‘That would have been unthinkable just a few years back.’”
“That a game can now not only do it, but attach gameplay to it, and let you construct an experience around it that is meaningful without just showing you it in a cutscene – I think that is awesome. Yes there are games that will push the edge – Spec Ops: The Line has does very interesting things in questioning the morality of what you’re doing – and as the industry grows I think we will see more of that. I mean, thank goodness for that,” Ellert said.
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