Hitman 5 Unveiled

IO Interactive and Eidos/Square Enix have taken the wraps off of Hitman: Absolution, the fifth game in the franchise, and the first new entry in five years. The new game is set to use next-generation motion capture technology and Hollywood actors.

Eidoes says that Hitman: Absolution is Agent 47’s most personal story ever, with an immersive plot that puts the titular assassin at the center of a huge conspiracy after he’s betrayed and hunted by the police. IO Interactive insists that Absolution will be a “significantly different experience” from past Hitman titles.

Another feature that will set this new game apart is the stellar Hollywood cast that’s starring in major roles. Keith Carradine will portray the villain, Blake Dexter, while Marsha Thomason stars as 47’s friend and ally, Diana Burnwood, What’s more, the actors’ performances were captured using the same high-definition motion capture technology used for James Cameron’s Avatar.

The result is a more stylized game, with a darker, more serious tone. You can also expect a new level of rich visual detail, on par with L.A. Noire, which uses similar performance capture technique.

The developers aren’t showing off any footage of the new game yet, but you can expect to see plenty more about it from E3 in a few weeks. In the meantime, they’ve released a rather pointless teaser trailer that shows pretty much nothing at all — not even the game’s title.