PC Gamer - February 2012

Nobody suspects an officer of the law.

Yep, they’re still ugly.

Strange things growing in test tubes are never good.

aliens: Colonial marines

Their personalities seem designed to
encourage disdain from the player. Not
anymore, says Blystad: “In a way you can
say we do the opposite in Absolution; we
want the NPCs to be more human and
believable so that the player thinks twice
before going on a killing spree.”
Guards and bystanders are more human
in other ways, too. “We’ve changed the
way the AI works,” says Blystad. “They
have far larger brains and they have a lot
more information about the world.
They’re also able to communicate more
logically. Previously they seemed tele-
pathic, and if you set off one guard, every
NPC in the level would be onto you. In
Absolution things propagate more logically
and the player can stop information from
spreading if he reacts fast.”

Master of disguise Improved stealth mechanics—hugging cover, an indicator of who sees you, and a brief X-ray vision ability—are not a bad thing. What was worrying in that first footage was the moment when the

“Time to come out and play, enemy-type guys.”

Hitman, disguised as a cop, puts a hand over his face to fool passing cops. Is that extremely conspicuous blend in power what disguise has been reduced to?

“The blend in is a powerful feature ena-
bling the player to bluff his way past
NPCs using instinct power,” explains
Blystad. “Instinct is an economy, and
blending is pretty expensive, so it’s only
possible to use sparingly.”
The rest of the time, disguise is more
organic. “The NPCs see through dis-
guises from a distance,” says Blystad, “but
it takes time for them to find out, so
mostly the disguise gameplay is about
‘surfing’ on the edge of the NPC’s vision
ranges to scope out the area. Interacting
with [the right] objects enables 47 to stay
in character, and the NPCs will treat them
as one of their own.”
Finding the right disguise is no longer
enough, you have to also play the role. It’ll
be interesting to see whether making it
more of a game will overcomplicate
Hitman, or feel like the next logical step in
social stealth. Chris Thursten

Release tba 2012

latest info Gearbox’s
latest is nothing like a
day on the farm

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Pegged as the true sequel to the seminal second movie, Aliens: Colonial Marines sees another wave of doomed soldiers stranded in Hadley’s Hope following the catastrophic destruction of the atmospheric processor.

Nukes, as it happens, aren’t the only way to be sure. You’ll be dragged into vents and impaled on tail-spikes as you and three friends find yourselves in a battle for survival against HR Giger’s most famous creations. Gearbox’s devotion to the franchise shows in the details, from the all-important sound design to the wintry gloom of LV-426 and sparse, loaded banter between squadmates.

The campaign consists of self-contained missions, which can be tackled in drop-in/

drop-out co-op. The movie’s quotability, pace, and style are what make it the longtime favorite that it is, but it’s not something that has been even been captured in the games. We want Aliens: Colonial Marines to change that. Chris Thursten