What the Hitman: Absolution Trailer Really Says About Games

There has been a lot of consternation on the internet today about the newly-released trailer for the upcoming Hitman: Absolution, featuring a pack of female assassins attacking Agent 47 in ludicrous, exploitative, slow-motion.

The trailer has been used as a springboard to launch into Feminist critiques of gaming, and while I agree that gaming has a long way to go when it comes to representing women in a fair manner, I disagree that this trailer should be the reason to soapbox about the ills of male-centric gaming culture. The “pack of sexy assassins” trope is a well-worn one in popular media, and although the trailer certainly objectifies the assassins, it’s not something that’s unique to gaming. In fact, in some ways you could argue that the idea of a pack of assassins that happen to be “hot” women is something that could be an empowering idea. Their sexuality does not make them better assassins (ie, they aren’t the Austin Powers Fembots), and they obviously have some agency as characters in order to attempt an assassination in the first place. The aesthetic of them is purely designed for titillation, and while I agree that titillation as an end in and of itself is immature and unbecoming of “proper art,” I do think that we should focus more on things like the online-gaming culture, sexualization of young girls, and empty/token female characters over the appearance of a sexy assassination squad in a trailer for an action game.

Why then do I still think this trailer is representative of a terrible trend in gaming? It has to do with the game being represented. While I haven’t played Hitman: Absolution (it’s not out until November), I am a big fan of the series, and this trailer in no way represents the themes and gameplay of the Hitman series that I’ve played so far. Hitman is NOT a “big dumb action game” where a scene such as the one depicted in the trailer would ever happen. To be successful in a Hitman game requires thoughtful, methodical, careful execution (no pun intended) of a plan that needs to be scouted and researched. The best Hitman players manage to assassinate targets without high body counts or being noticed, and the game rewards you for making your hits look like accidents. If this trailer represents the new style of Hitman (which I doubt), then I’m not interested at all in the new direction the series has taken. I don’t, however, think that it represents the game. I think that it represents what the marketing company thinks YOU want from a game. From every game. By reducing a thoughtful action game to a mindless, Michael Bay-esque slow-motion attack by a pack of assassins on one man, the marketers behind this trailer are doing the reputation of Hitman a disservice. Either this trailer turns off past fans of the series (like me), or it will make people drawn in by the new trailer very upset once they actually play the game, provided it plays in a similar manner to past games in the series. Check out the trailer for Hitman: Blood Money, embedded below. The difference in tone in shocking.

Why do marketers need to do this? Why does the widest net possible need to be cast in order to market a game? Why are people being lied to when it comes to the marketing of Hitman: Absolution? That’s what this is, it’s a lie, and it’s damaging to the Hitman brand.

There will be ample time (and unfortunately, ample opportunity) to explore the anti-women stance of many of today’s games. With this trailer, however, we should focus on the harm it does to the actual game being represented, and the insult to the intelligence of its audience. IO Interactive (the developer of the Hitman series) should step in and demand that the trailer be pulled because it misrepresents their game, and the PR company needs to be corrected on their approach, or suffer termination.

http://www.blackxino.blogspot.com Xino

the purpose of the trailer is to illustrate the Action feeling!

people complain about Stealth game trailers no showing stealth in the trailer, which the marketing promoters cannot depict in their game trailer. That is why they go for the “get to the point” action route.
A representative of I think I.O or Square Enix said so about this.

i like this trailer, sure I hate the women design which is to show:
sexy women in kinky outfit and badass attitude are here to kill you. Forget their look as you need to fight for your life instead.

Stealth games are still under Action genre.
- http://twitter.com/mrprice33 Marc Price
  
  This is why I posted the Blood Money trailer. You can do stealth in a trailer. Especially with this not being actual gameplay, you can do whatever you want. They chose to have 47 have a stand-off with genre tropes.
  - Mapekz
    
    47 took pianowire to the necks of the first two or three girls. Only after that he had no choice but to whip out his signature akimbo Silverballers, you know, the pistols he as a character loves to death (and is seen with in every poster for the game and the movies) but isn’t allowed to use in the game for fear of messing up his Silent Assassin rating?
    
    I think we should wait until we see more gameplay at E3 this year before we jump to the conclusion that this game became the next COD (I’m exaggerating your concern but you get what I mean).
    - http://twitter.com/mrprice33 Marc Price
      
      Yeah, I think the bigger worry I have is that since the series has been away for so long, many people are going to look at this trailer and think that this is what Hitman’s about, when it’s not. If you read the features out today that talk about the gameplay demo, it’s still hitman the way it’s always been, so you get a target, you have to plan, and you have to execute. While you have the option to get into large-scale gunfights, that’s basically against the design of the game. And there aren’t many scenarios at all that fit this Tarantino-Suda 51 style that this trailer represents. I’m still excited for this game, because I’m a huge fan of the series, but to me this trailer is a mistake.
  - http://www.blackxino.blogspot.com Xino
    
    I just watched the trailer and you have no idea what you are talking about:/
    - http://twitter.com/mrprice33 Marc Price
      
      Thanks 4 the analysis…
http://profile.yahoo.com/VE5UUYLRRLBIUFVQQ7SHO3VRZA Organ Man

I disagree. I think fans of the series are going to be intrigued by the subliminal things. Blood Money ended ambiguously, with 47 going underground after his “funeral”. The ICA, who employs 47, is shown being brought back online but with no words on their only remaining assassin.

The Saints in the trailer bear ICA tattoos, so as a fan of the series I’m wondering what has happened since Blood Money to cause 47 to be hunted by his former employer.

Plus, let’s not forget the final mission of Blood Money which was nothing but a shootout with no stealth element at all. Action can be used in stealth games effectively, and this scene seems to be more about highlighting 47′s superiority in the “life ending” business.
- http://twitter.com/mrprice33 Marc Price
  
  Beside the story elements, the action in the trailer misrepresents (I hope) the actual gameplay present in a hitman game. The combat scenarios in the game do not play out as depicted in the trailer. You stalk your target, plan, and execute that plan to the highest level of precision. This is basically being jumped. It’s okay if it’s a sequence or two to break up the pacing, but CG trailers of this kind are supposed to represent the themes in the game. The themes represented here (47 as a badass action hero) are nothing like what happens in the actual game.
Mapekz

I think we are all overanalyzing here. Like you said, Matt, the sexy femme fatale trope is way too common for this trailer to be sexist at all. I’d argue that these sexy nuns demonstrate the OPPOSITE; this trailer is in fact empowering, using your words, since most enemies in action games are typically men, possibly due to the implication that women are too weak to be taken seriously as major foes.

Also, I disagree with the idea that this game isn’t going to encapsulate what it means to be a Hitman game, especially if we are relying solely on this trailer and the E3 2011 gameplay demo. Yes, they are marketing it as more of an action-y game, less stealth assassin and more superpowered secret agent. However, I think this is a good thing for two reasons:

1) They are trying to appeal to the non-Hitman fans. The fans like ourselves are already sold; we’ve been sold since Blood Money, and Contracts, and Silent Assassin, and Codename 47. The genre as a whole needs to be more appealing both to customer and to publishers/developers; for every stealth game I can name 10 WW2-oriented FPS/TPS games (which is the reverse of how it should be). They need to suck new people in to make these games even more critically successful; I’d rather not have to wait another 6+ years for the next Hitman game.

2) The only legitimate way to play the game (specifically BM) was to be silent. There’s no problem replaying the same level, meticulously planning each and every action to ensure you got your Silent Assassin rating. However, like with Deus Ex:HR, I should be able to play my assassin as the killing machine that he is. Why does 47 have an arsenal that rivals Max Payne’s but isn’t allowed to use more than the sleep serum syringe and his bare hands? The focus should be on stealth to avoid being overwhelmed by security, sure, but you shouldn’t be penalized for taking out your gun or piano wire on occasion, especially if the situation calls for leaving a message or calling card (i.e. if you need to frame another assassin).

I have full faith that Hitman 5 will remain true to the series while implementing mechanics which will enable brute force gameplay that simultaneously enhance the stealth tactics we all know and love.
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