Hitman: Absolution Director: We Are Struggling To Teach Players Freedom

Hitman: Absolution director, Tore Blystad, believes that the hardest challenge they faced while designing the game was to teach players that they are free to choose how to finish their missions.

“it’s quite difficult, actually, to educate players that this is what the game is trying to serve you, because people are increasingly used to games where you’re told to do one thing, and if you stray from this line, there will be nothing else around,” he explained.

“It’s like, you have this experience, and that’s it. So we’re telling people, actually, ‘No, no, no. You choose by yourself.’”

Blystad and his team designed the game so that players try different tactics and improvise new ways to fulfill their missions. Essentially, the game changes from player to player, but only “when you understand that you have the choice.”