Hitman: Absolution goons get 2000 pages of dialogue

The guards and goons of Hitman: Absolution will have plenty more to say than your typical variation on "what was that? I thought I heard something. Must have been a rat." Game director Tor Blystad tells Videogamer that IO are giving their NPCs thousands of lines of dialogue.

Stumbling across NPCs in the middle of a chat adds to the weird voyeuristic thrill of being completely hidden in a stealth game and can be a good way to deliver some extra optional story information, or just do some jokes. Hopefully the barks will be of a higher quality than the likes of Splinter Cell: Conviction's constant calls of "I'll kill you, Fisher!" "Come out, Fisher, I know you're there!" and "Fisher, Fisher, I'll Fisher your Fisher, Fisher!" Something more on par with The Darkness' quality "stick your face out so I can shoot you in the face!" line would be preferable.

For more Hitman, check out the latest trailer . The latest Hitman: Absolution screenshots also confirm that, yes, you will be able to dress up as a priest and kill men with an axe. No sign of a clown costume yet, though.

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.