One of the best things about working with a vibrant and productive community, such as the one attached to the Hitman games, is that you can learn a lot by just watching people play. Going back to the previous games in the Hitman series, we’ve always enjoyed watching videos of how the fans tackle the different levels; both in terms of strategy and approach to the emergent systems within the game but also in terms of how they change the rules by going against the core of the level.

A great example is when we see people trying to set up mission parameters all by themselves. The previous games didn’t really support this – you were supposed to play a level in one of several different ways but targets always remained the same – but the fans pretty quickly started setting up conditions for completion themselves. Kill everyone with a particular weapon. Don’t get spotted by anyone. Only wear the chicken outfit. Kill that waiter in the bar at the Meat King’s party. Sometimes these conditions would be extremely hard to fulfill but equally satisfying when they did get completed. So for Hitman: Absolution, we decided to formalize a lot of that. The result – Contracts mode.

In Contracts, players get to create challenges for themselves and others through the creation of custom hits. All a player needs to do is choose a level, an outfit and a load-out, and, as he or she plays through the level, tag and assassinate up to three different targets – chosen from anyone within the level. The player is free to use any weapon or disguise brought in or found in the level but he must be able to complete the contract himself in order to save it and share it with the world. Contracts, then, is first and foremost a play to create experience where a player can play, create and share a hit and enter into competitions and tournaments (official or unofficial). Players can continually try to one-up their rivals and fight for the top slot on the global, local or friend leader boards attached to each individual contract. Because it’s asynchronous, Contracts can be enjoyed across time zones, and it isn’t dependent on having friends online.

By playing and completing contracts, players will earn in-game currency (amount depending on performance in each individual contract), which can be used to unlock more disguises, weapons and upgrades for specific weapons. IO will set up a number of featured contracts, select ‘best of the week’ contracts and feature those through the in-game notification system, and drop in once in a while to create some fun IO-made contracts as well. But what we’re really excited about is seeing the flood of user-made contracts as people start to wrestle the systems in Absolution to bring out some real brain teasers for us all to enjoy.

So, we’ve basically sat down and looked at how players were crafting new missions out of the ones that already existed in the game, and we’ve built the tools to let them do this in a formalized, organized and rewarding way. It’s going to be a grand experience seeing how much creativity the players can inject into the game once it comes out.

IO Interactive is showing off Contracts at a special event at Gamescom, and later in the week we’re releasing a trailer showing how Contracts works. Hitman: Absolution is out on November 20th, 2012.

Excitement around Hitman: Absolution has been building at an impressive rate over the last year. In fact, today it’s exactly one year ago we came out and announced that we were working on Absolution and we’ve had a great ride. From sharing the first gameplay at E3 2011 and releasing the full 16 minutes for everyone to see afterwards to showing off the gorgeous orphanage level, revealing the fate of 47’s long-time handler Diana, showing off new features like Instinct and introducing exciting new gameplay series of videos called ‘Introducing’, we can safely say the fans have been with us through quite a ride thus far.

And now it’s time to kick it up another level. Today, we announce two new things. One is the Hitman: Sniper Challenge pre-order bonus and the other is the release date of Absolution. Let’s start with the release date – November 20th, 2012 is the day the game will hit PS3. So get your behind to Mars, er, GameStop and pre-order the game. Why? Well, that’s where this Sniper Challenge comes in.

You see, the Sniper Challenge is a way for us to say “thanks and we love you” to all the dedicated fans who have been waiting these last few years for a new Hitman experience. We’ve taken our time in creating a great game for fans, new and old alike, and we’ve tried out many different things in the process. One of those things was an early prototype for sniper gameplay in the game. It started out as two grey boxes with 47 on top of one and a target way off in the distance on the other. A few more items were added and the thing was shared internally to see if it worked. Pretty soon, it went viral at IO Interactive. Leaderboards were built, people started spending more and more time on it and we realized that this was something awesome. So we decided to expand upon it and make it into something that wasn’t Absolution – it was never going to go in the game as it just didn’t fit anywhere – but a few guys scrounged up some internal resources and started building the level out as a bonus to the fans that had been waiting for so long already.

So, here’s the deal – the Hitman: Sniper Challenge is a standalone hit, only available for Hitman: Absolution pre-orders. As the original assassin, you’ll unpack your Agency Kazo TRG sniper rifle, scope out the penthouse balcony of one Mr. Richard Strong Jr., CEO of Stallion Armaments and soon-to-be dead guy. And here’s the great thing: you get to play it immediately upon pre-order starting May 15th! Take out Mr. Strong Jr. and his entire staff of bodyguards, score big on the leaderboards and you’ll unlock equipment upgrades that carry over to Hitman: Absolution when the game comes out on November 20th. All you need to do is pre-order the game with GameStop, obtain the redeem code, boot up your PS3 and grab the Sniper Challenge from PlayStation Store starting May 15th. That’s it!

We truly hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we have. And don’t forget – November 20th is the day of Absolution.

By valuing stealth, careful observation, and meticulous planning over the run-and-gun bulletstorms of its contemporaries, the Hitman series has earned a sizable fan base over its long and celebrated career. As coldblooded antihero Agent 47, the player quietly stalks his prey through a Kafka-esque maze of guards and security measures, donning disguises, blending in with the crowd, and evading or subduing threats in order to efficiently fulfill his latest contract kill. The key phrase here is blending in; in Hitman, to stand out is to be detected, and to be detected is to die in a hail of gunfire.

This tense, analytical formula has served Hitman well over many successful sequels. But the steep learning curve and unforgiving stealth segments have also proven polarizing, preventing some newcomers from embracing what is by all accounts a uniquely rewarding stealth-action title. Taking a cue from 2011’s successful launch of Deus Ex: Human Revolution — another stealth game that sought to broaden its appeal without betraying its roots — Hitman: Absolution seeks to have its bloody cake and eat it, too.

To put it bluntly, Agent 47 no longer sucks in combat. In previous games, Agent 47 was a ghost, not a fighter. He stiffly plodded through the environments like an avenging automaton, poisoning donuts, setting up nasty “accidents,” always preferring to do his dirty deeds behind closed doors. In Hitman: Absolution, he’s capable of killing openly and gracefully, swapping lead with military precision and managing cover like a pro. But the classic stealth approach is fully supported, too. For the first time in Hitman history, you have a choice between two radically different but equally engaging interpretations of Hitman.

To prove this point, I sat in on a recent demo of the game running on PS3 — and looking mighty fine, may I add. A producer at developer IO Interactive played through a lengthy sequence using Agent 47’s time-tested skillset of distraction and deception. The result was a succession of nailbiting sequences in which Agent 47 narrowly avoided detection, weaving and rolling between cover, setting off small distractions in the environment to lure away and separate roaming guards, and donning disguises to penetrate deeper into the compound. Then the producer replayed the same scenario using Hitman: Absolution’s overhauled action gameplay. Instead of misdirecting his foes to avoid combat, Agent 47 brutally dispatched every poor sap he came across, hurling fire axes into craniums, bashing brains in with giant crucifixes, and double-tapping enemies at close range using a recovered pistol. The climax was a shootout against a mob of thugs using a room-clearing shotgun, cover-based shooting tactics, and a slow-mo burst of firepower called “Point Shooting.” And you know what? It looked like a helluva lot of fun.

Stealth or shooting: In Hitman: Absolution, the choice will be yours. To discuss the nitty gritty of this 2012 stealth-action title, I armed myself with questions submitted by @PlayStation followers and caught up with Lead Producer Hakan Abrak for an in-depth interview. If you have questions, leave them in the comments!

PlayStation.Blog: Is Hitman: Absolution a direct follow-up to Blood Money? (asked by @KnightAttack09 and @APakwashee)
Hakan Abrak, lead producer, Hitman: Absolution: It’s not set in a specific Hitman timeline. The setting is a bit different and we’re taking the story somewhere else — you start the game by killing Diana, the only truly human connection Agent 47 has ever had. And that changes the stakes immensely. In earlier games, Diana’s contracts set the tone and direction of the story. This time, Agent 47 is on his own. He must choose his next steps on his own.

PSB: Why does Agent 47 kill Diana?
HA: I don’t want to go into too many details, but something’s happening at the agency. Agent 47 suddenly receives a contract to kill Diana, and…well, he’s very professional! He kills her. Diana has been Agent 47’s connection for a long, long time, so when she makes a dying wish for him to seek out a girl named Victoria, he takes it on as a personal mission. There’s a strong connection to the the title of the game, Absolution. He’s seeking absolution for…something.

PSB: Is Hitman: Absolution a re-envisioning or reboot of the Hitman premise?
HA: I don’t know that I’d go that far, but we are exploring different aspects of Agent 47. The story is darker, more personal. You get to experience Agent 47 being placed in an unusual situation. He’s not just taking on contracts; he’s being hunted and he’s hunting for personal reasons. If you’re a longtime series fan, you know that’s very unusual for the cold, calculating Agent 47.

PSB: What was your primary goal from a gameplay perspective?
HA: We’ve been developing this game for a long time, and it’s very much linked to the technology, especially creating more complex, more believable artificial intelligence. Early on, we knew we couldn’t achieve our ambitions with the older Glacier 1 engine, so we decided to create Glacier 2. It’s a huge challenge to create new game technology, but it brought a lot of benefits.

PSB: Such as? What does Glacier 2 enable you to do that you couldn’t do before?
HA: We wanted to bring more fidelity to everything, to expand this concept of a living, breathing world. The characters are less binary and react in a lot of new ways. But we also wanted to enhance Agent 47’s skills and abilities, so we’ve introduced this concept of Instinct — an umbrella feature that conveys his keen senses. Agent 47 was genetically engineered to be the ultimate assassin, and in the past we’ve had a hard time communicating that through game mechanics. But with Absolution, I think we’ve succeeded in integrating his keen senses into the moment-to-moment gameplay. The way he can sense others around him, see through walls, shoot multiple targets almost instantly with Point Shooting…

PSB: Hitman is much loved for its stealth gameplay. What have you done to enhance it?
HA: When you’re making a stealth game, it’s important to find new ways to build tension. We built a lot of prototypes for Hitman: Absolution, and we learned that creating a “Giger counter” effect was a very effective way to communicate that the player is about to get spotted — you’d better move! In earlier games, it could be frustrating because you didn’t know when an enemy was about to spot you. And that “Giger counter” effect has the bonus effect of making you squirm when you play, it builds more tension. I find myself saying “ooh! ooh! ooh!” when I’m sneaking around.

PSB: Are you expanding on Agent 47’s use of disguises?
HA: Disguises are another area where we’ve added a lot more fidelity. If I’m wearing a guard outfit, guard characters will have an easy time seeing through my disguise…but other characters will be less likely to notice. Disguises have different ratings, too, and also different armour ratings: a SWAT disguise will give you far more protection than a doctor’s outfit.

When he’s disguised, Agent 47 can also act his way out of trouble when he has to walk near an enemy: he can scratch his head, pretend to speak into a radio to briefly deflect attention.

PSB: Is it fair to say that stealth and aggression are equally valid strategies in Hitman: Absolution?
HA: There are many more options for different emotional states and approaches to the gameplay. Some players do prefer a more violent approach; in earlier Hitman games, you were punished for that. If you screwed up, the entire level would come down on your head. But now, action is a more compelling option. But to our veteran fans, rest assured, the stealth is fully intact and better than ever!

Voyeurism has always been a key storytelling focus in Hitman, and we still have a lot of these small stories peppered throughout the game. It’s where a lot of the replayability comes in, actually. If you go into the game guns blazing, you’ll get a unique experience…but if you’re stealthy and explore more thoroughly, you’ll learn a lot more about the world and characters by overhearing conversations and the like.

PSB: Finally, do you think multiplayer is an important feature for a Hitman game? (asked by @yasemann)
HA: Agent 47 works alone.

IO Interactive has been on quite a ride with the first demo of Hitman: Absolution – touring the world with the code, showing it off to hundreds of thousands of excited people. The response was so overwhelming, we decided to release the full playthrough a few weeks ago. And now, after having captured two of the most busy gentlemen on the team, we are following up with a new video to ensure everyone gets the full experience.

Join Game Director Tore Blystad and Gameplay Director Christian Elverdam as they take us all behind-the-scenes of the award-winning Hitman: Absolution, with a full 17-minute commentary version of the “Run For Your Life” playthrough. The commentary will let you learn first-hand what it takes to create a living and breathing world. The aim is for the fans to gain new insight into the creation and ambition for the game and get a taste of what players can expect when they enter the mindset of the original assassin: Agent 47. We hope you will enjoy it!

How does it feel to be bringing Hitman back after such a long time away?

TB: It feels super great. Part of time was spent building a brand new engine from scratch. We looked at all the previous Hitman titles and said, “Okay, there’s a lot of DNA here, what do we want to improve?” We looked at everything, from Agent 47 himself – how does he move? what can he do? – to the AI. We had quite a few binary reactions in the old games, where if you got discovered it turned into a bit of a clumsy combat situation. We wanted to widen that a lot. Obviously we still have a lot of stealth elements in the game.

Let’s say you get discovered by a police officer. He won’t immediately try to shoot you, he’ll attempt to arrest you. This means that in Hitman: Absolution we have a bit of rubber-banding, a bit of leeway to try things out. You can back away, find a dark corner or try to disarm him.

We created a lot of different scenarios. So for example there’s a kind of hippies’ apartment which Agent 47 enters disguised as a police officer. These guys don’t like cops, so this disguise is not a good idea in there. But they won’t just attack you without warning. They’ll want to know why you’re there and warn you off. Of course, they might try to attack you, but that’s probably not going to end well for them.

Now, if you go in there dressed as Agent 47, they probably would allow you to be there, even though you’re trespassing and would arouse suspicion. There’s a lot for us to play around with.

So a lot of the experience will depend on you reacting to what’s going on around you?

CE: Yes, you need to play with your eyes open. Disguises play a big part here to alter how the game pans out in front of you. A lot of the disguises have their own attributes, and the Instinct system ties in there too. Instinct allows you to see potential challenges in real time. If you’re disguised and it’s cop versus cop then you can try to bluff them and sneak away to save ammo.

Is Instinct always available?

CE: No, Instinct is an economy. You have to earn it by doing the sorts of things a real hitman might do – by carrying out silent kills, successully concealing bodies and bluffing a large number of people, for example. You have to use it carefully on the most expert difficulty settings, while it’s more prevalent on the easier ones.

The demo we saw was set in a rain-lashed Chicago. Is the whole game set there?

TB: I can’t get into specifics there I’m afraid, but there are a lot of locations and Agent 47 will be collecting his air miles.

What’s the nature of Agent 47′s assignment this time?

TB: It’s a much more personal journey for Agent 47. He’s completely invested in the story, and we see an interesting turning point where he gets betrayed. This sets him off on a hunt for the truth, but, of course, it’s still very much about finding people and killing them.

There’s a real sense of non-playable characters’ micro-dramas happening all around you.

CE: Well an open world game needs to feel alive, so that’s what we’ve gone for here. The characters can do so many different things according to the situation. Along with the cinematic sequences, this has been the toughest thing for us to get right, hence us having to build our own brand new tool set and basically attack it from any angle.

If you take out the guy that was supposed to turn on the lights in a room, it changes the situation completely. Every action, however small, has its own consequence.

TB: We have a rookie cop character who has been called out with his colleagues to a library which Agent 47 is stalking round. This new guy is always getting told off by his sergeant, and you can actually distract him. He will go off and investigate before carrying on with his own little story. If you take a different path through the library, you can see his story unfold from a different perspective.

This allows you to play with your morals – you can kill the rookie without a second thought, or isolate his sergeant and kill him instead, giving the new guy a bit of a break. We really wanted to include a lot of this kind of stuff. Imagine playing through this big, dark library without this and it’s just a normal stealth game. It loses a defining Hitman characteristic. Nothing else has that. Whichever way you play it, it should always be entertaining.

Do you create the characters first, then build the game around them?

CE: It goes into a big jumble. Often we think of a cool disguise then devise a way to get it into the game, like the chicken suit in Hitman: Blood Money.

We sometimes think of the situation first then devise the characters to populate that – like the library full of cops. Pacing is always top priority, so anything that can add variety is a good thing because it makes the player think differently.

Who dreams up the various ways to assassinate people?

TB: We had a base of mechanics from Hitman: Blood Money that we started off with, and we added to that whatever people could come up with. Plus, many of the improvised weapons are location specific, so you wouldn’t find too many heavy books outside of the library.

So does that mean people from IO Interactive go home at night and sit there thinking up ingenious ways to kill people?

TB: Yeah! People come in the next day and go, “Hey! I had this great idea last night about pushing a cop off a ledge”, or whatever. Everyone’s a closet hitman.

At this very moment, an army of hard-working team members are into the second day of presenting what is a true labor of love for IO Interactive – Hitman: Absolution. The knowledge that millions of fans have been waiting for news on Hitman is making the guys give it everything they have to present a game that we’re extremely proud of at IO. Lifting the veil on the development of a new game is always fun but given the connection between the studio and Hitman, this time it’s more exciting than ever.

And the debut trailer? Well, see for yourself. Agent 47, the world’s deadliest assassin, returns to take on his most dangerous contract ever. This time, he finds himself betrayed by the people he trusted and must use every skill and talent he has available to claw his way out of a dark conspiracy, which takes him through a corrupt world of twisted enemies. Thankfully, 47 is a resourceful individual and nothing will stand in his way for long.

When you’re creating a game with the scope of Hitman: Absolution, you don’t just have one finish line at the end of the race – you have lots. In fact, it can sometimes feel like you’re running a relay race all by yourself, constantly handing over and simultaneously receiving the baton to go another lap around the track. It’s exhausting, sure, but every time you complete a lap, a new surge of energy hits and you can run on that high for a long time.

Coming to E3 and delivering this debut trailer for Hitman: Absolution, as well as the presentations on the floor, has provided us with a massive boost of energy, which will come in handy for the next months as we push to make the game the absolutely best it can be. IO and Hitman are intertwined on an almost cellular level and with this game, we’re taking everything to the next level. We trust you will all enjoy the experience.

For the follow up to 2007’s Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, developer IO Interactive has decided to present the sequel from Lynch’s point of view. So what’s it like seeing the world through the eyes of a warped psychopath? About what you would expect—disturbing and occasionally disorienting. Qore presents a sneak peek at the frantic action, including a preview of the popular online “Fragile Alliance” mode.

Namco’s 1988 arcade game, Splatterhouse, attracted a bit of controversy for its violent nature. In fact, in those pre-ESRB days, the home console version was released with an “inappropriate for young children…and cowards” warning on the box. The next-gen reboot of the franchise isn’t shying away from controversy either—we almost couldn’t show it to you! Audrey Cleo spoke to Namco’s producer about what it took to bring Rick back to life.

Amidst the pomp and circumstance that is E3, Veronica Belmont and the Qore team made it a point to search for great games that might have gotten lost in the crowd. TerRover is just such a game. Don’t let the cartoonish design and colorful visual style fool you—as with most classic games, this one will be easy to learn but difficult to master .

In the latest installment of “On the road with Qore,” Veronica visits Kyoto, Japan—home to historic temples and shrines and a world-famous manga museum. Very cool stuff. She also pays a visit to the famous snow monkeys who are perfect for making Kyoto-inspired PlayStation 3 cover designs using the interactive Box Creator. And, some of our favorite Osaka-inspired creations are displayed in this episode. Is your submission one of them?

If our TerRover coverage has captured your interest, why not take the little rover for a test drive in our early-access exclusive demo? All single episode purchasers and subscribers will be able to sample five of the more than 40 different levels to be found in the complete game. Our download center also features a PS3 Splatterhouse theme available to everyone.

Look for Episode 27 later today.