the cutting room mirror

Hitman: Absolution

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This page details development materials of Hitman: Absolution.

Scrapped Storylines#

The Angry Man#

Dubbed HITMAN 5 during development, "The Angry Man" was one of many scrapped story ideas for Absolution. Considered the most grim by IO Interactive, it detailed 47 witnessing the murder of a teenage girl by the hands of some rowdy teens. A couple years later, 47 learns that he was related to this girl in some way or another as a genetically modified clone. 47 is promptly angered, and seeks revenge on the teenagers, who are now grown up and in different walks of life, residing in a small town somewhere in the Chicago area. Somehow, The Saints were involved in the narrative as well, but it is unknown to what extent. While a lot of concepts ended up being left on the cutting room floor, "some energy and general grit of this idea remained all the way through to the finished product", as was stated in Full Disclosure.

A very Bond-like concept trailer was made, and appeared in Full Disclosure.

Notable changes include:

  • The unnamed girl evolved into the character Anna, seen in the also scrapped "Homeless Hitman" storyline. Anna eventually morphed into Victoria later down the line.
  • The small town was turned into Hope, and the group of teenagers were likely retooled into Lenny's gang (sometimes referred to as the Hope Cougars).
  • 47's vehicle was changed from a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville to Lenny's slightly less impressive personal vehicle.
  • The female singer depicted in the concept trailer does not appear anywhere in the game aside from a few posters and billboards for "Throwback FM", where her face is obscured in shadow.

The Homeless Hitman#

"The Homeless Hitman" was a bit of a different take on 47, leaning more on the emotional side. After the hit on Diana Burnwood, 47 would fall into a deep depression, being left emotionally scarred from the experience. 47 ends up leaving the ICA and goes on the run for 13 years, ending up as a frail homeless man on the streets of Chicago. One day, a broken 47 meets a young girl named Anna (an early version of Victoria, as stated previously), whom he connects with on a personal level. However, Anna is killed by a group of teenagers, which leaves 47 enraged and yearning for revenge. 47 would eventually stumble upon a private investigator named Babble (an early version of Birdie), who would act as his new handler. Anna's death would've been one of the few moments in the franchise where 47 would've shown any kind of emotion. It also would've followed 47 getting a tattoo in her memory on his arm, quite a big change in his appearance. As shown in concept art, 47 would've also had a pet dog, though how it would affect the narrative is unknown. HITMANABSOLUTION_Homelessposter.png

Homeless Hitman borrowed several concepts from The Angry Man, notably the death of a teenage girl, which would send 47 on a warpath.

  • 47 was given a more direct connection to the teenage girl this time around, as opposed to randomly finding out that this girl means something to him and getting upset about it.
  • A significant tonal change, which would happen one more time as the game got progressively more light-hearted.
  • Agent 47 was more emotive this time around, with more emphasis on showing him as vulnerable, broken man, not in control like he usually is in his outings.
  • 47 being pursued by the Chicago PD throughout the game started here, and carried over into the final release.

Cut Missions#

Places 47 had no reason to visit in the end. Very little are known about some of these, as Full Disclosure gives very little context about what these missions were actually about.

Tropical Storm#

A mission set in Hawaii, taking place in a tropical storm (who would've guessed?) with some kind of chase, though it is not clear who is being chased by whom. Context is so scarce that it is not known whether it was part of the current Absolution storyline or any of the other ones, or who it was even for. HITMANABSOLUTION_TropicalStorm.png

Black Wings#

Next to nothing is known about this mission, except the fact that it would take place shortly after the introductory level "A Personal Contract", showing 47 transitioning into homelessness. As stated in Full Disclosure, the theme of the mission would be 47's "fall from grace", hence the name of the mission. HITMANABSOLUTION_Blackwings.png

Forced Landing#

In what is quite a bonkers set piece, 47 would've been on an airplane which was forced to land on a freeway packed with civilians. Our barcode man would've had to continue his rampage on the ground and would've supposedly lead to a forest fire that 47 would have to navigate through. This was one of many ideas workshopped in a push for natural events drastically changing the world around 47. However, the "big nature" theme is practically non-existent in the final product. HITMANABSOLUTION_Forcedlanding.png

Ikan Sepat#

As per usual, Full Disclosure doesn't actually disclose much of anything. It would've seen 47 on a moving ship. The idea caused too many issues with character locomotion and was scrapped as a result. Once again, not a lot of information. HITMANABSOLUTION_Ship.png

Hot Sauce Factory#

Probably one of the later cuts, the Hot Sauce Factory still has its branding everywhere in Absolution's world, and a costume depicting Charlie Chipmunk can be found in levels like Chinatown for 47 to wear (and is a fairly well-known easter egg). The ICA is hunting 47 down at this point in the narrative, which would've somehow lead 47 to the factory. The documentation for this mission is surprisingly substantial compared to most other cut missions, which suggests the mission made it quite far in development. The player was able to steal the factory's secret recipe in a safe, located in a kitchen. As stated in Full Disclosure, it was cut due to the developers not finding a place where it would fit. HITMANABSOLUTION_ChiliFactory.png

Romantic House#

An incredibly early version of "A Personal Contract". It revolved around 47 breaking into the home of a romantic couple experiencing a bit of tension, and slaying them both in cold blood. There was seemingly no justification given for why you were killing this random couple, and the locale eventually morphed into Diana Burnwood's mansion. The earliest known version of Victoria appears in concept art, looking a lot younger than she ended up being in the final game. HITMANABSOLUTION_Coldblood.png

Skurky's Residence#

As stated in Full Disclosure, Skurky was to have a larger role in Absolution's story, as well as a side plot where he's going through a messy divorce and his wife leaves him (like he's a Rockstar protagonist), taking most of his items. The goal of the level was to present Skurky's character to the player, and show him as an eventual threat to Victoria. The level ended up being cut from the game as it "detracted too much from the story and we had great difficulty in staging the gameplay properly within the level", as stated in Full Disclosure. HITMANABSOLUTION_skurkyhouse.png

Chicago Riverside#

Part of the "Homeless Hitman" storyline, and 47's residence. The area would be populated by fellow homeless. HITMANABSOLUTION_Riverside.png

Gentle Giant Supermarket#

A location now only mentioned in passing, 47 was meant to explore the interior at some point, as depicted in both normal and pretty gruesome ways. It seemingly got quite far in development, having a decent amount of the environment made for it. However, story changes prevented its inclusion, as explained by lead game designer Lee Varley in Full Disclosure. HITMANABSOLUTION_Supermarket.png

Chips Bowling Alley#

Originally meant to take place in the level "Skurky's Law", the bowling alley was cut early in production. As stated in Full Disclosure, it was an ambush scenario where agency soldiers would rappel down from the ceiling and attack 47. A full set of bowling staff was created, but went unused. HITMANABSOLUTION_BowlingAlley.png

Chicago Back Alley#

The developers wanted to explore a part of Chicago in disarray, worn down and filthier overall. Ultimately, this was not focused on in the final game, but the idea would go on to be explored by IO Interactive in Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, albeit in Shanghai as opposed to Chicago. HITMANABSOLUTION_backalley.png

Dandelion Park#

A gas station that never made it past the concept stage. HITMANABSOLUTION_dandelionpark.png

Stake Out#

An idea explored by IOI at the time was the idea of "stake outs" between the main missions, lower intensity missions that shine a light on a process 47 usually does off-screen. This ultimately never got past the concept stage. HITMANABSOLUTION_stakeout.png

Cut Characters#

There are a surprising amount of these though most do not have much to them, being mentioned "very briefly" in Full Disclosure.

Ma/Nosy Neighbour#

A relatively obese lady named "Ma" was once present in the level "Shaving Lenny", particularly in the first segment dubbed "Streets of Hope". Being a loud, shotgun-wielding and overly obese hillbilly made her certainly unique, however, her uniqueness ended up being her downfall as "from design perspective, she was a nightmare" and "did not fit into any of our AI profiles", as stated in Full Disclosure. nosyneighbour.png

Anna#

An early version of Victoria who exists only in the "Homeless Hitman" storyline.

Babble#

An earlier version of Birdie, as both characters serve the same purpose of being 47's new, shadier handler with not quite as smooth of a voice.

Carl Cohen#

IOI wanted to have something playing on the in-game TVs at some points in the game, and came up with the idea for The Carl Cohen Show. A 58 year old actor, The Carl Cohen Show, described as an over-the-top adult soap opera for cynical, media-savvy Americans. It was mainly about Carl not being able to relate to his daughter Ariel, which was meant to serve as an analogy to 47 having difficulties relating to Victoria as a bit of cheeky meta commentary. The show proved too costly to produce, so it was decided to pivot it into a show that uses sock puppets, which almost went through, but idea was dropped in the end due to time constraints. HITMANABSOLUTION_CarlCohen.png

Miscellaneous#

Adaptive Music Score#

Absolution's score was meant to be more involved, with the developers investigating an approach where the music would be "paraphrasing the gameplay". Absolution_Phoenix.png

Targets Only Eliminated in Cutscenes#

Hakan Abrak, the executive producer on Hitman: Absolution, stated in the Noclip documentary The Fall and Rise of Hitman, that Absolution originally did not have targets for the player to kill, having all kills be relegated to cutscenes. This was changed after negative player feedback.

LaSandra Dixon/Victoria Interview#

A simple animatic of an interview with Saints leader and target in Attack Of The Saints LaSandra Belle Dixon was recorded by her actor Vivica Fox, but the animatic was never finished. Victoria's actress Isabelle Fuhrman also recorded an interview as Victoria under the same "I Met the Hitman and Survived" format, but only audio exists.

Agent 47's Voice Change#

Quite infamously, Agent 47 was to be played by William Mapother of Lost fame instead of series regular David Bateson. As explained by Bateson, he was originally not asked to return, but after months of fan backlash from the game's early reveal, he was contacted by IO Interactive and returned to the role once more. Mapother's motion capture ended up being retained in the final product, and Mapother later ended up playing Dino Bosco in Hitman 2016.