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Diana discovered Victoria was genetically-engineered to become an assassin for the ICA. Rather than finishing her off, 47 comforts his dying friend and asks her why she betrayed the ICA. 47 sneaks into her mansion and shoots Diana. After the ICA is reformed, 47 is tasked by his new handler, Benjamin Travis, a high level official within the ICA, to kill Diana for her betrayal and retrieve an important Agency asset a teenaged girl named Victoria from her mansion in Chicago, Illinois. Set after the events of Hitman: Blood Money and Hitman: Damnation, the game begins with Agent 47 detailing his relationship with his handler Diana Burnwood whom he had trusted until she, without explanation, betrayed the International Contract Agency (ICA) by sabotaging their funding and database, using the subsequent confusion to vanish. The player journeys to various locations, including a mansion, library, strip club, gun store, wrestling arena, courthouse, and hotel during the story. Players complete chapters in order to progress through the story. There are also environmental ways to kill or distract individuals players can use poison to spike coffee, pull switches to make a disco ball fall and break, cause a massive explosion at a gas station, pull a switch to cause scaffolding to fall down, cause fires, or set off fireworks. Agent 47 also has the 'Instinct' ability that lets the player monitor enemies more easily. Players may use pistols, bottles or bricks, assault rifles, shotguns, fiber-wire, or steel pipe against enemies if opting for the action-oriented approach, or avoid enemies altogether, not being seen, using disguises, blending into the environment, and only attacking the set target (s), if using the stealth-oriented approach.
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Players choose how to complete each level, taking branching paths to get to a target or location.
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Objectives can range from simply reaching the end of the level, to killing specific individuals. Presented from a third-person perspective, the gameplay centers around completing set objectives within a series of levels. Hitman: Absolution is a stealth video game in which the player assumes the role of a hitman named Agent 47.
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