London, UK — Square Enix has announced a UK exclusive clothing collaboration with Trapstar to celebrate the upcoming launch of Hitman: Absolution on November 20.

Making use of imagery from the game, the London-based clothing label will design a series of items including t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and caps which will feature the iconic barcode, sniper reticules and the number 47. All pieces will be available to purchase from Trapstar’s flagship store from November 20, to coincide with the game’s release.

Since its inception, Trapstar has been worn by some of the biggest names in entertainment including Rita Ora and Rihanna, who was spotted in London this week wearing early pieces from the collection. In the past 24 hours alone the Bajan superstar has been seen in three items from the range, including the hyper-exclusive trenchcoat, which is strictly limited to ten pieces worldwide.

“Hitman: Absolution is one of the coolest entertainment brands around and Agent 47 is always dressed to kill, so working with Trapstar seemed the perfect fit” said Jon Brooke, Brand and UK Marketing Director of Square Enix.

“Being given the chance to work with Square Enix on the Hitman: Absolution project, has the makings of an epic collaboration. It gives Trapstar the opportunity to be experimentally playful with the clothing and unleash darker imagery” commented Mikey Trapstar, Co-founder and Creative Director of Trapstar.

Hitman: Absolution is scheduled for release across North America, Europe and PAL territories on November 20, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

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Announced recently, The Barcode Society is a fan community run by IO Interactive and Publisher Square-Enix. Here, fans can enjoy information about their favorite bald assassin, Agent 47. Chock full of fan content and free giveaways, the release of Hitman: Absolution appears to reach all new highs as coverage of the game increases in the coming months. Sadly, there is no word yet on the possible release date of a sequel for the 2007 film.

As evident by other weblog content, there was a recent Hitman novel give-away on the site where two lucky fans won a copy of Hitman: Enemy Within. Hitman: Enemy Within is a book set between Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money, the 3rd game in the franchise.

A more recent book is Hitman: Damnation which is a prequel novel set before Hitman: Absolution that bridges the gap between Absolution and Hitman: Blood Money. Hitman: Absolution has not been slated for a release date but fans are certainly hoping it will be soon.  Absolution will be available for PC, PS3 and Xbox360.

The site features tons of news and other goodies that no fan of Agent 47 should miss. This includes news articles about the newest aspects of Agent 47′s development that date back from last year, now compiled into one place for all fans to enjoy. Addtionally, recent art work featured on the site is done by artist Patrick Brown with links to his Facebook and DeviantArt Pages.

With SOPA and PIPA legislation in the works, it is refreshing to see Eidos and IO Interactive feature fan made content on their website. It gives budding film makers the chance to show their skills and hopefully get some decent exposure. You’ll find a lot of these fan made videos inside The Vault while the artworks are found in both The Vault and the Community tab.

The Vault is a wealth of history in itself, as there are screenshots and video footage of every Hitman video game ever developed inside. Included is also some artwork, wallpapers and community videos on each game. There is official video logged from every game and also community-made videos that are both exciting and hilarious. Changing legislation with SOPA would obviously reduce the effectiveness of the Barcode Society website.

The community section includes links to all the external networks where fans can find most of the scattered Agent 47 content. With links to YouTube, Twitter and forums, coverage is already quite extensive. There is also a community art section which links to the idea of a community sharing content with one another in a streamlined format to reduce content overlapping. Links to Facebook and DeviantArt are also included for fans who want to contact the original artists.

The Forum threads many of the community questions together into one area which serves as a sounding board for the fans as well as the game developers. The Forum also includes select goodies such as previous Agent 47 magazine covers and fan suggestions for weapons and tactics that will be seen by developers. It is near to life imitating art as fans may influence developers in ways that are rarely so streamlined.

The site is a unique experience for fans of Agent 47 because it showcases our favorite bald assassin in all his suited glory. It gives Agent 47 a new and exclusive way to shine through in a gaming industry, quickly filling up with assassins and other hunters. There is plenty of free content for fans to go around and enjoy with this single unified website that serves as a portal into Agent 47′s life.

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It has been nearly half a decade since the last Hitman game was released onto a major console. Barring the 2007 movie with Actor Timothy Olyphant playing the role of Agent 47, the Hitman franchise has been dormant in the minds of most fans. Well that stops today with the walkthrough commentary video below.

Rumors started surfacing around 2007 parallel to the release of the movie tie in and then authenticated in 2009 for development by IO Interactive, that the next Hitman game has been a long time coming for fans of Agent 47.

Announced with an approximate release time in 2012 and a longer nearly two minute trailer (above), thanks must go to the Glacier 2 engine from IO interactive for its sheer realism and depth of detail.

Now fans can have a small taste of the game with the release of the 16 minute play through video, this time with commentary by Game Directors Tore Blystad and Gameplay Director Christian Elverdam.

The initial release of the 16 minute video without the commentary gives the players an exceptionally focused view of the game. The footage is quite dark for most of the video, which may not shed a great deal of light on how well the graphics can be expected even with the Glacier 2 engine. Still, the darkness serves to add an almost tangible sense of menace when combined with the sound and special effects. You won’t be bored watching this video, that’s for sure.

Fans will further be confused with a new skill that they’ve never seen or used before come into play during the video. The new body heat sensing skill allows Agent 47 to see through walls and floors to gain a better mental picture of his enemies’ locations.

Much improved and welcomed are the cinematic feel of the AI characters and the higher degree interactivity with the use of cover environments. Opponent dialogue has certainly improved as has the heighten realism of the shooting with slight weapon recoil. They have clearly taken cues and inspiration from some of the more successful games in the recent assassin genre.

The sound design again comes into play during the video for eliminating targets silently; the only audible sounds are the increasing suspense, followed by the crunch of bone and then silence in a targets’ heart rate.

However, the next parts of the game once you exit the building onto the adjoining roofs are anything but quiet as you are chased, shot at and leap across an open chasm  between buildings a la Jason Bourne. Towards the end of the chapter, there is even someone whom asks Agent 47 if he’d quit years ago and 47 mumbles that he never left, no doubt answering fans questions as to Agent 47′s retirement.

With the commentary however, you get a different and more complete picture of what Director’s Bylstad and Elverdam wanted to achieve. Mentioned within the first few minutes is the perceived dark and broken first chapter which is meant to convey his progression through the game. This is a significant change from past Hitman titles as those tended to stay uniformly in the same slightly drab and dark themes rather than changing as Agent 47 progressed through his journey.

The new skill as mentioned before about the body heat sensing now has a name aptly called “Instinct”. Seeing through walls and predicting the path of an enemy for much better execution of gameplay, this feature may take some of the surprise out of the experience but adds to Agent 47′s skill set when he eventually needs to eliminate another target quietly.

Additionally the commentary also reveals familiar knowledge that the game is being developed to tailor the player and give them choices. It is your choice to be the coldest assassin on the block or to spare everyone except the primary target. Perhaps we can also expect a rating system, a hallmark feature in previous Hitman titles, to rate your kill count per mission anywhere from Silent Assassin to Mass Murderer.

Another familiar touch the commentary mentions is the use of costumed disguises, which has always been a favorite aspect of the Hitman franchise. It has allowed for some of the most memorable and exciting kills in Hitman history and will certainly change gameplay since players must now match disguises with props or risk being discovered. A mailman carrying pizza for example, would be easily exposed.

One thing not completely obvious at first glance,  is that Agent 47 does not at any point in the level, despite being shot at by cops and a helicopter, ever need a health recovery. There is a health bar but perhaps for the purposes of the initial play through, this aspect was set aside? Most will wonder but hopefully new information will surface soon to further explain this specific aspect of this otherwise fantastic gameplay experience.

The newest edition of Hitman therefore, seems to be the best and brightest of all. It does what previous games could not, offering an expansive interactive experience that is sure to wow fans and new comers alike. Hopefully the main storyline and the rest of the proceeding game are equally as spectacular so that fictional assassin can meet factual gameplay.

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