Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (272 positive / 27 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing21% mention it
- Visuals & art7% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing26% mention it
- Bugs & crashes19% mention it
- Visuals & art11% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
87%
77 reviews
5-15h
91%
128 reviews
15-40h
92%
73 reviews
40-100h
100%
16 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 79 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 69 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 93% | 87 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 76 | 23 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 93% | 87 | 168 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 480 total reviews in window · weighted 211 up / 16.2 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (50)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“There are some bugs and the story is disappointing, but it says a lot about the experience that I was able to quickly shake those things off and keep replaying levels or building contracts again and again.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“To be honest, Absolution is a bit of a weird game in general, if you take various components individually, there are a lot of fun and unique elements to the game. Start to look at it as a whole product though, and you can't help but feel as emotionally detached as the people you end up killing. It's way more narrative driven than any of the previous games, and that has a natural effect on where you go, and what you do when you get there. ”
read full review ↗ - 93
“For new players, the systems in Hitman can take some getting used to. Once acclimated, my only real problem was deciding how I wanted to take out my target. With the incredible number of options, it's possible to play the same level multiple times, in a completely different way each time. Add to that the user created challenges, and the result is a fun game that has tons of replay value. With five difficulty settings, the game will appeal to both hardcore stealth fans and casual gamers alike, and it's a terrific package that anyone can enjoy.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“I loved and hated Hitman: Absolution. It wraps its stealthy assassinations within a slim and challenging margin of comfort. Often, that's due to clunky mechanics that don't share the same kind of experimental freedom as other sandbox games, especially when unexpected glitches can ruin a half-hour of careful exploration. You can expect many hours of gameplay against a detailed backdrop of revenge, murder, and deliciously unsavory characters and comic book-styled villainy. It's not as beautiful a kill as it could have been, but the lengthy contract can still make a compelling argument for giving this wetwork collection a second look.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Absolution has the pacing and exotic set-piece locations of a James Bond film, which seems appropriate given that 47 is essentially Bond stripped of his smirk, gadgets, and vices.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Absolution is a slick, responsive and mechanically confident game - and on occasions it's one of the most satisfying stealth games in a year that already includes Dishonored - but a range of compromises to Hitman tradition mean it's still going to rub some people up the wrong way.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Not every method of murder is as satisfying as you'd want, but Absolution plays well and looks sumptuous.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“This may sound like Absolution is a bad game. It isn't, it's just a bad Hitman game. Features bleed from other games and the bizarre need to position Agent 47 as an action man with feelings and a rough moral code has diluted its identity. That said, there is deep replay value, both in the single-player and Contracts modes.”
read full review ↗ - 77
“With all its fancy visuals and some properly directed cinematic moments, in addition to all the features packed into the solo mode and multiplayer mode, Hitman: Absolution can still get tedious. ”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Overall, Hitman isn't a bad game, in fact it it is hard to find fault. The main issue is that it is a Hitman game and the main new mechanics and the structure of the story mode take away that feeling you had when playing an earlier Hitman game. If you are new to the series then you will love what is on offer, but fans will be left with a bit of a bitter taste in their mouth.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Like Dishonored before it, it's actually a true pleasure to play a game that lets you tackle it from multiple angles.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“A game with an identity crisis trying to be too many things to too many people. It's more successful than it should be but ultimately the entire package is brought down by being pulled in these two polarizing directions.”
read full review ↗
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Worth Playing
Eurogamer
GameSpot
AusGamers
ActionTrip
Gamestyle
IGN…and 38 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.