Behind the barrel of a gun

It’s a good job Hitman protagonist Agent 47 can keep a secret better than developer IO Interactive. The studio confirmed earlier today that the upcoming Hitman: Absolution will finally hit the PS3 on 20th November. In addition, as previously rumoured, if you pre-order the stealth title, you’ll be able to download an exclusive standalone mission called Hitman: Sniper Challenge.

The pre-order bonus – available from next week – puts you behind the scope of a sniper rifle on top of a level set in Chicago. You’ll have just 15 minutes to take out a marked target and as many of his security guards as possible.

The mission’s designed around arcade replayability, so you’ll earn multipliers for scoring headshots and completing various objectives. You’ll be able to compare your top scores against friends and the rest of the world via in-game leaderboards.

If you perform particularly well, you’ll unlock the “Agency Sniper Rifle” for use in the full game of Hitman: Absolution.

The release of Sniper Challenge will mark the first time a title has shipped using IO Interactive’s new Glacier 2 engine technology. Producer Luke Valentine said in an interview with VG247:

Creating Hitman: Sniper Challenge has been very good for us in terms of putting the new engine through its paces.

[Sniper Challenge] has a lot of depth, because you could complete it in one minute or you could spend weeks perfecting your score. What we’re trying to establish is that we can cater to people either with limited time or with a lot of time, both with the main game and Sniper Challenge.

Those in North America will need to shop at GameStop to grab the pre-order bonus, while players in the UK can snatch it from Amazon. We’ve included a trailer of the mission below.

Has Sniper Challenge convinced you to pre-order Hitman: Absolution, or are you still unsure about Agent 47's latest adventure?

[source vg247.com]