Hitman Absolution level changed due to negative nun trailer reaction

Hitman Absolution has been tweaked after negative reaction to the game's all-guns-blazing PVC-clad nun trailer.

The teaser video saw Agent 47 mercilessly assassinating a troupe of killer nuns. Hitman's trademark stealth gameplay was nowhere to be seen.

"The Saints trailer is based on a level within the game," Hitman Absolution director Tore Blystad told Eurogamer at Gamescom today. "One way to go about that level is to go in all-guns blazing, but of course, it's not the smartest way.

"We learned from the trailer that we really needed to give these characters some context and some backstory. We're working within the game - within that level - to build these characters up before you meet them. That way you know what you're getting and you aren't put off by them."

Blystad said that, despite hundreds of people internally having seen the video, no-one had predicted the firestorm of publicity that followed.

"We were surprised by the reaction to it. We've been trying to find out, y'know, how could we not see this happening? If we knew it would get such a negative reaction we would have done it in a different way.

"The game is inspired by Grindhouse-style movies, so for us the trailer was natural way to deal with that subject matter. We hope when people play it they have fun with it."

The nun characters did "fit" the Hitman universe, Blystad argued, explaining that previous games have always been "colourful and cartoony".

"The Saints fit into that somewhere, but it is a more extreme level in the game than others."

And, with the changes in place, developer IO Interactive does not expect any further fallout from the footage.

"There will have been so long between the trailer coming out and the game being released that people will have forgotten about it," Blystad concluded.