In an E3 interview, Hitman Absolution

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The latest trailer for Hitman Absolution, Attack of the Saints, attracted widespread criticism for its fetishistic portrayal of sexualised violence – both on IGN and in many many places elsewhere - and sparked a mass debate amongst gamers and commentators. In an E3 interview, Blystad was apologetic, but strongly stated that the trailer was not specifically intended to court controversy.“We’re sorry that we offended people – that was truly not the intention of the trailer,” he said, asked if IO understood what it was about the Attack of the Saints trailer that left a sour taste.Of course we understand, this has been a very big topic for us and we’ve been reading as much as we could of the articles and responses. We were surprised that it turned into such a huge topic. Something similar happened with our Sniper Challenge pre-order bonus... We just wanted to make something cool, it wasn’t the intention to stir up anything." Some commentators had suggested that the trailer was in itself a marketing ploy designed to attract attention, something that Blystad strongly denies. "It really came as a big surprise to us how it all went down," he said. "It was never the intention to provoke people with it."Blystad also explained that the trailer actually is based on a level from the game, also called Attack of the Saints. The female assassins, he explains, are from the Agency, and the trailer shows an encounter between them that's taken from a scene in the game."It’s a level from the game called Attack of the Saints, and this trailer I guess you could say represents one possible outcome," he explains. "As you know with Hitman games, you can go about it any way you want. The problem with showing off a Hitman game in a trailer is because there are many different ways to play, you’re only ever showing off one of any number of potential scenarios."Given the reaction to the trailer, it would be reasonable to assume that IO or Square Enix might be having second thoughts about the content in the game itself, but Blystad feels that the context offered within the game itself will make it easier to swallow than the out-of-context trailer. One question remains, though: just why are the nuns in the trailer - professional assassins, apparently - dressed the way they are?"The Hitman games as a series has always been extreme in many ways," he says. "The religious themes have been there from the very beginning, along with outlandish party scenes. And there are a lot of movie influences in Hitman Absolution, like Tarantino and Rodriguez. The grindhouse theme is something that we’re using throughout the game. It tends more towards sixties exploitation movies – these were a fascination [for us] because they were so extreme."Hitman Absolution had a new (nun-free) scenario on show at E3 2012. You can expect updated impressions of the game very soon.