I have been digging through the audio files for Absolution to make a comprehensive comparison with every dialogue line to the text files (which I will upload when I am done) and stumbled onto a version of the train conversation at the start of Hunter and Hunted with 47’s old VA before they were pressured to hire Bateson again. It sounds SO different and jarring, I’m not sure if anyone else has uploaded this/if this conversation is common knowledge (new to Hitman as a series and the old forums were more popular with Absolution discussion from what I could tell) in the way that the original Codename 47 actor’s lines being in the audio was, but wanted to upload it here if anyone else wanted to hear it! Did they ever say who they had cast originally for 47 before changing it to Bateson? He sounds so Italian here in such a jarring way, I cannot imagine the final game sounding like this for the entire time given how much 47 talks in Absolution. Here’s the link to my Youtube video compiling the entire conversation in order from the files (if anyone is curious, it’s found under L02D → Dialogue → TRAINBIRDIEVO if you extract it via the HM Audio Tools). Edit: It is William Mapother who was the original VA, but still wanted to share this performance in case anyone wanted to hear it!
Thanks for uploading this it was definitely interesting, I’ve been playing Absolution quite a bit again and it just sounds so bizarre to hear , I’m glad they went with Bateson in the end I just can’t really imagine 47 with any other voice.
Of course! I haven’t found any other alternative recordings of 47, but if I find anything else (I’m only on Terminus right now but should be done in a few days (given well, 22,000 audio files, it’s taking a bit haha)) I will post it in this thread! I really cannot imagine the game with this VA or anyone else, especially with how much emotion Bateson brings to 47 here (the cut down cutscene of him cutting his barcode especially for me, and his lines with Diana in APC). And the interview he did before Absolution came out discussing how his personal life experiences impacted how he voiced 47 really just adds so much to how great he does there. I feel it would be near impossible to take scenes seriously without him there!
imo cutting Mapother’s dialogue last minute is a bit of a double edged sword.
Its been ages since I’ve played Absolution, but there is definitely 47 dialogue throughout that feels so out of place in its delivery compared to the scene - which gives the impression that they really didn’t have much time to record it all and they were just racing to get through the recording with Bateson as fast as possible to meet deadlines. This led to certain line recordings being labeled as “good enough”, when under normal circumstances they would’ve gone again.
At least IO threw Mapother a bone and cast him as Dino Bosco in WoA I guess.
It’s interesting to know that Mapother was cast as 47 in Absolution. I knew him before as the unhinged pedo in the Mentalist
There is a XBOX 360 june build of Absolution that has lots of different VA lines and videos, even some of the levels are vastly different, but i wasn’t aware of this in retail, cool find
I know him from LOST, where he abducted a pregnant girl and tried to kill her boyfriend. They should bring him in as a target, but I think he is not well known enough for a Celebrity ET and they don’t do anything else anymore.
It’s definitely rough. Yet I don’t believe that was the final voice recording from Mapother, if it even was him. It might have been an early take, a place holder.
If you compare it with his line in E3 playthrough of “Run for your life” and the Birdy cut-scene where he comes looking for information.
The tone and overall quality is drastically different. With him having done voice acting work since 2007 and his role as Donio Bosco in HITMAN 2016. I wouldn’t say that this is representative of what we would have gotten.
I play tested Absolution from start to finish back in the summer of 2012, there where lines in there were neither Bateson nor Mapother if my memory serves me right.
Yeah, totally agreed! I learned in an interview that he did it in a MONTH which really makes some of the more odd delivery make more sense, and that he wasn’t doing it with the other voice actors, as I believe most of the game was mocapped and audio recorded at similar times in America, whereas he did his recordings in Christian Elverdam’s house.
That is so cool, I had no idea that that existed! Is there a list anywhere of all of the changes?
When I had posted this on Reddit, another poster had suggested the same thing, where it was a placeholder for Birdie’s VA, and that is so neat to have that knowledge that there were still things from back that far in development in the final files! I wish there was more information on who the earlier placeholder was during that beta, thank you for sharing your experience, that’s super interesting!
Isn’t he technically in the game already as Dino Bosco?
I read that here, but didn’t know. Bosco isn’t my favourite mission to say the least, so why not bring him back for something good?
Listening to William Mapother again in the beta of Absolution just sounds so off.
David Bateson is and will always be 47!
This, absolutely. Although, credit where it’s due: they were trying to go for a “new” 47, and I think with that voice, they certainly achieved that. Good thing all our complaining about it changed their minds.