Hitman: Blood Money Review

The first Hitman was one of those games with greatness primarily from its premise: you play a killer for hire.  It was fun in a way, but the game started with having to strangle a guy while he’s taking a whiz – not exactly the sort of game one can brag about enjoying.  Until now, Agent 47, the (anti-)hero of the games, is a surprisingly uninteresting character, a clone bred specifically for murder with little choice in the matter.  A few other sequels really featured just more of the same, with just a few tidbits tossed in to make the gameplay ever better each time.

Blood Money finally takes the game to a new level, as Agent 47 loses contact with his “employers”… actually, they’ve all been killed, and he’s on the hit list as well.  Dealing with the assassin assassins pops up a few times during the 13 missions in the game, but mostly 47’s purpose is now to get himself his own life. Naturally, he’ll stick with what he knows, but now he’s a freelancer, taking contracts for his own personal gain.  The stuff for sale is pretty impressive, too, from a wide variety of weapons (silencers and wall-piercing bullets extra, of course) and equipment, including building schematics, to “cleaners” who take care of any messy details 47 left behind.

Suddenly, things become more interesting, as the player is now responsible for buying equipment to enhance 47’s efficiency.  47 is also allowed to pick up weapons (and bags of money) while on assignment, adding them to his personal stash.  Playing for oneself, instead of servicing some faceless organization, adds a whole new level of role-playing to the game, surprisingly so for one where the player’s role is narrowly defined.

In addition to the assassin ratings from earlier games, a notoriety system is now present.  After each mission, a newspaper comes out detailing what happened (from “man dies in freak accident” to “dozens slaughtered in gun rampage,” depending on one’s tactics).  Ego doesn’t play much of a part in this, as you’ll probably prefer as little news as possible.  If foul play is suspected, a sketch is provided of the perpetrator (i.e., 47).  Naturally, you’ll want to kill just about everyone who sees 47, and it’ll be well worth your while to destroy camera recordings and photographs as well.  Supposedly, if 47 is ever clearly identified, he’ll be easily recognizable in further missions, making them much tougher, but there’s an option to replay missions, and in practice one is better off just replaying until the stealth factor is maximized.  One could buy a whole new face/identity, but it’s easier on the pocketbook to just play it again and take out the missed camera (or whatever) from the first time around.  Stealth is very much the key to the game, as many missions involve a crowd of people to be avoided; I rather like carnage, but that’s just not an option here.

The game manual, at least for those with a shaky grasp on reality, reads like a “how to” guide for assassins, such as this line: “The professional takes payment in unmarked bills, which he can easily transfer to an offshore bank account.”  While it’s an interesting read, the manual for the most part is worthless, although the tutorial mission goes a long way to showing the player how to do nearly everything he’s capable of doing.

The missions themselves are generally fun, entailing quite a bit more than simply sneaking up behind a guy and strangling him.  While it strains reality a bit, Agent 47 is a total master of disguise, able to wear anyone’s clothing and pass as that person, more or less.  Quite a few missions have 47 killing more than one person and doing a clothing switch to get through security — don’t forget to hide the naked corpse!  While there’s no shortage of firearms in the game, Agent 47 is also deadly with his bare hands (and even has a lethal head-butt, a coincidental nod to current events).  There are several truly interesting kills, although I’d hate to give the game away.  Just let it be said that if you find yourself killing someone with a gun, chances are you’re doing it wrong; poison, faulty chandeliers, or horrifically faulty hot tubs are also options the professional should always consider.

Between missions, cut scenes tell the story, providing ever more background on Agent 47, and let the player see who’s following the protagonist – from the other assassins, to a reporter that’s hot on your trail, and, of course, a third shadowy figure.  It’s good stuff, and a nice reward and a break from the sometimes all-too-stressful missions.  Incidentally, the game graphics while playing are getting close (but not yet identical) to the cut scene graphics, so it may be just one more sequel until the game engine is the same as the cut scene engine.

The AI has been tweaked a bit; security guards are no longer liable to shoot 47 just for going near a door they’re guarding.  Instead, they’ll semi-politely warn him away, thus giving the player a bit more leeway in exploring the area before getting down to business.  While, in theory, there are many ways to complete a mission, “the best” way is always the goal, and many missions still have “death traps” that leave little choice but to replay again and again – replaying a mission until one “get it right” is a major theme to the game.  On higher skill levels, saves are restricted, making it especially painful, but at least on Normal one can play fairly loosely without having to deal with too much arbitrary death (or the equivalent).

Hitman might still not be a game for everyone, but Blood Money is quite possibly the best of the series, so folks who’ve been even remotely considering checking it out would do well to pick up a copy.  On the other hand, gamers that have already played the first three, and find themselves tiring of the series, might well not find it worth their while, as much of game is the same as before.  Either way, the key to enjoyment is patience in replaying the levels.  There’s very little luck to the missions, and a skilled hit man can beat any level efficiently on the very first try.  Anyone up to that challenge should get this game.

Pros/Cons

+ Good New Rules

+ Clever Missions

+ More Freedom

– Familiar Game Play

– Trial-and-Error Missions

– Limited Save Games