Hitman: Contracts is the third Hitman in the series from Eidos. This game delivers the random slaughter that we loved from the previous titles in the series. After being unable to complete Hitman 2 due to technical issues, I was quite looking forward to being able to run around with my double ballers and doing some serious slaughter again. When comparing my “Hitman style” to that of the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, had I executed the undertaking they would have found his body strewn across the steps of the Police station. However, the versatility of the game allows even the most gun happy maniac like me to complete these missions.

By keeping the style of the gameplay the same, they kept this release well within its own niche, even though the game felt rushed. In Hitman 2, there was actually somewhat of a story, though just how much of a story is debatable, since it focused solely on going out and killing your target. I found Hitman 2 much more enjoyable than that of Hitman Contracts. The story line that they developed in Hitman Contracts certainly did not seem to make much sense. For a new player to try to jump into the game and make sense of what is going on is next to impossible; they would be as lost as a teenager in a porn shop: they know that they want something, but they sure don’t know how to find it.

The sound effects and music were definitely above par, helping set the mood and allowing me to get into my Hannibal mindset as I lay waste to the party goers.

The AI in the game seemed to be done fairly well, and many times I found that it surprised me. For instance, keep an eye on the butcher in the second mission! I was a little disappointed, however, to see that some of the civilian AI completely ignores bodies on the ground during the dance part, albeit others are overly alert to the presence of a body.

There are 3 different difficult settings: easy, medium, and hard. While playing, I played on “normal” difficulty, which allowed four saves per mission. Easy appears to allow seven saves and hard, zero saves. After playing Hitman 2 & Contracts, the overall game difficulty between them seems to be about the same.

One thing that irked me was the addition of obscure tricks required to clear a mission without having to go mass murderer on everyone. For instance in the third mission you might want to do a little window shopping.

Lastly, I found it annoying that there was no mission briefing. There was no introduction information on your target or why you were there that came up prior to the mission starting. Granted, this could be a good thing if you just wanted to get in and start shooting, but I found it a little odd for your Hitman to know nothing about the layout or the mark before starting your mission.

The Good:
• Be Bold or be Sneaky!
• Great graphics
• Funny Missions

The Bad:
• Back story? What back story?
• Poor mission information