Hitman Blood Money

Agent 47 is back and this latest video-game chapter is perfect for late-evening gaming. Why late evening? Because it's summertime kids, get out there and enjoy the sun, play some volleyball, get a tan, enjoy the outdoors!  Because when the day is over, then it's time to get down to business, the killing business that is and for Agent 47, business is good, maybe a little too good. 

Following up with what has been a somewhat surprisingly successful franchise the folks at Eidos, our bald-headed anti-hero Agent 47 returns to the United States only to discover that another rival agency is eliminating the competition, literally. And when 47 loses contact with his contacts he knows it's only a matter of time before this mysterious agency has him in their sights, so the hunter has become the hunted so to speak. Fortunately, our bald-headed friend has the proper skills needed in order to deal with a problem such as this.

 
"I was just thinking how duck would be good for dinner."

I like to think of this title as almost a stand-alone game, sure it's the fourth in the series, but the tempo of the game is quite different from the others in the sense that this title has more of an engaging, flowing storyline to go along with all that assassinating. Players must travel from location to location making their hits, but also trying to unravel the mystery of the rival agency. And with the introduction of the notoriety function, players will need to be on their toes. You see as each mission becomes more difficult, you are encouraged to try and eliminate your quarry in a non-suspicious way; instead of just shooting them, sometimes it's more effective to drop a chandelier on them. Once a mission is completed you are given a score that is a direct reflection of how well you completed your mission. If you kill a civilian, are seen somehow (cameras, people, etc.) or leave behind suspicious equipment, then your score will be lower, forcing you to buy off witnesses or bribe the right people in order to have them "forget" what they saw. Problem is, the game doesn't make it all that difficult to fix these types of problems, and it seemed to me that I was able to keep my notoriety score down with limited effort on my part, even when I really blew it.

The game does stay true to it's predecessor's roots in terms of gameplay, this is a game where stealth is a much more valuable commodity rather than brute force. Oh sure, you can start blazing away whenever you want, but you won't make it very far. Yes, the silent, stealthy approach is the way to go and is so much more fun to exercise anyway. Eliminating someone, and then hiding their body, using their uniform as a disguise and sneaking in under the guards' noses is par for the course. Then if you can make all the dominos line up right, eliminate your mark with a series of timed events that make it look like an accident. Of course, in some cases that will not do, and the sniper rifle is the only answer making this game much more than a one-trick pony. But it's this level of fun and enjoyment that makes the Hitman games such a joy to play. The sheer amount of ways you can eliminate your prey is just incredible.

"Whispering sweet nothings in your ear."

The gameplay is really quite enjoyable and I would recommend this title to anyone who enjoys some action with a more mature twist. But even more so is the sheer size of the levels, the amount of detail put in them and the different items that can be found. There is most certainly more then one way to deal with any situation that comes up and each level has several, scripted scenarios that force you to use that grey matter between your ears. The game is limited to your imagination and a bevy of dangerous "everyday" items that seem to be everywhere. Explosions are bright and crisp, the character models are well put together and the game certainly cannot be called sexist, men and women are eliminated with equal and ruthless efficiency. And it does help that you have a GPS-type device in your possession that helps you determine where key items of interest are located. I will say that even though this is the PS2 version, the graphics do stand up to the other consoles.

Now I liked the way the game sounded with its more subtle atmospheric tunes combined with an inspiring up-tempo delivery of music that matches certain scenes. No really, the music does a good job of matching what's happening on the screen and that equals a more even-delivered game in my opinion. Plus the voice acting is an effective ensemble of characters saying all the evil and anti-good guy things that people in the business of killing for profit might say. Just so you know though, the game does take some of the guilt away by making your "clients" not-so-nice. Plus you do get in trouble for eliminating people (innocents) that have nothing to do with your intended target.

"Stay..... focused."

Of course the game isn't without its faults and while Hitman is a whiz-bang title, the A.I. of the enemies is at best "hot and cold." Sure the game is preprogrammed to react if certain gaming triggers are activated. But otherwise, you never can tell how a guard is going to react to your presence. I've had scenarios where they have completely ignored my actions when I was standing all of nine feet away, and other times I've been nowhere near anyone when eliminating a guard (and then putting on his uniform) when other guards instantly noticed me as an intruder. So I think the title might have benefited from a more even A.I.

Gameplay: 9.0
So many different ways to deal with a hit - poisons, knives, guns, explosions or merely shove them off of a high place. The point is the game makes you come up with some interesting ways to kill your prey and if you can do it so it looks like an accident then good for you.

Graphics: 8.2
Pretty straightforward stuff here; huge levels with lots of things that may fall or explode when tampered with, blood and booms. There is some repetition in the people walking around but that's not entirely unexpected.

Sound: 8.5
Cool background music matches the action on the screen, some tension is involved in walking around in hostile territory and the music reflects that. I liked it.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The game's notoriety function isn't fully used as far as I am concerned and if it was pumped up a bit more then this game could be much more difficult then it is. However, the game does have a fairly short learning curve and pretty soon some of these hits are darn tough to complete. The last few missions are really tough.

Concept: 8.4
This is the way the franchise needs to continue. A storyline that follows Agent 47 from contract to contract with a wraparound that concludes at the end. Plus coming up with ways to kill your hits and making it look like an accident is just cool as all get out.

Overall: 8.6
Hey, any game that scores in the 8's makes it a pretty safe bet that you are going to enjoy it. It's made for the more mature gamer in mind but it's just really a cool title. Agent 47 is a great character and the game is so original and fun that you will want to go back and try all sorts of wacky ways of eliminating your quarry.