Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

"Agent 47 Comes to Terms"

Ever since my friend praised the PC game Hitman I have always wanted to see how it played for myself. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was my first experience in this series and it more than made me a fan. It is an easy game to understand without having to play the first game. Agent 47 tries to get away from who he is and what he does by going into seclusion in Italy, only to find that his success in his previous career has earned a lot of global recognition and many entities are looking to find and bring him back into the business.

The story finds Agent 47 befriending a local Sicilian priest and living a quaint life as a gardener in the parish courtyard. However, somebody has already found Mr. 47 and kidnaps the priest to get Agent 47 to do some dirty work while he searches for his friend. The deal goes south for Russian behind the whole scheme when 47 finds out what is going on and starts to track him down for assassination. This leads to a very climactic battle in which 47 must decide to stay in hiding or go back to what he was created to do. A lot movies today focus on heroes who have to decide whether or not they want to be heroes or not, but Hitman 2 carries this theme forward in more ways than one with an instrument of death having to deal with his very own existence as well as predetermined career choice. This analysis of the mind of 47 gives us a perspective to feel empathy for a man with no name and no moral compass.

The game play has a lot of improvements from the first Hitman game in the form of the suspicion meter and the ability to go about different ways to score a Silent Assassin rating. The suspicion meter is a bit suspicious in itself because of the way enemies will identify you as an enemy even though you are disguised. Other games in the series greatly improve on the suspicion meter making this game one of the more challenging of the series. In the deal to find the kidnapped priest you get sent all around the world to take care of business and this sends you to some very difficult to infiltrate locations in Russia and Japan. You also get a sniping opportunity in the Middle East as well as performing a little "surgery" on a target in a secluded hospital. It is classic Hitman gaming.

The graphics and sound work out very well for this game. Jesper Kyd is one amazing mixer and the music never gets old. The graphics are very solid and if not small scale, but you have the great opportunity to play in either the third or first person. This is one game where I normally like to play in the third person.

Final Recommendation 8/10

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is excellent on the plot and could have been improved on the game play. However it is still one of the best sequels of any series I have ever played and I would highly recommend this game as a buy. Agent 47 carries some baggage and for a character with no name and is a complete stranger to the world it is definitely an interesting game that delves into the choices that 47 has to make. This is an excellent series and a great game to own.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/08

Game Release: Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (US, 09/30/02)