Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

"The perfect game for a healing psycopath."

Hitman 2 was released with minimal-to-none hype. The game, which is quite ironic, acted
quite like an assassin might. It snuck up upon the public, with no hype surrounding it
and no promise to sell well or even be an mediocre experience. It came out of the shadows
and popped people in the face with what a great investment they made.

Graphics - the graphics in some places are very well done, and in other places are mediocre-to-good. A great thing about the visuals in this game is that if you shoot someone near a wall, or ceiling, or floor, or any object for that matter, blood will splat realistically according to where you shot the person.
There is also great detail to the clothing and some of the fortresses. It is strange though, because some of the areas in a level may be bump-mapped, and then some may not. For instance, on one stone wall, you will see a couple of bump-mapped stones and then you will see right next to those a few stones that are not bump-mapped in the least. This does not take away from the experience at all though. Windows shatter realistically after a couple shots. The graphics overall would probably get an 8.

Audio - This game shines in its magnificent audio. Most different textures make a sound according to their respective surface. If you shoot a board or a wooden table, expect a sound very much like that of a bullet piercing through wood. If you shoot glass, expect the sound much like the sound emitted by thick glass if it were to be hit by a baseball bat. If you shoot a gun, don't expect enemies to sit their in a coma. They will pursue you, no matter where you are, unless of course the gun is silenced. There is a variety of foreign languages used, including Japanese and Italian. They are not delved into, but certain phrases are used by NPC's(Non-Player Characters). Audio would have to get a 9.

Gameplay - Ahhh, yes! There is so much you can do with this game it is almost sickening. You get rated at the end of each mission. You get graded on how many bullets you spent, how many enemies were killed, how many headshots, how many innocents killed, and a couple other things as well that you can find out buy purchasing this game! The best rating is Silent Assassin, and is extremely hard to get. It takes much planning and severe patience to obtain. You must use your map almost constantly and you must plan virtually almost each step you take if you want your rating to be great. There are a wide variety of paths you can take in a level. The developers put a great deal of thought into the design of each level, seeing as how each guard patrols a certain area, and each target has several weak spots. This is the most open-ended stealth game currently available on console. You can get a wide range of weaponry, and each weapon you collect and bring to the end of a level will be put on a rack on the wall of your garden shed outside the church. From Sub-machine guns to fiber wire, this game has all of the weapons an assassin could ever dream of using on their victim. There is also a nice, intelligent, peculiarly suspicious AI. More about that later. You can take off clothes of dead bodies, and put them on yourself to disguise yourself. Don't worry, there is no nudity in the game, the private sections are covered by underwear. Now about the disguising, if you run past a guard, he will get really suspicious of you, and he just may shoot at you. Once a guard shoots at you, you are finished. Either kill him and find someone else to take clothes from, or kill him and prepare to go on a rampage, since you can't walk around unnoticed anymore once you are shot at. Sometimes you are screwed anyway, because if you get too close to a guards face they see your face. Now this is where it gets really intelligent. Say there are two guards that patrol together. Say for instance, that you strangle guard A silently while guard B is off around the corner, and you hide the body of guard A. If you put on his disguise, and walk calmly past guard B, guard B will recognize you by your face, since he knows guard A and you are not him. Now don't let the whole stealthy image of this game throw you off, because you can go Rambo on enemies if you like. Guns-blazin' or assassin professional. Your choice. Gameplay definitely gets a 10.

Story - You are agent 47, a retired assassin. A priest that you are well-acquainted with has been kidnapped, and now you must set out on a giant quest through many different terrains and continents to find him. The only clue you are left with is a box and a name of the kidnapper and a note of ransom for the safe return of the priest. That's as far as I will go to avoid spoilers.Story gets an 8.

Replayability - This game has outstanding replayability. There are so many guns to collect, and so many ways to play a mission. I know you may be tired of people ranting and raving about replayability and what is and isn't. Most of the time a game isn't really as replayable as people say, it is just biased remarks for the game. But this my friend, is not a biased remark for, or against the game. With all the ways of killing a target, with all the things to interact with, you won't get bored for a long time. I have played this game through 4 times, and am just beginning to get bored with it. Don't let that be a statement that may impose shortness of this game. It is in no way a short game, for there is much planning involved. So what do you choose? Do you want to be the Silent Assassin, or would you rather stick to playing linear so-called ''stealth action'' games? Replayability gets a 10.

So, I suggest you buy this game for Xbox as well, since the newer versions will have things cut out from it do to offensive nature of a religion called Sikh. This game is rated ''M'' Mature, for Blood, Violence, and Strong sexual content. Hitman 2 is truly the finest game of its genre, and one of the finest games of this generation in gaming.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/03, Updated 06/14/03