Hitman: Blood Money

"The best assassin is one that doesn't exist."

You turn through the pages in a newspaper and see people have died in suspicious circumstances, people of power, authority or just downright evil people. Although you always wonder whether there is more to it than meets the eye. Has someone covered their tracks so well that they will remain undiscovered, is blood money involved?

Having never played a Hitman game before I wasn't even vaguely interested in Blood Money thinking there would be so many other games out there worth my hard earned cash. However as soon as this game popped through my letterbox and put straight into the Xbox 360 I sat there for 4 hours just trying to grab a silent assassin award. No other game except for Final Fantasy XI has made me sit there for such a long time without so much as eating or drinking. It has now not left the Xbox 360. Which it should do soon as I have plenty of games to review.

The basic game is simple. Before the mission you get a briefing of what needs to be done. Namely whom you need to kill and basic tips on where they should be in the level along with a bit of background. The people assigned will be cold heartless criminals so you cannot feel too bad, except for the guy you will end up killing on his wedding day. Once the briefing is over you can then carry out your task how you wish, nothing linear to it. You can go in running and gunning or even climbing up a drainpipe, stealing the guards clothes who is currently singing in the shower and then pushing your target over the balcony. It is totally up to you.

Of course the best Hitman is never noticed and will go in silently and get out before anybody is discovered. This is where the challenge really is in the game, plan before hand by taking a look at the maps and watching the patterns that the guards and your targets follow. What they do and when they do it. Then use your environment to carry out your hit, whether it be blowing up a chandelier onto a guy that has tripped on the floor or putting that little extra lighter fluid onto a barbeque causing your target to set themselves alight. Missions can be as quick or as long as your like, however by taking the running and gunning approach will not give you as much satisfaction as going totally unnoticed and grabbing that vital silent assassin on the highest difficulty mode.

Customisation is a vital part of this game when trying to carry out your hit. You need to change your clothes to get you into the most vital areas of the level to meet your target. Sedate the wrong person and take their costume then you absolutely have no hope of getting inside the (Insert area here). You can also customise your weapons fairly extensively however one downfall is you can only customise 5 of them despite there being a lot of weapons you will gather throughout the game. At least we have some customisation though, which is of course a good thing. Luckily the customisation of Agent 47 by grabbing costumes of other characters is extremely realistic and you won't see him running around in a skimpy little short skirt and a top that really accents his boobs. Thank god for that.

As expected in the most simple of difficulty levels the AI of other characters is very low. However it is still wonderfully crafted. Run around for a bit in someone else's clothes and he or she will realise something is wrong and become suspicious making your job as the world's best assassin a tiny bit harder. There is also a little thing called Notoriety that can be gained (which you don't want to do) in everything except the rookie difficulty levels. By gaining Notoriety people will be on the look out for you in missions and it will be easier for people to become suspicious. You can bribe people not to recognise you, who decreases your Notoriety a bit depending on the amount of money you “invest” into doing it.

As previously mentioned since I have never played a Hitman game I don't know whether the story line continues on from previous outings. Although fairly simplistic on its own it however is delivered in a very good manner. Ranging from the present date with a scary FBI dude talking to a reporter about Agent 47 and skipping back to Agent 47 in his hideout. Although at this point not too much can be given away due to most of the story action happening in the later levels I must say it has one of the better endings to a game that I have played in a long time. Totally unexpected and oh so fulfilling just whipping out your…. I will stop there so not too spoil too much of it. The hits you carry out don't seem to be about the story. Although Diana at the agency thinks some are set ups and on some missions you will have other agents trying to kill you. Although not so much in the easier difficulty modes you will notice it in the higher difficulties.

The graphics I do think is both a downfall and a good part of the game. The levels are wonderfully crafted and each one looks extremely realistic and unique. I don't even notice repeated textures on buildings which if were there would make them very unrealistic. However I do feel that they could be done on the original Xbox, if not too that quality at least very close. However of course it would be one of the more graphically enhanced Xbox games out there so it isn't totally bad. One great point though is the amount of people that can be on screen at one time. Take the Mardis Gras level for instance there seems to be 60+ people on the screen at the time all grouped together, all doing their own thing. Wonderful.

Each character you encounter seems unique (although wearing the same clothes) they have personalities, different faces and different paths they follow through life. Tying back to the customisation mentioned previously each costume makes you feel the part (although not carrying it out) of whatever you are dressed as whether it be a garbage man, FBI or even a clown. Each costume on you will feel unique and noticeably different from others. Of course you will want to be changed into these as quickly as possible not only so that you can get around the more restricted areas but also because for the life of me I can never understand why a person who is trying not be noticed stumbles in on pornographers party wearing clothes that would suit an Undertaker more.

The sound is impeccable and suits the situation wonderfully. Whether running through the Mardis Gras level with hundreds of people literally surrounding you throwing you into a wonderful festival atmosphere with people with little lights on their heads and blowing trumpets all the way to the sounds of opera in an Opera house. Nothing seems out of place. The weapons sound absolutely brilliant, and although never having the chance to shoot someone before I guess the sounds the people you kill are totally realistic as well. It is amazing how it changes so quickly as well. Right from a quiet peace to a complete hustle when the guards have found out someone is dead. I couldn't imagine playing the game with the sound turned off.

Moving onto my final point in this review and that is the difficulty of the game. While in the rookie levels you can run and gun your way through without so much as a scratch in the professional difficulties where every move is your potential downfall you will need to take your time to get everything absolutely spot on. No matter how many times you play through the level there will always be a new challenge to face.

With so many ways to complete a level and 4 different difficulty levels to grab achievements for you will be sitting at the Xbox 360 for ages. In fact for so long that the game should melt into your disk drive so that you can never remove it again. Therefore you are stuck playing the game forever, luckily it is Hitman: Blood Money and not Madden NFL 2006. Go out and buy Hitman now, it is stealth and action combined. You will not be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/06