 | | Agent 47's back, on PC, 360, PS2 and Xbox. Is it his best outing yet? |
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I'd consider this the "Chaos Theory" of Hitman games. While Chaos Theory added little newness or innovation to the Splinter Cell series, what it
did do was simply tweak and chisel that pre-existing formula right down into near perfection, fixing up all its issues and ramping up the fun into the true shining beacon of joy its predecessors hinted at. Sure enough, that's exactly what Blood Money does here.
So while it ain't exactly a world apart from the previous Hitman games, everything just feels so tight now. So well thought out. So perfected. As a result, it's not just by far the best of the Hitman games thus far, but also the title that's arguably elevated the series into the hall of fame it never quite touched before.
Choices
I wasn't a huge Hitman guy up 'til now. I played all three of the previous games, but I say that in the loosest definition of the term. None of them really held my attention for too long, usually finding themselves binned a level or two in. So it's with some surprise that I blazed through the entire Blood Money campaign from beginning to end in about three days flat. The game's simply marvellous.
For those new to the series, fear not, there's little crossover from previous games really. You play Agent 47 again, a bad arse (and bald) assassin for hire, who receives targets from an enigmatic agency whom he wipes out in return for cold, hard cash. 47 is actually an engineered clone however, something worth knowing, as it's somewhat relevant to the brand new storyline Eidos Interactive have concocted specifically for Blood Money.
 | | Blood Money emphasises choice. Sabotage the equipment and crush this guy to death as he pumps iron...or just cut to the chase and shoot him through the skull |
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And quite the storyline it is too. Although the first half of the game involves nothing but getting on with your day job, and taking out random hits, it's in the latter half that events start to ramp up hugely, ultimately converging towards an all powerful slam bang finale that is perhaps one of the better end of game sequences of all time. I shit ye not. In fact, it's worth playing through the entire game for alone.
Thankfully the game itself would still be well worth your time, stunning finale or not. As with its predecessors, you control 47 from a third person perspective, sneaking, shooting and blending in as per usual. What's simply fantastic about this game in particular though, is the sheer sense of freedom you now have at your disposal. You'll be given a target and a selection of weaponry, but beyond that it's all down to you. Where you kill them, when you kill them and
how you kill them are far from pre-determined, and the game does a splendid job of offering up huge amounts of opportunities and choices in regards to how you get the ultimate deed done.
Let me give you an example. Your third mission involves whacking a singer in an opera house. When you enter the building, he can be found on the main stage rehearsing a scene, with numerous witnesses around, including fellow on-stage performers. Thankfully however, this scene just so happens to be one in which your target gets "shot" with a fake stage gun. Here's where Hitman starts to get interesting. By sneaking back stage before hand, you could simply swap out said stage gun with a
real gun when no one's watching, then sit back and enjoy the fact that someone else just capped your target - Brandon Lee style - without you needing even get your hands dirty. Easy money.
Or you could do what I did; bring a fold out silenced sniper rifle with you, sneak up into the theatre auditorium, and finally shoot the guy during rehearsal at the
exact same moment he gets "shot" in the play. Those stupid arseholes...I was long gone out the door before they even realised he was dead!
Aggression
 | | It's all about the disguises. Find the right one, and you're in |
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And yet you can throw all this meticulous planning and careful deliberating out the window if you so please, and simply run into the opera house with a shotgun and shoot the fucker in the head straight away, much to the vexation of the building's security detail. That's the brilliance of Blood Money; it creates the illusion of a fully interactive world, one which you can tackle and demolish just as you please. Each mission is like a complex puzzle to solve, one with multiple solutions and endless possibilities. I mean, I haven't even looked but I'm just positive there's an off-stage sandbag accident/disaster just waiting to happen if I were to go climbing around the rooftop on this level for instance...another possible way to take out my mark here. That's just the kinda game Hitman is. It seems like they thought of every possible outcome for each encounter, and have given you the tools to carry out each and every one.
Say what you will about this series and these games, but there really is little else out there that plays vaguely like them. They have the hallmarks of the stealth genre in some ways, but not in the traditional sense. There's no hiding in shadows or waiting for guards to pass here. Hitman is less about avoiding being seen, and more about avoiding
suspicion. As long as you're acting normally, are dressed appropriately, and no one spots you doing anything devious, you'd be surprised with what you can get away with in this universe.
Need to break into a rehab clinic to take out a mob boss? Simply knock out one of the doctor's patrolling the grounds, and put on his clothes. Need to get into a kid's birthday party to kill their parents? Drug the hired clown before he goes inside, then dress up like him, enter, and plant a bomb on the dude's cellphone. You can detonate it 10 minutes later when you're miles away. It's stealth, but purely in mindset alone. I love that.
 | | Earning cash allows you to pimp your guns out with awesome mods and tweaks. Check out this bad boy |
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Sure, pretty much all your targets have huge amounts of bodyguards and security on hand - of which massacring with an SMG proves immensely satisfying - yet while the game has the option to be played as more of a straight out third person (or even first person) shooter like I say, there are certain repercussions for doing so. Your cash reward will be halved for causing undue ruckus, and your overall notoriety will also shoot up as you attract unwanted attention and local witnesses, which crosses over and builds up between missions.
Plus, to be honest, aren't there already enough blood-soaked shooters out there in this day and age? To reduce Hitman down to yet another seems like a wasted opportunity to me. If you want Dig's advice, try playing this one a bit more subdued. Heck, try playing it without even firing a single shot. It can be done, and in fact encourages it. Making your hits look like accidents and escaping without a single witness or shred of evidence against you will see you not only reap far more cash for your troubles (which can be used to upgrade your abilities and gadgets), but - if you're 360 enabled - also unlock those oh so precious achievement points we all yearn so readily for (I'll admit it, I'm an addict).
Blocky Beauty
 | | The Mardi Gras level is fucking insane, with a huge amount of on screen NPCs, and zero slowdown |
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As well as on 360, I also sampled this one on PC. On upper end specs, the visuals are virtually indistinguishable between the two systems, and it looks pretty bloody smart for the most part. The levels stand out as particularly pretty; whether it be the epic scope of the Las Vegas' hotel strips, or the spooky, deserted peer of the opening tutorial, it's quite the looker I must say. Where the visuals falter however, are in the character models, which come off as blocky, low polygonal and way too cartoony for such a dark and twisted title like this. Presumably the same models were used as on the PS2 and Xbox 1 versions, and it most definitely shows. A shame, this.
Still, I have to highlight the Mardi Gras level as perhaps one of the flat-out coolest sights I've yet seen on the 360. Tasked with taking out three fellow hitmen amidst a massive street party, your job is made infinitely harder by the fact there are - quite literally - thousands upon thousands of party goers filling out the entire neighbourhood. And I'm talking fully detailed toons, all going about their own business, with absolutely zero slow down to show for it. It's a pretty bloody fantastic view, and goes to show that next-gen visuals ain't just about quality, but quantity too. Whipping out a machine gun and opening fire - while sick and twisted for so many reasons - also proves hilariously entertaining, as the entire swarm run and scream en masse as you'd expect. Amazing.
Finally sound also deserves an extra special mention, as fucking hell, Blood Money is right up there with the best of 'em. With perfectly matched tunes firing off continuously as and when needed from beginning to end - whether it be hard hitting hip hop blaring out of a gang bangers' drug den, or the haunting choir movement played out over the final end credits - seldom has on-screen gaming action married its soundtrack so expertly. I'll be snagging this mother fucker on CD as soon as humanly possible.
Murder is Fun
I find it genuinely hard to list faults with Hitman really. What's to criticise? No multiplayer? Whatever. Agent 47 flies solo...he has no need for friends. Repetition? I call bullshit on that one, simply due to the amazing variety of settings and locations on offer. Sure, your mission ultimately remains the same each time out; find them, kill them, escape, but no two levels ever felt in any way vaguely similar to me despite this.
 | | Pleasingly adult, darkly humorous and an awful lot of fun? That'll be Hitman: Blood Money |
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I guess if anything, there's a little too much trial and error involved a lot of the time, which would be my biggest criticism, but even this is bizarrely enjoyable in its own way. I genuinely
like poking and prodding at this universe, seeing which of my crazy and sadistic ideas can come to fruition...even if most of the time it results in my laying down in a pool of blood while I reach for that quickload screen yet again. Experimentation may be compulsory, but it sure is a frickin' blast at the same time.
I also love how flat out mature the game is, from the alarming emphasis on gritty violence, to the fact entire levels are set in porno parties. There's also an
enormous dollop of F-bombs peppered throughout, putting even the Big Lebowski's laundry list of swear words to shame. This, we need more of.
In these slow summer months with so few new games coming out, Hitman Blood Money is a fantastic slab of gaming goodness that'll more than help you pass the time. It's part FPS, part stealth game...but most of all, just a fucking fab
puzzle game when all's said and done. Experimenting and figuring out how to murder society's sinners in as gruesome and darkly humorous ways of possible is a blast, and I'd advise all to give it a go, even if only in demo form. Easily one of 2006's most pleasant surprises yet.
