Customer Reviews

Hitman: Blood Money

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am a big fan of the Hitman games, with Hitman 2 being one of top-10 favorite games of all time. So when I claim that Blood Money is the best Hitman yet, that's a big statement for me. The developers have taken everything that was great in the previous games and made it better. The levels are bigger, the AI is (slightly) improved, replay value is greater, and the game looks beautiful. There is still room for improvement, but not much.

Gameplay: Like the previous 3 games, you are cast as an assassin working for an agency that provides contracts. This time, all of your missions (except 1) are set in America, where you'll have to get to the bottom of a plot to destroy the agency. Unlike the other games, you're paid for each hit, and you can use the money to upgrade weapons, buy other items (like bombs, protective vests, health boosts, etc.), and lower you notoriety level. The payment are very generous, and I ended up with $2.5 million at the end of the game, which seemed rather excessive. Also, there is really no need to spend money on upgrading most weapons, since an upgraded silverballer and a sniper rifle will do just fine for any mission. Regarding notoriety, this is a 0-100 meter that goes up if you are seen while doing a job. You can bribe witnesses to lower the rating. It's an interesting touch, especially since the notoriety rating affects how the newspaper will report your actions and appearance after each mission and how difficult the next mission will be.

This game is more about stealth than the previous ones, and it's a bit harder to earn the highest ratings. I played on expert difficulty (which I recommend for most people familiar with these kinds of games), and you can't just blast your way through most level (or you'll probably end up dead). Anyway, doing so would take a lot of the enjoyment out of the game. The game is at its best when tension sets in and you're wondering if your disguise is working, or whether anyone is going to find that dead body you hid, or whether you can make it to the exit without tipping off the guards. Thankfully, this game adds a lot of new gameplay elements to make things interesting. You can hide bodies in containers, hide in closets, climb and scale things, take hostages, push people off ledges, and more. And finally, Agent 47 has a melee attack which is pretty potent. Of course, all of the old moves are there, such as poisoning by syringe, strangulation by fiber wire, death by sniper rifle, etc. All of the levels are large, so you'll have to do some trial-and-error runs to get a sense of where things are as well as the possible angles that you can approach the target(s). And since there are usually a few to several different ways to kill targets, the game has some replay value.

Since I have a thing for blowing people up with remote-controlled C4, my best rating was "Professional." To get the highest rating (which I assume is "Silent Assassin"), expect to work on a mission for a 2-3 hours (at least on expert difficulty or higher). Altogether, there are 12 missions which will take 25-35 hours to complete, if you are playing them as intended (stealthy). Generally, the AI is convincing. However, as in the previous games, there will be a few occasions when guards seem to know things that they shouldn't, or seem to not notice things that they should.

Graphics: The visuals are great, especially the environments. Las Vegas looks phenomenal, as do the White House and suburbia levels. The game has a very refined, stylist quality about it. Character models are pretty good, but not vastly improved over the last two games and many are repeated. The game has many more animations, especially for Agent 47.

Sound: Everything works well in this department. Solid voice acting, nice ambiant sounds, and another solid soundtrack by Jesper Kyd. All of the weapons sound appropriate, but this is a game in which you want to be as quiet as possible!

Technical Issues/Stability: I played this game with the patch that came out right at the release date. I have had no problems: not a single crash, freeze, or hiccup. I was able to play smoothly at 1024x768 resolution with most settings on high (I have a P4 3.0ghz, 1 GB of RAM, Geforce 6600GT video card). The game is well polished. The manual is decent, and the first mission is a tutorial that will familiarize you with the gameplay.

Yes, this is indeed the best Hitman game yet (though Hitman 2 is still a sentimental favorite of mine). The game has a cliff-hanger ending, so I assume there will be a sequel. At least I hope so. If you like the Hitman games or stealth games in general, I highly recommend this one.

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars

I've been playing the Hitman games on PC since the very first one, and I must admit this one really is great, with some minor elements.
On the plus side: good graphics, great sounds, great atmosphere, good story, multiple ways to complete each level, improved enemy AI, more actions Mr. 47 can execute, lots of hidden humor.
On the minus side: The levels are smaller, but more packed, and fans of Silent Assassin will feel a tad disappointed; sometimes the ragdoll effects are a bit off; not all objects are useable, so sometimes you might want to do things, but what you want to do might not have been taken into consideration by the designers; certain actions preclude others (like stuffing a corpse in a container will prevent you from collecting the clothes, since you can't take the corpse out again).
I wish it was there: more dynamic environment (like being able to move furniture - I keep getting stopped by unmoveable chairs, apparently nailed to the floor), better/more realistic physics (better ragdoll effects, but more than that, sounds should behave differently - like the fact that opening fire with a SMG in a small room should definetively be deafening).
In my drunken stupor I dream of: A very large, very dynamic, very complex serie of levels, where actions in one will modify the next one, and where failure IS an option which will change the goals of the next mission, if not changing the game entirely.

I've saved the world from terrorists, aliens, foreign armys, mad scientists, evil kings, and a giant lizard named Bowzer. And at the end of it all, I've had medals pinned on my chest, crowns placed on my head, and made sweet, sweet love to many damsels in distress. Not in this game.

Here you play as Agent 47. Agent 47 is a Hitman; an assassin for hire. He gets paid money for killing people. He is not a good guy. The developers of this game tried to lesson the moral implications of being a cold-blooded killer by creating missions in which your target is someone who deserves to die; child rapists, drug smugglers, and mob bosses seem to be your prey most of the time. I haven't finished the game yet, but I don't expect to see a mission sending me off to kill a second grade school teacher during class. That would just be wrong! But for some reason, it seems less wrong, maybe even right, to kill the gutter slime for profit.

And that's the other thing that Hitman: Blood Money is about; money. After every mission, you are paid. You have to spend money on "clean up" for the previous mission (disposing of bodies, bribing witnesses, etc), but the remainder of the funds are spent on upgrades for your weapons (scopes, silencers, laser sights, etc). Money makes Agent 47's world go round. (You would think that with all of that money, he could afford a nicer hide-out. In the game, it's pretty much a dump.)

Hitman plays like a stealth game, but not the same kind of sleath action that fans of the Splinter Cell games are used to. You can still turn off or shoot out lights, but the darkness isn't as important for moving around. You'll spend most of your time watching your target and planing an attack. This might involve killing or knocking out a guard or maintaince worker and changing into his uniform in order to get close to your target. Or you might prefer to find a nice vantage point and shoot your target from a distance with a sniper rifle. You could try planting a bomb when the target isn't around and detonating it as he walks buy, or simply poisoning his bottle of water. You can always walk in the front door, guns blazing, and shoot your way through the mission if you want to. That's the greatest part of this game; the freedom to plan your attack according to the conditions and your own mood.

The rating that you recieve after every mission, as well as how much money you get to keep, depends of how well you were able to stay unnoticed. Lots of innocent dead people and bullets flying everywhere will take a pretty big chunk out of your pay. But if only the target is killed, and nobody saw or suspects you of being the one who did it, then you can pocket a few hundred thousand dollars for a good hit.

One problem with Hitman is becoming obsessed with performing a clean kill. It's easy to run through a mission killing everyone is sight, but that isn't the MO of a professional assassin like Agent 47. The reality of the game is that you'll likely spend several hours of trial and error on a single mission until you find what works. And the constant repetition gets old. After 50 trys with no success the game starts to become tedious.

The only other problem with the game is the AI. That's not to say that the NPCs are stupid, but rather that they are too smart. Unrealistically smart. You hide in the shadows and take out your target with a silenced sniper rifle, but for some reason the guards know exactly where the shot came from and come running. You can't just run away before they get there either, because they've managed to get a real good look at you from 200 yards away, in the dark, and have already faxed a sketch of you to every guard in the building who is ready to shoot you on sight.

This game isn't better than certain other stealth games such as Splinter Cell, but it doesn't try to be either. Hitman does something unique with its gameplay and is a fun, if at times frustrating, diversion of your afternoon. Most of us are good people who would never think of starting a profession as a murderer for hire. But with Hitman: Blood Money we can get to play as the bad guy for once.

Anyone who has played the previous installments of the "Hitman" series will find themselves right at home. The controls are pretty much the same even though some finer elements were added. The exterior graphics are downright gorgeous, as are the interiors. However, the characters are a bit plain, which sometimes makes it difficult to spot your target among a large group of civilians. The Hitman world has always been quite lively, but what the developers have managed to pull off in "Blood Money" is awesome. Contrary to other games, NPCs do not just wander about pointlessly, but keep doing different things, such as take pictures or make out (you will see A LOT of that). Although you do have to marvel at their indifference towards bodybags being pulled past them. This is also the first Hitman game that has what everyone would call a storyline that is told in cut scenes and not just more or less during the pre mission briefing. Over the years Mr. 47 has gained quite a reputation, which has eventually developed into a horror tale among FBI investigators. And this tale is now being told to a reporter by a crippled ex FBI executive. Before and after each mission you see a short clip of him telling the story.

All in all, you get everything you want from a Hitman game. So if you liked the previous ones, this one will definitely not disappoint you

BRILLIANT!! I've played all the hitman games and this one is BY FAR the greatest of them all. I loved Contracts, but this game simply blew it out of the water with more interesting missions, better AI, and more ways to get the mission acomplished!! I especially liked the various "accedental" ways people could die. Don't get me wrong though, if you want to simply blow a whole bunch of people away, this game definately can deliver.

This game is tons of fun. There are many different ways to complete the missions which gives it lots of replay value.

I love these types of games..plain and simple. TFC is fun and all, but I much prefer a stealth game where you need to sneak in the shadows and THINK about what you are doing. This game fits that build.

Not a LOT of sneaking in the shadows in the version as it's more of a disguise game, but it's still having to be sneaky and planning out your moves.

Great game if you like stealth games.

Preamble: This review does not take DRM issues into account. I will only address the game itself and leave the decision regarding purchasing software with DRM to you.


In 2000, a little-known software company in Denmark released 'Hitman: Codename 47', an ambitious, but deeply flawed, 3rd person shooter that aimed to put the player in the shoes of an assassin-for-hire. The game attracted as much attention for its content as it did for its many innovations, but despite the hoopla it ultimately failed to reach a broad audience. Much of this can be attributed to the half-baked mechanics and AI which, more often than not, made the missions an exercise in repetition rather than quick-thinking. The flaws were partly the result of inexperience, but a good bit of it boiled down to processor limitations. To truly realize their vision the hardware would have to catch up to the developer's ambitions.

Well, it took many years and several sequels, but with Hitman:Blood Money, Eidos and IO Interactive have almost achieved what they set out to do so long ago. While not perfect, this is by far the most complete Hitman title to date and corrects some of the series' most frustrating flaws and shortcomings. Most notable are the refinements to the combat system, which now allows you to push, disarm and knock-out punch your opponents. This puts an end to the ludicrous chasing of unarmed NPCs that was practically a staple of the earlier games and allows for much quicker reactions to surprise encounters. A new accident system incorporates the "push" move, allowing you to throw NPCs over railings, down stairs, or into convenient hazards like heavy machinery and open boilers. As in previous entries to the franchise, there are plenty of opportunities to execute scripted "accidents" like crushing targets with a giant chandelier or roasting them with a cleverly sabotaged pyrotechnics show. The accident system throws a bit of variation into the mix and even allows for some spontaneity: If you happen to walk past your target taking a smoke break near that precarious ledge....oops, and you're done.

The game doesn't disappoint in the visuals department either, though nothing major has been added since 'Contracts'. The environments have a good level of detail and the ambient lighting and shadows create the proper perception of depth. The NPCs have been improved as well, with more attention given to facial expressions, dress and accurate movements. The various dynamic effects, such as blood splatter and bullet holes have also been tweaked to improve realism. Dragging bodies will leave streaks of blood that will alarm passers-by and bullet hits appear as area specific spots on character models.

As I said, the vision is NEARLY realized, which means that there is room for improvement. The game still suffers from a lack of diversity in NPCs and you'll often run across 3 or more of the identical model in the same area. Speaking of NPCs, the old AI issues are getting better with every game but there's still a long way to go before it feels just right. Too often the guards will do ridiculous things, and they are often too trigger happy, opening fire en masse just because you picked up a pair of hedge clippers. The interface could also use some tweaking, although for the most part it works quite intuitively, and while the interior environments are quite nice, many exteriors still feel life-less and uninspired.

Despite these few flaws Hitman:Blood Money is really a pleasure to play and given the track record thus far, we can expect that the recently announced Hitman 5 will get even closer to fulfilling this ambitious gaming project!

Highly Recommended

Hitman 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. When Contracts was released, I was left confused and disappointed by a game that felt overly dark and pretentious. With a bad taste in my mouth, I was hoping Blood Money would not follow in Contracts' footsteps.

Fortunately, it did not. Blood Money offers a wide variety of environments and settings that give the player vast freedom to explore. The scenarios are complex and multidimensional requiring the player to study and analyze a number of factors before deciding on a strategy. Much like the its predecessors, Blood Money is not a game for the impatient. It requires much experimentation and creativity through perseverance, bur the end results are very satisfying.

What I enjoy most about the Hitman series is the character of 47. Silent Assassin did the best job of depicting him as a complex human being, simultaneously cold-hearted and compassionate. Blood Money doesn't do much to build upon 47's character, but does offer other thematic and plot devices which draw the player into the game. Without spoiling it, the game is riveting and has a great ending (if you see it).

Tech specs:
AMD X2 4000+ @ 2.71ghz
2 x Nvidia 7900gt SLI
Played at 1680x1050, all setting maxed - absolutely no hitches, ran perfectly.

This is one of my favorite game series of all time. I truly love the Hitman games because they have some of the greatest executions of all stealth games. This one is also great gameplay, in every mission there is a ton of ways to complete them. You can even make alot of the executions look like accidents. Drop a chandelier on a group of Mafia bad guys, knock some bad guys over a railing into alligator infested swamps, and even strangle a guy on the bench-press with the bar! There are just so many ways to kill! But my one annoyance is the freaking AI! It is so unpredictable sometimes, I had to restart the mission. But if you do not let this get to you, Hitman is one of the best series you will play.