Customer Reviews

Hitman Blood Money

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the first of the Hitman games I've played, so this review should be more useful for those of you who are new to the series as well. First, I was a little hesitant to buy this with the $40 price tag instead of waiting for it to drop, but I'm actually glad I got it early! Blood Money is tons of fun and challenging!

If it's not obvious to you by now, in this game you are a professional hitman. Each mission is a contract from your employer to eliminate certain targets and complete other tasks. You may be thinking this sounds like some other games, but the similarities end right there. Your character, Agent 47, has a vast arsenal at his disposal to help with contract completion. There are several customizeable firearms (handguns, shotguns, SMG, M4, and sniper rifles) which can all be upgraded by purchasing parts for them. Many guns can be upgraded with extra clips for more ammo, laser sights, silencers, and so on. The other "tools" of the trade are very interesting and unique to Hitman. A few of the realistic tools are Fiber Wire and sedative or poison syringes.

During a contract, your agent will be among many innocent civilians in addition to any targets. Also, you may encounter video survaillance, bodyguards, police, FBI, and other obstacles. The main goal is to eliminate any target without being seen or having bodies discovered. The ultimate goal is to set up these hits to look like accidents. This is the very challenging part! If you do this successfully, you'll receive Silent Assassin rating in your debrief. That means during your contract nobody saw you being agressive, any deaths were "accidents", and you were not caught on video tape (or you stole the tape).

Overall, the missions are challenging even on the easiest difficulty setting, but not to the point where it's not fun. The designers of this game put a lot of hard work into making sure it's realistic. Some games' AI will detect you and come to kill you in packs if only one of them see you. That's not the case here. Of course, if you are seen by some type of officer with a radio and you let him call for help on the radio, people will come. But, if a civilian sees you doing something, they will run to a cop or somebody with a gun to tell them about you. You do, however, have time to sedate or kill them and hide their body before they can tip anyone off to your presence. This is a very nice feature that makes gameplay more true to life.

If this game sounds interesting to you, then you should get it right away! I don't recommend this game to kids, though, since the violence is VERY graphic.

When I heard that another Hitman title was in the works, I couldn't wait to see what Eidos had in store for me. Upon opening the package and loading the game into the PSX2, I can truthfully say that this game was totally worth the wait.

With nothing but your wits, your imagination, and your controller, you will be thrust into the world of the assassin. Your every action will shape the destiny of the man with no name other than.....Mister 47.

It is clear that even the instruction manual is a departure from the previous titles. Instead of the standard "If your character takes damage, flee from the guards" instructions, we are given sage advice to read, such as "The professional can use the veil of suicide when offered a huge height and a target".

Each mission, as in previous titles, offers limitless ways to complete the objectives - from poison to pistols, silencers to chandeliers, every decision you make will affect your gameplay. This Hitman title has a new feature of NOTORIETY - gone are the days of blazing through with guns drawn and having a nice calm beginning to the next level. If you are recorded committing a crime, or leave witnesses that can describe you, then you will have a difficult time completing the later missions.

Each level ending shows a newspaper screenshot. Whereas the professional is little more than a ghost, the mass murderer has a description for the police that could list the full barcode on the back of 47's head.

But the main reason to be a professional is the best reason: the money. 47 is paid very well for his completed missions, and mistakes are deducted from his final paycheck (leaving weapons or clothes behind, killing innocents, being caught on camera, and so forth).

With nothing but your cloned intellect and your killer instincts, can you survive?


+ Pros:

The new game engine offers a larger view of Agent 47's world, as well as more control over his movements. Previous titles had an Agent 47 that was very limited in his movements. His ability to climb through windows, shimmy up drain pipes and hide in closets is a great addition to an already excellent series.
The addition of the "accident" feature is also quite fun...with various items in the environment, there's almost no limit to the deaths you can stage to deflect attention from Agent 47.
Another excellent feature is the ability to purchase weapon upgrades. Outfitting the standard Baller with a laser or telescopic sight gives us the control to shape the ease (or difficulty) of completing future missions - it also makes replaying earlier missions that much more fun.

- Cons:

The in-game save system will take some getting used to. You can save during missions, but if you return to the main menu, the progress within that level is lost. Unless you completed the level, you will have to start that level over again. This can be nothing short of agonizing for a player trying to get the "Silent Assassin" rating. (In its defense however, you can choose any of the four difficulty settings before starting a level, which was previously unavailable in the Hitman series.)

The AI of 47's enemies is nothing new, they apparently still have extraordinary ESP - - if you are noticed in one section of a level, chances are that no matter where you go, you will be noticed by security guards. The odd thing is, these same guards can be right next to me while I pull out a bomb detonator and activate it, and they run right past me.

Final Verdict:

Despite its flaws, Hitman: Blood Money is worth playing, worth owning, and worth conquering.

Man, I have to say that this game is very addicting to play. I bought this game last week and I just passed it last night. The game's ending is by far the best EVER!!! In any game. I could not see someone coming close to making it better then what they make you do in the last mission "REQUIEM"... The game gives you the chance to make your own strategy to take someone out and make a hit. A Bloodbath is Revived in the End...

I've been a fan of hitman from the begining, so be warned, I'm writting this guide for fans like myself. If you are completely new to the series, this might not be the best place to start... The first game was legendary, but in my opinion, the second game in the series was slightly better, fixing some control issues and graphical problems... And Contracts, which remade some levels from the first game and gave the series a dark spin... And now we arrive at this: The much anticipated Hitman Blood Money. It is quite impressive, so we'll start with the good first. The graphics are amazing, especially for PS2. Everything looks rich and detailed and runs smoothly. Also, The missions are much more verried, huge and fun to explore. The new "accident" system is fun, but in my opinion makes the game easier (civilians killed in an accident or bodies found from the result of an accident don't count off of your rating for a level...) There are so many ways to earn a Silent Assassin rating on a level, the possibilities are endless, which means replay for this title is through the roof. A certian number of weapons can be customized as well, which is a very nice touch and a welcome addition to the series.
Now, the not-so-good stuff... Well, a few of the levels aren't quite as enjoyable as the others. Hitman 2 suffered from this problem greatly, but it could afford to, seeing as it had a whopping 20 levels. Whith Blood Money sporting only 12 real missions, it can't afford to have 2 or 3 that are sub par. Also, just like the past titles, this one has a few levels that will instantly stand out as classics. The Murder of Crows will be a favorite for any aspiring Mass Murderer, and one or two other levels specificly stand out above the rest. The wepon selection is rather limited from past games (which is, in my opinion, nothing to complain about. All the wepons are now varied and have their own look and feel, unlike past titles). Also, only a limited number of weapons can be upgraded. Agent 47 starts with a Sp12 shotgun, His signiture .45s, the Wa2000 sniper rifle, M4 assault rifle and a submachine gun at his hide out. These 5 weapons are the only ones that can be customized, meaning these will be the only 5 weapons you ever use unless you are experimenting with others from your quickly amassed collection. The levels are open ended, with many ways to make a hit and get away clean, but in my opinion, this lowers the difficulty significantly. Also included is the inclusion of "natority". This was a nifty gimmick, but in the end, that's all it is. Play sloppy and you get noticed by witnisses, etc. and future missions become harder, as cops start to recognize you, based on descriptions from witnisses and being caught on camera. Natority can be getten rid of quickly by bribing witnisses, or you can get rid of it entirely and for free by getting a better rank on missions you did sloppy on (which isn't hard). Also, while enemy AI has been beefed up and is FAR more realistic and believable than before, it falls to pieces in a firefight. While sneaking around, enemies behave well, and NPCs believably, but when things go wrong and a fire fight breaks out, innocents run for cover, while guards and police usually stand in one spot and shoot at you till their clip is empty. No hiding behind corners, or even ducking... just standing still shooting, reload, repeat. This is a shame, but the challenge comes not from killing all the bad guys as much as it does making a clean get-away. In conclusion, Blood Money is far more streamlind and well played out than Contracts or even HM2. The Graphics are great, the new features are a welcome addition, but are being overplayed and over hyped in my opinion. Short and sweet, this is the hitman you've come to know and love, and has far fewer flaws than some other games in the series. It features a few great levels, one or two bad ones and a strong showing of good ones. It is well rounded, with improved AI, a decent selection of weapons and very open ended levels. Although a little too easy in my opinion, I can say that as day's go by and I play more, this is becoming my favorite Hitman, little by little.

Im new to the hitman series so I dont know a lot about "Mr.47", but I do know that this game is both addicting and hard. The tuitorial level tells you what to do step-by-step after that your on your own. MY MIND WAS RACING WITH EXCITEMINT!! I didnt know what to do first, kill that guy ,use his suit, sneak in, kill another, etc. I like how the do the news paper after each mission. If you read it (yes you can read it!!) it will basicly rate you on how you did. That was very well done.

Overall:
This game is one the best beacuse it is not easy to beat you always have to think 3 steps ahead of you. Like a sniper.
6/5 stars (******/*****)

Ever wanted to blow off some steam by popping off a few rounds? Somebody ever rub you the wrong way and you wanted to use force to make things right? Have you ever been so sickened by the world's evil that you wanted to take it upon yourself to take out the trash? Here's your virtual opportunity.

I'll try to keep this short (if you want a lot of excellent details and commentary, feel free to read the longer reviews listed beside this one). Blood Money is an outstanding game. It provides extensive entertainment for shooter gamers of both styles: Unleash your fury of firepower and destroy everyone (including the household pet) in your path, or cautiously and systematically conquer each objective with little or no unnecessary roughness. From big guns to borrowed identities, Blood Money offers an unbelievable sense of realism in the world of professional killing.

There are a lot of missions (I apologize for not having the exact number), and although the primary objectives in each are pretty similar and self-explanatory (kill the target), the means of doing so can vary significantly. Each mission provides a new and exciting environment, with various places to stash the bodies, multiple disguises to jump into, an appreciative variety of weapons to use, and different opportunities to assassinate the targets. Your personal weapons are upgradeable: Silverballer .45 pistol (or PISTOLS once you have the money and progress to purchase that feature), SPAS-12 shotgun, MP5 sub-machinegun, M4 carbine assault rifle, and WM2000 sniper rifle. You can also acquire a lot of different weapons of each basic style, and can also use a few miscellaneous items for the dirty work (poison drinks and sausages, bloody up a hammer or a shovel, or fire off a few nails with the occasional nail gun).

The game can prove difficult, regardless of your method of completion. If you play it on an easy difficulty, simply for the sake of killing everything that moves, you want to watch your health. If you play a harder difficulty, be very cautious and covert. Avoid losing disguises, avoid leaving witnesses, avoid any collateral damage, and make the deaths look like an accident (an exciting new feature). Be careful, because if you're playing on anything but the easiest difficulty, your success in the previous missions can dictate the success of future missions. Try to keep a low profile so as to avoid getting shot the moment you step into the building.

This game is highly addictive and very fun. I am extremely proud to have included it in my collection, and I have yet to grow bored. So much for keeping this short, eh?

Wow, i have put TONS of hours into this series on PS2. But this one mastered the gameplay. There are so many ways to play & REPLAY the missions. For a long time back in like 2004-06 I was addicted to this series. It was just infinite replay value to me. And the added fighting tactics really did it for me. This is a great series, you can play either stealth or go maniac. I have no complaints about Blood Money, really...except! The levels are great, but there arent nearly as many good maps compared to hitman 2. I Highly! anticpate the new game, Hitman:Absolutions on ps3 & 360...i just hope square doesnt F it up!

For those of you who like the fast, shoot 'em up style video game, this may not be for you. This game can be very challenging and requires a strategic thought process to progress. There are many ways to play the game and different difficulty levels to play on. A little frustrating at first, but when you get the controls down, it's on.

For me Hitman: Blood Money is the best game in the Hitman series. If you're familiar with previous Hitman games then you can expect smoother controls and cleaner graphics. Also unlike Hitman: Contracts you don't need separate save files to replay previous missions. You can just select what mission you want to play from a menu. The stealth challenge is really fun and difficult. Not to mention imperative. Once your cover is blown it's all over. The missions are interesting and creative, and a lot of fun to solve. There are also multiple ways to complete objectives which adds to replay value. Great game!

This game was alot of fun. If you like hitman games or never played but like the concept then you should get this. It's a blast!