User Review : Hitman: Blood Money

"Beautifully Executed"

In Hitman: Blood Money you are Agent 47, nothing but a tool in a grand garage of plans. With nothing but your satellite map and Fiber wire, your goal for every unique mission is to assassinate one or more people while trying your best to not get noticed.

In Hitman, there are no complicated environments or large open areas. It is quite a restricted game, and there is your occasional invisible wall, but given that, it really is a beautiful game. The different lighting, changes in weather and overall surrounding environment are all very well done and some of the best I’ve ever seen. But perhaps the greatest graphical plateau, are the character models. A bald man in a black suit may not seem that complex, but the clean, powerful look that Agent 47 seems to radiate, can all be seen with just a quick glance. Some missions require you to assassinate an individual in a public place. The dense crowds are where the character models are highlighted, as every person seems unique from the last, and all can interact simultaneously.

Agent 47 may not be very vocal, but all the other sounds that surround him are done marvelously. From gun fire to hearing the last breath of your stranglee, the in game audio isn’t heard as much as I would have liked to hear, but when present it’s amazing. The voice acting could have been better, and considering the main character rarely speaks, I was quite disappointed when I found out the developers basically forgot about it. There also could have been some music in the background of the many missions. I don’t mean music of today’s popular bands, I mean suspenseful and frightening background sounds.

When figured out, Hitman: Blood Money’s gameplay is a load of fun. It certainly isn’t a pick and play type game, but it vastly improved upon gameplay from the series previous games. The invisible walls were frustrating, and the AI was inconsistent at times, but the ups definitely trump the downs. There are many weapons and many different routes that can be used to complete a mission, but the game never tells you, or hints at how to do it. Sure, my good friend Youtube can tell me exactly what to do and be able to do it quite simply, but I want to be able to complete games on my own and with Hitman, I couldn’t. Long time Hitman fans will tell me I’m playing it the wrong way or that maybe I don’t have enough patience. That being said, after so many failed attempts at stealth, it’s hard not to use the old Run n’ Gun approach at times for this game. Overall, good gameplay is present yet no where to be found in Hitman, for the sole reason of it being impossibly difficult.

I cannot imagine any type of online multiplayer for Hitman: Blood Money and cooperative play would be very hard to do. But this game is singleplayer only and when you play through once, playing through again will take no time at all. The achievements, like the game, are hopelessly difficult. If you’re a stealth fanatic and can get into this game they will add some longevity I’m sure, but for me, this is one of the few games where I couldn’t care less about the achievements.

Hitman: Blood Money is a game put together very well; it features impressive graphics, adequate audio and challenging gameplay. But lack of replayability, overly difficult play, and other minor issues drag this game down. In no way is this a bad game, but I’d be lying if I said this game meets the toughNAME standards for purchase.

Score

7.0

Graphics

8.5

Sound

7.0

Gameplay

6.0

Fun Factor

Overall

7.3