Hitman: Blood Money

Hit-man: Blood Money (played on the PS2) creeped me out right from the start. Not in a manner quite like Contracts, the 2004 installment of the awesome series, but in a different way. The main menus consist of what appears to be the protagonist's, Agent 47's, funeral, while Schubert's Ave Maria plays softly yet hauntingly in the background. This is just one of the many ways that Blood Money twists with your mind and makes you question your morality and sanity. This is, no doubt, one of the best games of the year so far, and aside from a few glaring flaws, is the best installment yet in the Hit-man franchise.

The major flaw in Blood Money is the way it begins. The beginning is dark, melodramatic, and moody, taking place at an abandoned amusement park, but the structure isn't as smooth as levels in the other Hit-man titles, and the game leads you by the nose for the entire level, effectively removing the open-ended nature of the series. But when you are past this training level, it's Blood Money to the Big Leagues time, with 47 taking no prisoners in a dark, violent tale of conspiracy and intrigue. It's a very compelling story, combining the international appeal of Silent Assassin with the brutish, disturbing nature of Contracts.

One of the best additions to the game is the Accident system. This will change the way you play Hit-man. It allows you to place explosives, poison foods, switch items and loosen bolts to sabotage your target's lives in cunning displays of ingenuity. These 'accidents' (ranging from pushing people from balconies to fake suicide, to forcing chandeliers to fall large heights before hitting anything remotely resembling a target) play perfectly into the Notoriety system, which tracks your mission stats and compiles them into a faux newspaper clipping. These stats, including your hit ratio, number of times seen, and the amount of people killed, factor into how well the enemy will recognise you in the next mission. It's a great concept, but don't worry about this one in the lower two difficulty levels; Notoriety is barely recognizable on the Normal setting, and doesn't even exist on Rookie.

Hit-man: Blood Money is a very good game in danger of being overlooked by the average gamer this year. In 2006, we've seen the jaw-dropping Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, a game I consider the best stealth title ever. Later this year, we'll be getting Splinter Cell: Double Agent, promising a true, next-gen experience on the Xbox 360. Hit-man: Blood Money, however, should not be overlooked; it is a near-perfect example of how to do a game right. It is, by far, the most mature game I've ever played. The story is deep, involving, and serious. The games industry has a problem with maturity, leading to many doubting the veracity of gaming as a whole. Hit-man sets the bar for maturity, and all other games strive to that mark. Jesper Kyd's orchestral-eletronica soundtrack is also phenomenal (as always), being the best thing to hit my ears this year.

If you play any games at all, and care for intelligence in your entertainment, by all means, play Hit-man: Blood Money.

Now.

This game can have mixed results among different people. Some can't figure things out for themselves after level one and give up after dying 40 times. This game is all about having a game plan and a good strategy. If you don't you'll just be playing a very hard shooting game. The game is very rewarding when you do everything perfect. You get such a satisfied feeling when you flawlessly complete your mission and see that "Silent Assassin" rating on the screen. The reason this is different from other Hit men games is that it has many new things. Populated areas(no more dark, guard ridden areas), New guns, weapon upgrade systems, and now it is easier to hide bodies. If you know what you are doing, this game is very fun. The only major flaw is the saving system. All in game saves are wiped when you leave or even restart the level by accident.(although, I usually beat each level and then saved, making it less of a problem to me.) Even though there are many guns in the game, a "silent assassin" will never need them for more than using them to grab a human shield to knock people out. If your a patient gamer with good wits, you'll love this game. If you're a "terrorist", you'll be infuriated by the games small health bar and over active AI. (One person busts you, and everyone knows.) Games like Metal Gear Solid solved problems like this years before by simply giving guards radios. The news paper is a very clever way to show how you did. It also lets you know how accurate you are. Do bad and your a "A shooter of limited skill, and dangerous enthusiasm." Do good and your a "Talented Marksman as few shots were wasted." This game is definitely worth while. A must buy. 10/10 And now for pros and cons and etc. Good: Very satisfying when done right, lots of problems from first games fixed. Bad: Small health slot, over active AI, and bad save system. Should have: added more sniping opportunities. They put four sniper rifles in the game and no high towers to shoot target from. :(

This game has got to be one of my favourite games. I've had it for years and usually play it on my laptop when I just want to relax.

CONTROLS 10/10 The controls in the game are very easy to understand and using them for me is not a problem. I am using the default controls(w,s,a,d), and they are fine. Controls are customisable.

FUN FACTOR 9/10 Most of the levels in this game have no time limit, and this means you can take your time to do what you need to do. The missions have a very good story line, and not once in the game do you feel like you are playing a slight repeat of a different mission. There are 13 missions and each one has a completely different environment. I have played every mission countless times and each time I will try something different each time.

GRAPHICS 7/10 This game was released in 2006. At the time, the graphics looked very detailed. Playing it now looks very different to my first opinion. The detail in the environments is extremely high and I will reward that 5/5. On the other hand, the people let me down. In other games, they would have random clothed people so you would not see the same people twice(most of the time,anyway), but in this game, the number of different NPCs is limited. Another thing that caught my attention was that nearly every man in the game looked extremely strong. Plus, all women except for supermodels are chubby.

RE-PLAYABILITY 9.5/10 All the missions are re-playable. In each mission, there is no direct way of completing. There are a a number of weapons and secrets scattered around the maps. Every time you re-play a mission, you are very likely to do something different.

SOUND 8/10 The game has an exclusive soundtrack by Geoff Zanelli. The music is orchestral and suits the game perfectly.Although, I have heard snippets of certain scores in Hit-man: Contracts. It was very brief, but shows that some of the scores were made before this game. The voice talent is, well, talented! The accents are very authentic and the acting is brilliant.

OVERALL 9/10 As I said before, this game is very fun and has logic and meaning behind it. I recommend this game to anyone who likes this sort of gameplay.

Hit-man: Contracts came in at the tail end of the standard definition era of video gaming. Two years later this, the 4th game in the popular series, came out - right at the infancy of HD gaming. It shows, but it's still a noticeable graphic improvement. For this entry IO Interactive have changed the controls and gameplay, which annoyed me at first, but you get used to it, even though they are still rather fiddly and you'll often select the wrong command by accident.

The story bounces around in time as Agent 47 travels to various locations around the world offing evil-doers. It ties into the story of Hit-man: Contracts rather tightly, which is not something I expected it to do. The killing and gameplay is still very similar and the game doesn't offer anything new in that regard. I think it is time that Hit-man starts introducing gorier deaths that obliterate victims or feature noticeable damage instead of the ragdoll effects after a sudden burst of red.

I liked this game, but for Agent 47's first jaunt into HD I would have preferred new methods of killing that would benefit from the better resolution. Maybe next time.

Graphics B- Sound B Gameplay B Lasting Appeal B+

I love this game because its open ended. You can kill and do whatever you like.

If you want to shootout, if not and you want to be a ghost then be a ghost.

Bloodmoney is one of the best games of all time.

Make an order and play this game.