Mini review: Hitman: Blood Money

Developer: IO interactive
Published by Eidos
Released 2006

Graphics: Showing their age technically but still an interesting game to look at. Unique, well designed locations and plenty of interesting design touches throughout the environments.

Sound: Decent voice acting. Plenty of environmental sounds add atmosphere. Some nice classical music from the Budapest symhony orchestra adds class and various good scenario related tracks.

Achievements: All doable. Not a lot of skill needed, just a lot of time and effort to learn the level layouts and timings.

This is a marmite game of stealth and assasination. As Agent 47 you must kill various targets in a series of unique and varied scenarios. Use a range of guns, rifles and melee weapons, coupled with more stealthy tools such as sedatives, poisons and disguises. Perform as stealthily and efficiently as possible to recieve the best ratings and keep your notoriety down to help you in future missions.

Sure, you can run and gun through the stages on lower difficulties, but this won't work on the higher skill levels. The real satisfaction gained from Hitman is to wander round your target's property under the nose of his elite security, completely undetected. Then poison his favourite bottle of Whisky, perhaps seduce his wife and then leave the level unnoticed while he collapses and dies!

This game is not for everyone, but if you enjoy a bit of patient planning, discovering more and more efficient or elaborate ways to nail this game's stages is one of the most satisfying times i've had in gaming.

The A.I. and game logic is laughably bad at times, like the pool boy who discovers a badly concealed body, runs around in panic for a sec, then returns to his duties, or the lady who doesn't mind you running into her garden to snipe from her tree house. You could say this was a flaw but i think it adds to the quirkiness, when you get used to it!

This is a good member of a classic series. Can't wait for future iterations with newer tech! Should be awesome!

8/10

Nice mini-review. Got this from play.com yesterday. No idea when I'll get around to it though!

GrahamOfTheDead wrote:Nice mini-review. Got this from play.com yesterday. No idea when I'll get around to it though!

I must have known!!

One of my favourite games. Really enjoyed playing it. Been a few years so might have to buy it again. I remember the Suburbs level looked graphically amazing at the time.

great mini mate

Hitman is class

I struggled for years until I start watching youtube solutions which I then managed to adapt and add to myself

Some of the missions contain aspects of the best gaming experience ever on the 360
Until you have killed the target by shooting out the bottom of the glass pool he is lounging in so he falls to his death off a cliff, then you have not enjoyed your 360 to the max!

Everton wrote:great mini mate

Hitman is class

I struggled for years until I start watching youtube solutions which I then managed to adapt and add to myself

Some of the missions contain aspects of the best gaming experience ever on the 360
Until you have killed the target by shooting out the bottom of the glass pool he is lounging in so he falls to his death off a cliff, then you have not enjoyed your 360 to the max!

Absolutely!!!! Or dousing a pair of panties in chemical to give a pervy FBI agent what he deserves!! It's certainly a unique game! Top stuff!

Ooo... I have always flirted with trying this game. I think this review and the fact that some shrink wrapped second hand copies turned up at work last week might be the signs I needed to do it

deffo look at youtubes nite matey

it opens so many possibilities and stops you wandering aimlessly

this reminds me i must finish this game off.