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> Results: Hitman: Contracts
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Why be good when you can be bad? Such is the trend in the video game industry these days, and the latest title from Eidos is no exception.ﾓHitman: Contractsﾔ is the third chapter in a four-year-old series that lets gamers explore the world of a genetically engineered ber-assassin, Agent 47. The good news is the bald-headed baddie never looked so good and the game-play is wonderfully intense. Some, however, may be disappointed to learn this title hasnﾒt evolved much from ﾓHitman: Codename 47ﾔ (2000) and ﾓHitman 2: Silent Assassinﾔ (2002). In fact, about a third of this ﾓnewﾔ game features modified levels from the first in the series. More on that in a moment. As with its feted predecessors, this single-player action game challenges players to skulk around varied environments with but one objective: to cunningly locate and assassinate targets, then exit undetected. These tough tasks often require weapons (from guns to syringes to meat hooks) and disguises (such as clothing ﾓborrowedﾔ from dead bodies).  ﾓHitman: Contractsﾔ shines in its open-endedness. Most of the tense missions offer players multiple ways to approach the job (e.g., stealthily or guns a-blazinﾒ), not to mention puzzles and other obstacles that can often be overcome in numerous ways. For instance, the main target in the slaughterhouse level is the obese ﾓMeat King,ﾔ a Romanian gangster who controls the meat supply for the country. Players have two ways to take him out: they can either kill the butcher outside the building, put on his uniform, enter the kitchen and then hide his weapon in a turkey. The mob boss will then request some meat to eat, so the player is allowed to enter his room. When his henchmen leave, the player can successfully perform his job. Alternatively, the player can quietly exterminate a couple security guards and then climb out of a window onto the scaffolding to get a clean shot at the ﾓMeat King.ﾔ As long as the sniper gun has a silencer on it, the level can be completed. This open-ended approach greatly adds to the gameﾒs replayability. Weapons also have multiple uses, too: a pillow can smother a sleeping victim or it can be used as a silencer when shooting a gun through it (does this really work?). The missions in ﾓHitman: Contractsﾔ are carried out as memory flashbacks to locations already visited by Agent 47, including a biker bar, English manor, military installation, hotel, onboard a ship in Siberia, and some locales found in the first title (mainly the Hong Kong levels). Itﾒs rare for a game to include levels found in its forerunner, but perhaps the Copenhagen-based developers at IO Interactive wanted to let players indulge in a few ﾓclassicﾔ scenarios, though with improvements in graphics, A.I., music and the ability to save the game more often (a key fault with the original). So, despite a few bouts of d￩j￠ vu, ﾓHitman: Contractsﾔ is a good purchase for followers of the series, while stealth action fans may also find a solid 12- to 15-hours of gritty game-play in this B-plus grade sequel. Kid Factor Hitman lives up to its name. Your kids will kill people in a variety of ways, using a variety of weapons, and then they can drag the limp corpses around to hide them. Heﾒs a contract killer for crying out loud! The only upshot is the open-ended puzzle-like structure does force you to be creative when it comes to problem solving. Kid Factor by GamerDad Reviewerﾒs Recommended Ages: 17+ ESRB: M-Mature Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC Genre: Action Developer: IO Interactive Publisher: Eidos Interactive Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Hitman: Contracts |
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