Review: 'Hitman' recalls previous versions
By Marc Saltzman
Gannett News Service
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Marc Saltzman, a freelance technology journalist whose reviews also appear on the Gannett News Service.
Agent 47, the ultimate assassin in "Hitman: Contracts," has never looked better. And the gameplay is intense.
However, this title hasn't evolved much from "Hitman: Codename 47," released in 2000, and 2002's "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin." About a third of this game features modified levels from the earlier editions.
As with its predecessors, this single-player action game challenges players to skulk around varied environments with one objective: to locate and assassinate targets, then exit undetected. Those tough tasks often require weapons (from guns to syringes to meat hooks) and disguises (such as clothing "borrowed" from dead bodies).
"Hitman: Contracts," from Eidos Interactive, shines in its open-endedness. Most of the tense missions offer players multiple ways to approach the job (stealthily or guns a-blazin'), puzzles and other obstacles that can often be overcome in numerous ways.
For example, the main target in the slaughterhouse level is the obese Meat King, a Romanian gangster who controls the meat supply for the country.
Players have two ways to take him out: One is to 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 fulfill his contract.
Or, the player can quietly exterminate a couple of security guards and then climb out of a window onto the scaffolding to get a clean shot at the Meat King. As long as the sniper gun has a silencer on it, the level can be completed.
The open-ended approach greatly adds to the game's replay value.
Weapons also have multiple uses. A pillow can smother a sleeping victim or be used to muffle a gunshot.
The missions in "Hitman: Contracts" are carried out as memory flashbacks to locations already visited by Agent 47, including a biker bar, English manor, military installation, hotel, aboard a ship in Siberia, and some locales found in the first title (mainly the Hong Kong levels).
Despite a few bouts of deja vu, "Hitman: Contracts" is a good purchase for followers of the series, while stealth action fans may also find a solid 12 to 15 hours of gritty gameplay in this B+ sequel.
A free demo
of "Hitman: Contracts" is available for PC gamers. It is also available for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
