Hitman: Blood Money

[The Revolution]

I picked up Hitman:Blood Money last week, and I have to say I'm really impressed with it so far. I have the first 3 games as well, and I think one is probably the best. They've greatly expanded 47's available actions. You're now able to do things like punch and head butt, disarm people, use lethal and nonlethal syringes, push people, and dispose of bodies in conveniently placed dumpsters, crates, and other containers.

The levels I've seen so far have all been a lot of fun. There's a wide variety, and they look really nice. One level is a suburban neighborhood where you have to take out someone in the witness protection program. Another takes place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

They also brought back something I've missed from the first game: you actually earn money from your missions. You can use your cash to buy upgrades for you weapons (such as silencers, different types of ammo, etc) or yourself (such as a health boost). You can also spend money to pay off witnesses, which lowers your notoriety rating.

Another nice little feature is after each mission, you can read the front page in the paper, and read all about your work. The articles change somewhat to reflect how things actually went. For example, it will mention the number of bullets fired, the types of bullets used, or whether or not there were any witnesses. If you look closely, you may finds some other interesting things as well ;) :





Anybody else playing this game? If you are a fan of the series (and even if you're not), I would recommend trying this one. I believe there's a demo available as well.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. If I didn't play the others, will I miss out on the backstory too much? I

really like the idea behind this, read some reviews, and will DEFINITELY get it.

[The Revolution]

2. I don't think you'll miss too much

I don't think you'll need to know much about the back story to enjoy this game. Some of the story is covered in the cut scenes, but there may be a few references that wouldn't make sense.

The biggest thing to mention would be that the 3rd game (Contracts) actually takes place in between two missions in Blood Money. Basically, after one of the missions in Blood Money, Agent 47 is wounded. Contracts takes place during this time, and the missions are flashbacks. Then in the next mission in Blood Money there's a reference to 47 recovering from his wounds.

Wikipedia has some articles on the series, which will probably tell you anything else you'd want to know. Though there are also some spoilers from Blood Money in there. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman_%28computer_game_series%29

[StaggerLee]

3. I played it on PC

This is the first Hitman game I've played. I tried the demo for the second one but if I remember correctly it was strictly third person so I lost interest. (unless there was a way to toggle to first person but if there was I wasn't able to figure it out)

Played this game on the easiest setting because I can be pretty impatient.

Loved every mission but the Opera House was definitely my favorite.

One known glitch off the top of my head: There were a few times when I accidently showed my weapon and the AI didn't react to it. (one instance was at the Porn King's party, the bodyguard/goon didn't even notice)

The buy weapon feature is something I didn't really utilize mainly because I was playing in easy mode. I think next time I play it I'll ratch up the difficulty which may require me to explore it.

BTW, I really liked the death animation when 47 dies. It really takes the sting out of falling flat.

[The Revolution]

4. The opera house was really fun.

Though it was one of my less smooth operations. I took out the ambassador by shooting him from the upper balcony. I used a silenced weapon, but the guards spotted me anyway, so I had to run for the exit with bullets flying everywhere :)