Hitman: Contracts Review

Number 47 is back. He's still bald, still has that charming bar code tattooed on his neck and apparently did not get chosen for that wardrobe makeover on Queer Eye for the Killer Guy because he still is sporting the black suit and glove combo that just screams "Professional Killer".

Shut up, and let your knife do all the talking!

Looks like 47's about to freeze to death.

In the third Hitman game, Io Interactive has taken a more artistic approach to the story. As the game opens, everyone's favorite deadly cue ball has been gut shot and is staggering into his sleazy hotel room. After collapsing on the floor (Eeww! Germs!), 47 slips in and out of consciousness and begins hallucinating. This plot contrivance allows the developers to move from one mission to another and to recycle/rehash some missions from earlier games.

Gameplay remains very much the same as in previous Hitman games. You are a lone assassin that has a job to do. You have a wide variety of weapons both traditional and improvised that you can use to take out your targets. How you get to your targets and then take them out is where the fun comes from. Trying to just run-and-gun though a level is not going to work. Stealth, disguises and planning your attacks is still the name of the game. Depending on what difficulty you are playing, the game will limit the number of saves you can use per level and of course, make the enemies smarter and lot harder. The limited number of saves is important because a huge portion of the game boils down to trial and error. The AI is a somewhat different story though. While playing through the missions, I've experienced a few issues that could fend off some gamers. Although nothing too serious, the game does tend to exhibit average AI behavioral patterns. This goes for both enemies as well as civilian NPC's. It often happens that guards come in piles and without any exceptionally rewarding individual AI. Mind you, playing the game with the difficulty parameter set on 'Normal' was a decent challenge overall. Yet, if you're really keen on making things difficult for good ol' 47, you can always toggle the difficulty bar to the 'Expert' level... which is a whole new ball game as it happens. Enemies are a lot more accurate and resilient to your attacks.

In the second mission, The Meat King, you are tasked with infiltrating a meatpacking warehouse and eliminating a crime boss, his shyster lawyer and rescuing a kidnapped girl. You start the level interrogating a butcher in the back of a truck carrying side of beef. Slipping into his clothes, I made my way to the rear entrance of the warehouse where several guards were patting down guests as they entered. As I tried to enter, the guard halted me and patted me down. The guard found my concealed pistols and began shooting at me; putting several bloody holes in the butchers smock I was wearing. After a reload, I ditched my handguns and headed into the warehouse with only a meat hook for offense. Inside, there were sides of beef being butchered and of course, a party! Guards wearing masks stood at the ready for trouble while guests decked out in leather bondage gear danced, mingled at the bar and drifted off to private rooms to enjoy themselves. The whole scene was surreal. After poking around, I found a different set of clothes that allowed me to ditch my butchers outfit. After changing, I moved further into the party. After looking around the dance floor I moved to the stairs and found another guard checkpoint. I again was halted for questioning and my cover was blown. It was time for another reload. While it is fun trying to sneak around and figure out the correct way to accomplish the mission, it's apparent that the process of make a little progress, save the game, explore and screw up, reload and try it again routine is going to be a hallmark of gameplay. This is not a huge drawback, it just reduces the tension and the fun that comes with it.

As you can see, things really haven't changed much from the previous installment when it comes to mission design. I also expected less linearity in some assignments. Granted, Hitman: Contracts does allow you to complete tasks several ways which effectively increases the game's replayability, but that just doesn't cut it in some situations. There are times when players must simply cling to a strict path in order to fulfill their duty.

Oookay, I'm guessin' you didn't like the fondue.

The rain brings back many warm memories... Dead bodies mostly.

Graphics were quite pleasing for the Xbox. Models are very well done and animated. Each level was created with an admirable attention to detail. I especially enjoyed what the designing team did to make the ambiance dark and moody. On the other hand, I'd like to point out a few minor mishaps. Overall, character animation is okay, but needs some extra work when it comes to movement. Some player models don't walk and act naturally, and that even goes for 47 himself! Also, violence was a bit too much for me. I know I know. We are talking about a game named Hitman here so I really should not expect fuzzy bunnies and rainbows, but the amount of violence in the game was still a shock to me since I do not normally play games that are this violent. All in all, violence and some of the mentioned mishaps aside, it's a still good looking game.

The sounds in the game are also top notch. As Hitman visits different locals to do his job, character voices are done in their native language and help to immerse the player in the game. Music is moody and applied perfectly in each situation. The music in the game perfectly suits the game style and really helps to enhance the entire presentation. Also, small audio touches like the sound of wall tiles in the hospital cracking and shattering when stray bullets hit them surprised and delighted me.

To sum up, Hitman Contracts does a good job on extending the series, even if it does not bring a whole lot new to the party - which is basically why we opted for a 75 mark. With its graphic violence the game is rated M for mature. This means that children should not be in the same room as the game disc, even if there is no console or computer present to play it on.