Hitman: Blood Money: Hands-On

Mar 10, 2006

While raging hormone-teeming teenagers bitch about who sniped each other first in Halo 2, those of us who like a steadier, stealthier kill have discovered the sweet dark work of IO Interactive's Hitman series. Originally introduced on PC in November 2000, the Hitman series has gradually attracted fans for a mixture of reasons, not all of which revolve around pure violence.

Agent 47 is an iconographic character in his own right, silently doing his job with precision and skill and rarely uttering a word. Visually, he's all about the bald head, serious, cold stare, the scan lines on the back of his neck, and a fine suit and tie. Behind the stark graphics and lure of harsh kills, however, the game has grown a massive fan-base because IO has shown a mastery of open-level design, stealth, and replay value like few other stealth games on the market.

At first look, Hitman: Blood Money may not strike you as vastly improved over previous games in the series. In all honesty, this is easily the best looking game in the series, but that's because it's hard to see contact-sensitive mechanics and new moves at work. The screenshots and movies we captured were predominantly from an early Xbox version, which, as you can see, display un-optimized code. You'll see aliasing, some clippings issues, and a decent but not great framerate. But the build we have is far from done; it's not finished, bug-tested, nor optimized. So if you see these images and worry just a little bit, don't. IO's Hitman games have always shined graphically and this year's effort should prove to the best looking one to date.

Call it unwarranted hype if you want, but the team is doing so many things graphically that it's quite unbelievable. For instance, IO is implementing bump mapping, specular highlighting, shader models, refractions, and more on PS2. It was once believed that PS2 couldn't even handle bump mapping. Additionally, IO told us the game will look amazing on PC, practically next-generation level from a graphic standpoint, and should easily be one of the best looking games on PS2 and Xbox. So when you see these visuals, keep in mind the game will improve drastically.

I'll refrain from re-telling the story as I've done in many previous articles, but know that Hitman takes place in several well-known and well-liked places, such as Las Vegas, and he's not the only one assigned to kill. Another assassin is on the prowl and he/she is after him. IO wanted to capture the stark contrast between normal everyday locations and the cold reality of Agent 47's job, the business of assassination. When placed in a normal suburb, or a peaceful amusement park, as opposed to dank, unrealistic or even slightly fictitious place, these new locations should generate a stronger response from players -- of surprise, perhaps shock, horror, or even awe.

Several of the new abilities in Agent 47's arsenal certainly shocked me. IO's assassin is now capable of simple things that before seemed difficult. He can jump from a 20-story balcony to another one with simple, fluid controls and animations. He's capable of climbing on pipes, wall-sliding across dangerous areas, and as a little surprise to us, he's equipped with an arsenal of hand-to-hand grappling moves. For instance, Dan Adams (EIC at IGNPC) and I played two of the three different versions (Xbox, PS2, and PC) and he almost mistakenly grappled a guard's gun from him, beat him up and shot the second guard to death. Independently I realized the same thing. I beat up a few guys, headbutted one, and found that in contrast to all previous versions, this version provides players with a plethora of disarm and distraction techniques not available in previous games.

The disarming moves are as simple as pressing an action button when near an enemy. This simple trick adds all sorts of layers and possibilities to the already deep gameplay. You can distract enemies or NPCs as well. In your bag of tricks you'll usually find throw-able pennies that lead guards off their posts so you can go about your dirty business. Not only are these changes reflected in improved animations and better-looking graphics, but Hitman's general level of athleticism and fluidity makes him easier to play. And I don't mean easy as in Yoshi's-Island-easy, I mean more natural, fluid, and intuitive.

Following our theme of contrasts, Blood Money works behind the scenes to affect the world around Agent 47. As the game progresses, you'll come to enjoy the subtlety of relevant newspaper stories and clean-up costs, but also on the inevitably of Agent 47's actions on his own reputation. Much like in previous games, Agent 47 is assigned to travel to exotic locales across the world to kill off especially seedy or evil men. But in between levels, you'll notice the effects at work. Information is passed along in slightly different ways than before, using newspapers to report your actions. For instance, after each level, the notoriety system functions by reporting in the news that 10 people were killed in an unexplained killing spree in a Las Vegas hotel. In reality, you might have killed 10 people, and your agency had to come in, clean up the mess you made, and provide a cover story.

You'll see the newspaper format at the end of each level, each "article" being readable and providing information on the last and an upcoming mission. You can read the entire front page, which contains stories on both your transgressions and articles on the people you're after. Thus, the newspaper serves as a kind of secret de-briefer before you get the real mission objectives from the agency. They're not necessary to read, but they fill in little details.

A new currency system is tied to the notoriety system, and similar to any true stealth game like Tenchu, Metal Gear, or Thief, you're rewarded by being silent, unseen, and deadly. Your reward money for each level is affected by your blunders, sightings, and found bodies. For example, the agency actually subtracts cash from your contract for each clean-up job it must perform. Luckily, there are more places to put dead bodies than in any Hitman game to date. Instead of just dragging them into corners or empty hotel rooms where people will inevitably find them, you can drag dead bodies into trunks and closets, hiding them completely. Money comes in handy, too. You'll use cash to bribe people for information and to pretend they didn't see you in action, and money also works to upgrade your weapons in between levels (upgrades include new scopes, silencers, and more). There are 10-15 weapon upgrades. I handled the standard pistol, a Dragonov sniper rifle, a hammer, a syringe, a kitchen knife, and a remote bomb to do my dirty work.

Many of the issues we've all worried about in the Hitman series are being addressed. And they're being handled without having to drastically rework the series with major facelifts or by making Hitman something it isn't. IO is very focused on making Blood Money a game of the modern age. Some of the controls might feel aged compared to say, the uncanny fluidity of Prince of Persia, yet, in its own way, IO's game reaches a level of awe it hasn't reached before. The European developer has endeavored to create memorable levels, rich with complex level designs, that match or are better than previous games in the series. Coupled with a profusion of smoother actions and new moves (distraction and disarming moves, for instance), better weapons, and global cash and notoriety systems -- not to mention graphics that promise to be the best yet in the series -- Blood Money will steal your money faster than you can say "Hey, that's a garrote! Acchhhh!"