Hitman: Blood Money [Xbox]

That deadly arsenal, which could easily justify calling in a cleaner, just seems to grow and grow with each passing game. "Other than 47's standard weapons, like his Silverballer pistols and W2000 sniper rifle (which have over 50 customizable options available now) there is a new set of weapons in game. Expect different kinds of silenced firearms, close and long range weapons, household items, poisons. The trusty fibre wire is still available of course…" explains Donnel. If you watch the trailer you can get a look at some old favorites and new goodies, including a nice kill with a set of weights. Heavy lifting indeed. One of the other weapons looks to be a timed explosive... which is super cool. Watch the bodies go flying in all directions. Not the cleanest hit in the world, but certainly exciting enough to let your enemies know you care.

While weapons certainly have a lot of flash and bang, there are several other important actions that can be taken in order to both stay out of sight or just cause a stir. "Expect some other cool new mechanics for 47. He now has greater interaction with the environment which results in a new style of moves, for instance causing accidents and distracting guards. He also has greater interaction with other characters, for instance, he can now use people as human shields and dispose of bodies in some new 'interesting' ways." One other move seen pretty clearly in both the trailer and shows 47 pistol whipping victims from behind. Donnel also added that new moves are still being placed into the game that they aren't quite ready to talk about calling these "just a taste of things to come...."

But even with all of the new moves in the world, one of the most important aspects of a Hitman game is the realistic nature of the AI. It's gotten better with each game up until now, so it wasn't hard to figure out AI might also improve in Blood Money. "The engine and scripts that power the game's AI have been completely re-written," says Donnel. "Expect NPC's to react accordingly to the environment and the people around them, they will follow blood trails and investigate suspicious items and behaviour." While this could potentially make things more difficult, Donnel suggests that it actually opens up new possibilities for gameplay by creating the opportunity to use distractions to draw guards away from sensitive areas. "Additionally a new pathfinder engine provides further improved tracking and movement, resulting in more realistic NPC behaviour and interaction. This enhanced behaviour can also aid Hitman as the NPC's can provide information that'll give the player clues as to how to get passed them or through the level."

Speaking of the engine, Donnel points out that the AI isn't the only aspect that's been improved. "Graphically, Hitman: Blood Money is the first game to be powered by IO Interactive's latest implementation of the powerful Glacier engine. This features a new render engine supporting up to shader model 3.x, allowing realistic refraction based environment effects. Both the Xbox and PC versions will feature dynamic soft shadows, and a new character rendering system consisting of a highly realistic rendering system, utilising normal mapping, self shadowing and rim lighting. If you watch the trailer and look at the shots, you'll notice a definite improvement in the visuals, especially when dealing with detail on the characters. 47's face has a slightly different look than previous incarnations, going for a squarer jaw and meaner face in general. As usual, there's also a pretty large emphasis being placed on detailed texture work to make the environments pop more than they might otherwise.

Along with the signature visuals that Hitman is known for, music will also play an important role to tension and drama. If you haven't heard the music from past Hitman games, you're really missing something special and both IO and Eidos are committed to bringing back that very important piece of the puzzle including the brilliant Jesper Kyd, who has composed the music for previous Hitman titles along with a range of others. "For this game we wanted a very epic score that would match the nature of the storyline and he's definitely delivered. The music was recorded a while back with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Choir." You can even get an earful of what's in store for the final game with the new trailer. While the music was recorded for that trailer and will not be found in the game, it is "inspired and representative of the score used in Blood Money" giving you a good chance to hear the magic early.

Hitman: Blood Money is definitely sounding good at this point. The new features like the Blood Money and Notoriety systems along with the new moves weapons should fill out an already impressive repertoire. We'll be checking out the game in action at this E3, so look back for a first hand account from the show floor starting the 18th of this month.