Hitman: Blood Money
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:42 pm
Just got this yesterday after playing the demo. I think this is a game a lot of you would appreciate, even if you're not a fan of the Hitman series. I liked the original Hitman, but not Hitman 2 so I didn't get Hitman: Contracts. Blood Money is more of a return to the original spirit of Hitman: killing people because you're paid to do it, not because you're a hero who likes to save the world. It makes it a much more unique and original game.
Its main strength is the amount of thinking you have to do before you go for your target. You really need to walk around for a long time before you make a move, because one mistake and it all goes up in flames. And unlike previous games, there's not only one or two ways of taking your target out - there's a much bigger range, and the new 'accident' system is great. It allows you to make people you've killed appear to have died accidental deaths - make it look like a suicide by pushing them out of windows or over the edge of cliffs, make it look as though a chandelier just happened to drop on their heads when they just happened to be under it, cover their barbecue in lighter fluid so whoever next uses it goes on fire... And also, I like the fact that now you can't leave witnesses behind - if anybody's seen you, you'd better take them out or you'll have to bribe them after the mission to keep your face out of the papers. Same with CCTV cameras - get caught on them and you'll have to remove the tape. You can upgrade weapons and equipment with the money you receive for hits, buy silencers, different ammo (e.g. low velocity ammo for reduced noise and recoil), laser sights and various types of scope...
All in all it's a game that should appeal to tactical thinkers - it doesn't reward you for just going in and blasting everything, and there's a lot of freedom in deciding how you will go about your job. And another thing, it's not like other games which give you freedom of choice - in those, whatever you can do will be the right thing to do. In Blood Money, just because you can do it doesn't mean it's the smartest thing to do, or that it'll even work at all. Makes a nice change.
There are some bad points - the AI is still unrealistically predictable - they have their routines and stick to them, even if it means drinking coffee in a room, going to a balcony and smoking for a while, then coming back to the room and drinking coffee again over and over (which of course gives you a nice opportunity to put poison in the coffee). And some guards seem to have an unending desire to go to the toilet.
Download the demo from here. Bear in mind the demo is more of a demonstration of some of the different techniques than a proper mission itself, and be prepared for ludicrous over-the-top gangsta talk.
Its main strength is the amount of thinking you have to do before you go for your target. You really need to walk around for a long time before you make a move, because one mistake and it all goes up in flames. And unlike previous games, there's not only one or two ways of taking your target out - there's a much bigger range, and the new 'accident' system is great. It allows you to make people you've killed appear to have died accidental deaths - make it look like a suicide by pushing them out of windows or over the edge of cliffs, make it look as though a chandelier just happened to drop on their heads when they just happened to be under it, cover their barbecue in lighter fluid so whoever next uses it goes on fire... And also, I like the fact that now you can't leave witnesses behind - if anybody's seen you, you'd better take them out or you'll have to bribe them after the mission to keep your face out of the papers. Same with CCTV cameras - get caught on them and you'll have to remove the tape. You can upgrade weapons and equipment with the money you receive for hits, buy silencers, different ammo (e.g. low velocity ammo for reduced noise and recoil), laser sights and various types of scope...
All in all it's a game that should appeal to tactical thinkers - it doesn't reward you for just going in and blasting everything, and there's a lot of freedom in deciding how you will go about your job. And another thing, it's not like other games which give you freedom of choice - in those, whatever you can do will be the right thing to do. In Blood Money, just because you can do it doesn't mean it's the smartest thing to do, or that it'll even work at all. Makes a nice change.
There are some bad points - the AI is still unrealistically predictable - they have their routines and stick to them, even if it means drinking coffee in a room, going to a balcony and smoking for a while, then coming back to the room and drinking coffee again over and over (which of course gives you a nice opportunity to put poison in the coffee). And some guards seem to have an unending desire to go to the toilet.
Download the demo from here. Bear in mind the demo is more of a demonstration of some of the different techniques than a proper mission itself, and be prepared for ludicrous over-the-top gangsta talk.