The Hitman Series Part 4

Hitman: Blood Money

Big Bad Spoilers Ahead

BM is the best Hitman game of all. Any self-respecting person who considers himself a gamer should play this game. It has the best gameplay, story and graphics. BM pushes the Hitman formula and mechanics to its highest point.

The controls are very fluid now. 47 can move along ledges, climb pipes and climb obstacles by simple key movement. Inventory management is better with a quick conceal/draw last weapon button. BM allows you to hide bodies in containers or over ledges and other minor improvements like an auto-sneak feature with the fiber wire, human shields, pistol whipping people to knock them out etc. There's also a notoriety system where if you are seen by witnesses, your next job will be slightly harder since you are more suspicious but I believe this system wasn't executed that well. Spend a few dollars and notoriety won't be a problem. Hell, it isn't that noticeable to begin with.

The story begins with a reporter named Rick interviewing some CIA G-man named Jack. Jack narrates the tales of our beloved hero 47 and all the people he's put out of their misery. Jack narrates the story mission by mission but we actually play through it. It becomes obvious later on that he isn't a very reliable narrator.

47 is in the United States and almost all missions are set there. Of course, its a basic all American tour as 47 goes to Vegas to kill some guy, dumps bodies in the Mississippi and even kills a bunch of people during Mardi Gras in N'awlins. Now, The Agency is getting hammered by their rival, The Franchise. The Agency's operatives are getting killed one by one and some assassins even try taking out 47. They all fail miserably of course. It is revealed that The Franchise was responsible for 47's near death in Paris.

Now Jack mentions how the CIA attempted to kill 47 right about the same moment you encounter rival assassins in the game. Jack is the asshole running The Franchise and he wants 47 dead for a reason. Jack knows 47 is a clone and much of 47's backstory is brilliantly explained in the game although from a villain's perspective. Jack wants 47 dead and burned so nobody can use 47's perfect DNA in his bone marrow to make more clones while in truth, Jack just wants to monopolize the whole clone army market with his own clones. (Inferior models of 47) Eventually, The Agency is reduced to just Diana and 47. Interestingly, 47 doesn't seem to give even half a rat's ass. He just wants his money. 47 is a really greedy asshole in this game. I wonder whats he's gonna spend it on. He basically lives in a damp, dingy basement somewhere like some World of Warcraft player.

Eventually 47 is cornered but Diana gets to him first. Diana tells 47 about her plan to escape but 47 is all like, "Gibe moneys first lololol." Diana then stabs 47 with a syringe and 47 says a bad word for the first time. Some time later, the reporter is bought to 47 lying in state in some church awaiting cremation. The reporter believes the whole thing now and can't wait to write the scoop of the century. Diana approaches 47's body and puts his trademark pistols (which are loaded heh heh...) over his corpse and kisses him on the lips.

But wait! The syringe Diana injected him with was not filled with poison but rather an experimental fake death "deep sleep" drug and the antidote to revive him was in Diana's lipstick! In what could be described as the most incredible, awesome, jaw-dropping moment in video game history, 47 gets up and kills everyone IN HIS OWN FUCKING FUNERAL. No witnesses. Jack dies. 47 escapes. Diana escapes. Goddamn.

The Graphics in this game are gorgeous. From the colorful, yet sinister environments to the fine details of 47's suit, this is one of the games where cool graphics is just icing on a delicious cake that isn't a lie. The soundtrack is superb and fits the game perfectly as usual. We're back to orchestral although there's also a bit of dark electronica left over from Contracts but its a good blend of the two styles. Man I love Jesper Kyd's work on this game.

Well there you have it, an awesome video game series. It's rare for a game to get better and better with each installment. I'm cautious as to Hitman 5. How could they possibly improve on this game? Well, as I mentioned, BM is the high point yet it exposes the limitations of the Hitman formula. AI is still dumb as a rock in combat. Characters models are recycled too much. They need better gimmicks than a notoriety system. Despite this, I'm sure 5 is gonna be good. Hitman has never dissapointed before.