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Agent 47’s fourth entry proves to be the best yet. The series has always been acclaimed for its variety, proving that the stealth genre doesn’t need to have stale gameplay. Though Blood Money doesn’t drastically change things, it does provide solid gameplay, an entertaining story, and enough selection to keep you going.
In Blood Money, you’ll once again play as Agent 47. It turns out that some other agency is threatening your character and your agency. Of course, it’s up to you to contain this threat. To accomplish this, you’ll take on a number of missions, usually resulting in you taking down some big bad guy or someone who was at one time a big bad guy. The game’s charm shows when you think you’re going to this take this horrible man only to find a washed up has been in his place. Nonetheless, it’s up to you to take him out. The game takes you to a number of locations including an L.A. suburb, Mardi Gras in New Orleans and even Vegas.
In classic Hitman fashion, you can sneak through the game’s dozen plus missions or simply go in with guns blazing. The game does a good job of recreating all of its various locations making them feel suitably like breathing, living locales. These places are packed with people. Some of them are merely civilians while other stand in your way. You can eliminate as many of them as you want, but the game makes you think about this long and hard. You’re rewarded for being stealthy in the form of a better ranking which will result in more money. It’s not impossible to go through a mission without a gun in your hand. That said, if you do want a gun you have an assortment to pick from submachine guns to pistols and rifles.
Like any good hitman, 47 has some tricks up his sleeve. Aside from the guns, he also has a GPS-like radar system that lets you see where your enemies are. As an added bonus, if you’re stuck, you can purchase additional information. You’ll also have access to melee weapons, explosives and poisons to take care of your targets. The AI in the game is solid if not convincing, though it isn’t perfect. It’s still impressive to make a target regret going on a bathroom break, though. 47 can still acquire the uniforms of people in the game allowing him to get by some areas undetected. He also has some home keeping skills since the old outfit will appear nicely folded when you discard it.
Blood Money introduces some nuances and wrinkles to the Hitman franchise. If you leave too many bodies behind, you’ll begin to gain notoriety. In turn, when you start the next mission the guards will be on heightened alert, making it easier to detect you. If you want to run-and-gun and provided that you have enough cash, you can pay to bring your notoerity back down before the next mission. The game also allows you to use human shields, hide in closets, and throw knives. The game also introduces newspaper headlines that come after you go through a mission. Though sort of predictable, they are a nice touch nonetheless.
The game’s visuals are good. The character models are detailed and animate well, particularly 47. He has the ability to kill enemies with smoothness and ease that makes the game believable. The environments look good, as well. They are varied as I mentioned above, show a nice sense of scope and manage to spice things up. Some of the missions have a high number of civilians which helps make the game feel like a living, breathing world.
The sound is equally impressive. The sound effects are almost perfect, giving keen ears subtle environmental clues that will come in handy later on. The voice acting is equally impressive. The soundtrack is once again composed by Jesper Kid’s appropriately grim yet exciting tunes. All in all, it’s hard to complain about the audio.
Hitman: Blood Money doesn’t radically change the Hitman formula but it does provide enough wrinkles and nuances to keep the solid gameplay fresh. It’s quite satisfying to orchestrate a giant surprise to fall on an unsuspecting target. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Jun 21, 2006
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