Hitman: Blood Money – Review

If you’ve never played one of the Hitman games before, here’s a quick summation: You play the part of a hitman (no surprise there) known only as ‘Agent 47’. Mr. 47 works for the ICA (International Contract Agency) and goes about executing various ‘assignments’ in various places, and in a multitude of inventive ways. If that sounds like your cup of assassination tea then you could certainly do a lot worse than the Hitman series, but does Blood Money do everything developers IO Interactive promised it would after 2004’s Hitman: Contracts? Let’s take a look and see.

The game opens with ‘Death of a Showman’, which is, essentially, a tutorial level. It’s well laid out and, where dealing with adversaries is concerned, it should successfully introduce even the novice Hitman player to all of Agent 47’s deadly prerequisite moves and tricks. Following the tutorial, missions begin with an ICA briefing and an opportunity to select equipment, though these choices are not fundamental, as you will also equip and, at times, un-equip during the game. Obviously a hitman cannot just rush in guns blazing should he wish to succeed, he needs to take his time, both to ensure that he himself survives, and also to ensure the target is eliminated in the most appropriate way possible. Because of this cautious integral gameplay mechanic, Hitman: Blood Money feels somehow hampered and slow, particularly if you’re used to a more open fire-fight style of gameplay. Some of the levels need playing though a number of times in order to succeed satisfactorily, while formulating a new and better plan with each failed decision and each new discovery. Levels are played out in a similar manner each time and eventual success is therefore usually just a matter of starting a level again with newly gathered knowledge and then nailing it through a rinse and repeat fashion. Of course, some of the game’s missions can be completed the first time of asking, and these always feel more satisfying because the content is completely new to the player.

Blood Money holds a new addition to the Hitman series, and it’s called ‘notoriety’. This means you have to ensure crime scenes are as free from evidence as possible, otherwise you’ll have to literally pay to cover up the fact you were ever there. CCTV tapes can even be stolen and bodies hidden in an effort to keep each crime scene clean of Agent 47’s deadly trail. Notoriety also works by raising the suspicions of those around you, which means you need to keep it low in order to succeed, or else have multiple enemies gunning for you. Though it sounds like notoriety should add to the game’s overall structure, it really doesn’t (not unless played on the ‘hard’ difficulty), it just means you’ll become more and more recognizable to enemies, although one may well question how a tall bald man with a barcode tattooed on the back of his head does not already appear fairly conspicuous as it is.

Graphically, Hitman: Blood Money is a fairly pretty affair, though it does suffer from the ‘plastic’ or ‘wax work’ syndrome some of the earlier Xbox 360 titles have been afflicted with, wherein the in-game character models appear sculpted from wax or some kind of slick resin. Environments are sprawling and nicely detailed with some sweet little touches here and there. However, though impressive, they’re not without problems, including some non-interactive scenery that detracts from the illusion of in-game reality. An example of this is plainly static bushes that you walk through, or people milling around at a Mardi Gras who pass ethereally through one another and are essentially seven or eight genetic character models replicated over and over. This is something that really could (and should) have been done better on the Xbox 360 console. That said, the majority of Blood Money’s levels are nicely detailed and quite inventive; it is fun (at least the first few times) to sedate a victim and drag them to a fridge or a dumpster and cruelly toss them in. The sound in Hitman: Blood Money delivers some beautifully orchestrated operatic pieces through the occasionally ominous soundtrack by Jesper Kyd, which offers a blend of ambient electronic and classical orchestrations. There’s some fairly impressive voice acting on show too, provided you can overlook instances of atrocious racial stereotyping and overused profanity in the game’s earlier levels. Subtitles are available for the deaf or hard-of-hearing gamer.

On the easy setting, Hitman: Blood Money suffers from some of the worst A.I. in the history of Artificial Intelligence, in fact, it’s so bad that it should be renamed Artificial Stupidity. Even on the higher difficulty levels some things just seem completely illogical. For example, Agent 47 runs into a room with but one entrance, and then hides in a cupboard while the guy chasing him rushes in moments later and stands dumbfounded as to where he could have possibly gone. Of course, the bad guy then seemingly surmises his prey must have simply disappeared into thin air as he beats a retreat and leaves the room. If you can overlook obvious occasions of silliness like this, then Hitman: Blood Money does offer an overarching story that is both complex and absorbing, with twists and turns that will have you wanting to know what the next mission will uncover.

As is generally the way with these games, there are no playable female characters on offer in Blood Money. As mentioned, Hitman’s Agent 47 character is the ‘man’ at the forefront of the game; he’s big, bald, and macho—well, apart from a certain sailing mission where he looks like he’s off to a gay nightclub. Central playable characters aside, Agent 47 is issued his briefings by Diana, a woman who acts as his long-time contact with the ICA. She also appears throughout the game—though to discuss this would most certainly spoil vital sub plots, so let’s leave it at that. Other women that appear in-game are, for the most part, hookers and bunny girl types, but they’re in attendance for titillation only. There are a few other female characters who fall out with this role, but again, that would spoil things, so we’ll move on. It’s a shame that, from the offset, you’re met with hoochies aplenty and that these appear in later levels also, for some reason the developers must have thought this added to the title in some way, and perhaps it does—if you’re a 14-year-old boy.

So what have we actually got here, apart from some of the worst racial stereotyping and misogynist elements you’re ever likely to see in a videogame? Well, it’s strange because, despite these uncomfortable inclusions, Hitman: Blood Money is actually a lot of fun and things do pick up in the latter levels (though the ‘whore’ element sadly remains, which is a big shame from the female gamer perspective). There’s only one truly strong female character within Blood Money’s narrative (the aforementioned ICA contact, Diana), which is fairly unforgivable—though she is cool.

Quibbles aside, Hitman: Blood Money is certainly a fun game that will coax the player into wanting to see it through to completion. It has an overall story arc with twists and turns aplenty that you’ll want to see opened up to its fullest. Although the game has some obvious flaws, if you can get over them—the occasionally appalling A.I., non-reactive environments, and hoochie momma aspects—you will thoroughly enjoy the Hitman: Blood Money experience. The graphics are fairly nicely done, as is the soundtrack (for the most part), which is spot on in terms of the overall content. If you look for a strong dose of creeping stealth in your action titles, you could do far worse than give Hitman: Blood Money a try. If, on the other hand, you prefer fast and furious gaming action, this title may not be the one for you.

Review by Angela

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