Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money is a stealth video game developed by Danish developer IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the fourth installment in the Hitman game series. It was released on 26 May 2006 in Europe, 30 May 2006 in North America, and 30 August 2007 in Japan. The renewed (HD) version was released on 29 January 2013 in North America, 31 January 2013 in Australia, and 1 February 2013 in Europe.
The story follows the life of professional hitman, Agent 47, as narrated in cutscenes by a former Director of the FBI to a journalist who is interviewing him. The wheelchair-bound ex-director recounts how his agency tracked 47 over a two-year period. The game also marks 47's arrival to the United States. The game was a commercial success, selling more than 2.1 million copies.[1] It is the last game in the series to feature composer Jesper Kyd. The sequel, Hitman: Absolution, was released on 20 November 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It was then released in Japan on 24 January 2013.
Gameplay
In Hitman: Blood Money, each mission is framed around the killing of one or more individuals, which the main protagonist, Agent 47 must accomplish. Standing between him and success are armed guards, security checkpoints, possible witnesses and other obstacles. The player guides 47 through the game's levels with the help of a satellite map which can be accessed at any time. The map indicates the layout of each topographical area of the level, the whereabouts of 47 's main targets, and other AI-controlled characters. In order to carry out his mission, 47 may use any method at his disposal to eliminate his targets, regardless of witnesses or violence done to bystanders. Beyond rewarding stealth over bloodshed as is traditional in the series, Blood Money includes features that directly penalize the player for making too much noise and/or being too violent; either toward their targets, bystanders, or both.
Many new features were introduced in Blood Money. These include the capability to climb through more obstacles, improved unarmed combat, the ability to use an NPC as a human shield with the help of a weapon (and to knock them unconscious afterwards), the ability to dispose of dead or unconscious bodies into containers, improved character animations, a new game engine, and the ability to upgrade weapons and equipment.[2] Five of the featured weapons in the game, as well as assorted pieces of equipment such as bombs and armor, can be upgraded.[2] Every level contains some method to make the target's death look like an accident;[2] for example, tampering with someone's grill to make it explode when it is turned on, rigging a chandelier to fall on a target, or simply pushing the target off a balcony. There are also improvised weapons, such as nail-guns, a child's air rifle, kitchen knives, screwdrivers, stilettos, cane swords, fire extinguishers, hammers, and hedge clippers.
Also added was the Notoriety System. If the player, during a mission, gets caught on camera surveillance or is witnessed committing murder, Agent 47 's notoriety will rise.[3] Conversely, if the player executes the mission perfectly with none of the aforementioned events occurring, 47 's notoriety will be minimal. However, if the only factor affecting 47 's notoriety in a certain mission is the fact that he was recorded on CCTV, the player may enter the location in which the tape that recorded him is located, usually in disguise, and retrieve it, thus eliminating that factor; if the player retrieves the tape before being recorded, this eliminates the risk of being recorded in the first place. The higher Agent 47 's notoriety is, the easier it will be for NPCs to identify him. Players may use the bribery system to negate accumulated notoriety.[3] Notoriety gained in early missions will affect later missions. Earlier missions in which 47 has gained notoriety in can be replayed to reduce notoriety in later missions. The Notoriety System is not enabled on "Rookie" mode, the easiest difficulty setting.
At the end of each mission, a newspaper article is displayed about the hit, in which the content varies depending on the investigation results and the player's notoriety. It will detail the weapon most frequently used, how accurately it was used, the number of police, security, and civilians killed or injured, and if there were any witnesses. Any injured people will be counted as witnesses, who affect your notoriety. Sketch drawings are also sometimes visible showing Agent 47 's face, which grow progressively more accurate as 47 's notoriety grows. The newspaper announces in the headline how many people were killed, whereas executing the target without any problems will simply have 47 as 'wanted by police'. The article's title relates to the player's mission rating. "Silent Assassin", in which one assassinates the targets as cleanly and quietly as possible and draws no unnecessary attention to themself, is the best rating possible. On higher difficulty levels, even something as simple as 47 exiting the level in a disguise rather than his original suit will adversely affect the player's notoriety, as well as deduct $5,000 from their payment for the mission. As one advances further into the game, more and more newspapers containing the headline from the last mission will be scattered around levels.[4]
Blood Money also improved the melee weapons system, allowing the player to lethally throw certain weapons at NPCs. Once thrown into anyone, however, the weapon cannot be retrieved. There is an exception for the hammer, which can be retrieved even though thrown into a victim. Also note that unlike previous games, melee weapons cannot be transferred to the player's armory.
If 47 renders an NPC unconscious, either by using his syringe filled with sedative or knocking them out with close combat, they will not awaken for the entirety of the level until a security guard checks it, unlike previous games. In addition, if both uses of 47 's sedative syringe have been used and the player does not wish to use close combat (which increases their violence rating and by extension affects their mission rating), the player may take the person they wish to sedate as a human shield and merely knock them out with their weapon.
47 's ability to hide bodies has also been revamped. In previous games, 47 had to drag the body to a secluded area without "hiding" it, and either eliminate everyone who could possibly see the body where he left it or be quick enough to finish the mission before the next person entered. Now, 47 can dispose of unconscious or dead bodies in containers to hide them from view of guards. If the container's lid is closed, no NPCs or guards will ever look inside it, thus ensuring the body stays hidden and 47 's cover is not blown. In addition, if 47 kills someone in an elevator by climbing through the hatch and strangling them, their body is also considered hidden, and cannot fall out of the hatch, thereby preventing it from being found.
Blood Money introduced the concept of rival assassins to the storyline.[5] The developers created the Mark Parchezzi character as a sort of foil to Agent 47, for he is "everything Parchezzi is not."[5] The other "lesser" assassins were there to prove more able than "drug dealers or similar adversaries."[5]
Reception
Hitman: Blood Money received generally positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 82.98% and 82/100,[14][19] the PlayStation 2 version 82.51% and 83/100,[15][18] the PC version 82.38% and 82/100[16][20] and the Xbox version 81.76% and 81/100.[17][21]
Many critics felt the game was an improvement over the previous Hitman titles, with Official PlayStation Magazine UK calling it "without question the best Hitman yet". Other critics shared this sentiment, despite feeling that the basic gameplay elements were similar, if not unchanged from the previous installments, with GameSpot stating that "the underlying stealth action is mostly unchanged" while "a diverse sequence of imaginative scenarios gives Blood Money its own fair share of violent thrills."[23] GameSpy praised the expanded scope and options in each level, such as making kills appear as accidents, that "the game features enough choices and entertaining kills to have you playing some missions more than once, striving for that exclusive Silent Assassin rating."[24]
The soundtrack was also considered one of the game's strong points, with IGN noted the "impressive orchestral compositions",[26] while GameTrailers felt it "drives your emotions throughout each evolving mission"[25] and was nominated for Best Original Music in GameSpot's Best and Worst Awards 2006.
While new features and additions to the series were praised, some critics felt the Notoriety system was "underutilized"[24] and "half-baked"[23] while others pointed issues from the previous Hitman games still being present, notably with the AI. GameTrailers found that "some enemies behave erratically in specific situations taking you out of the experience".[25] TeamXbox said they couldn't "really see any more alertness or cleverness on the part of the CPU than in Hitman: Contracts".[28]
Hitman: Blood Money sold 1.5 million copies by July 17, 2006.[29]
