Simplify your laptop buyingHitman: Blood Money (PC)
Manufacturer: Eidos Interactive Part number: 10045
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Gamespot editors' review
Hitman: Blood Money (PC) price range: $8.78
- Reviewed by: Greg Kasavin
- Reviewed on: 05/30/2006
- Released on: 05/30/2006
The bald-headed contract killer known only as 47 is in good form, primed and ready for more work in the latest installment in the dark, stylish Hitman series. Though very similar to the last two games in the series, the open-ended stealth action gameplay offered by Hitman: Blood Money is still just about as tensely exciting as ever. A few new twists to the formula, an intriguing story, and a memorably diverse, cinematic sequence of missions further make Blood Money worth it.
More bad people in high places need to be murdered in Hitman: Blood Money.
This is the fourth game in the Hitman series, but previous experience with the past games isn't assumed or required. In fact, you'll probably be more impressed with the game if you've never played one of these before. Returning players will be in for a comfortably familiar experience. The previous games' stories are alluded to during the course of this one, in which 47 discovers that he and his employer are being threatened by some other mysterious agency. He'll learn more of the rival agency's motives as he completes his own jobs, all leading up to a surprising and climactic conclusion. The starting mission leads you by the nose through one of 47's typical assignments--to eliminate a shady theme park operator, whose negligence once cost the lives of many innocent people. This man, called the Swing King, even entered the drug business in the wake of his theme park's collapse. 47's employer has asked that a photo of a deceased loved one be the last image that the crook ever sees...but when you finally reach him, he's just this sad worm of a man who grovels at 47's feet. Despite the number of armed thugs you'll need to get through before putting the Swing King out of his misery, this mission is easy, provided you follow the step-by-step instructions you're given. Subsequent missions are substantially tougher and less linear, but this first one still is representative of the types of moody, affecting scenarios you'll encounter in the game.
There are more than a dozen missions in all, and most of them are set somewhere in the United States, such as a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, an Egyptian-themed Las Vegas casino, a rehab clinic in Northern California, a stately riverboat traveling the Mississippi, a posh Los Angeles suburb, and more. The game does a great job of realizing each of these different settings, making them feel appropriately large, complex, and alive. Mardi Gras is particularly impressive, its streets jam-packed with people partying. All of these places tend to be filled with armed guards as well as civilians, so you'll need to exercise caution in order to take out your targets and escape undetected. However, if you slip up (or deliberately blow your cover), you can always try to shoot your way out. As in the previous games, Hitman: Blood Money rewards stealth and careful planning, but if you want to try to run and gun your way through the levels, you have that option. You can instantly switch from the default behind-the-back perspective to a first-person viewpoint if you prefer, and the game lets you use a whole bunch of different, realistically modeled real-world pistols, rifles, and submachine guns against your enemies. Of course, it's possible to finish most missions in Hitman: Blood Money without squeezing off a single round, if you're careful and observant.
Codename 47 is once again in the starring role, but the game's beautiful environments steal the show.
You don't need to shoot your victims, because you have access to poisons, explosives, knives, and other means. In many cases it's possible to avoid getting blood on your hands altogether, by arranging an accident for your target--say, by causing something very heavy to drop on his head. Figuring out these trickier, cleaner kills is naturally gratifying, and it also tends to earn you a higher ranking (and more money) once you've escaped and your mission is accomplished. As in the previous games, planning your strike is easy thanks to a GPS-style real-time map that's accessible at the touch of a button, which shows you all other characters in the vicinity at the normal difficulty setting, including your targets. Tougher settings show you fewer characters on the map, make enemies more lethal, and also limit your ability to save your progress during a mission. Even so, between the map, your objectives list, and the ability to purchase more intel if you need it, even the most intimidating missions become solvable. It helps that 47 is much tougher than an average man, and can withstand a lot of gunshot wounds before finally succumbing in a red-tinged, slow-motion haze.
As in the previous games, your enemies' artificial intelligence unfortunately doesn't hold up to close scrutiny, but at least it puts on a good show if you don't start messing around. When you're just observing, you'll find that the AI in Blood Money does a convincing job. You'll see characters chatting or lounging about, while guards casually patrol the premises. Someone might stop for a bathroom break or go outside for a smoke, not realizing the danger of splitting off from the crowd.
User reviews
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More Blood loads of Money
by prashmittanay on September 30, 2007
Pros: everything
Cons: bugs are quite annoying
Summary: Curtains fell as two muzzle flashes are seen, triggering the final credits for the game. I looked at my watch, it showed 3.23 AM. It was late but I ...
Summary: Curtains fell as two muzzle flashes are seen, triggering the final credits for the game. I looked at my watch, it showed 3.23 AM. It was late but I wasnâ??t thinking about the day that lay ahead or the boring tuition that was just 6 hours away. My mind was deep in the thoughts of the game that I had finished for the third time. And as they say third time is the charm, I got the best ratings for my performance in the game. Most of you would have already figured it out that I am talking about Hitman: Blood Money.
Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth instalment in the Hitman series, developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. Blood Money belongs to the modern action adventure/stealth genre, released on 30/5/2006. It got a â??matureâ?? rating by ESRB, citing the excessive bloodshed and partial nudity in the game. The game is launched on PC, PS2, XBOX and XBOX 360, all of them getting similar ratings.
For PC, Blood Money requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM and 1.5 GHz processing speed. There is no mention about the minimum amount of video memory required. Some of my friends were able to run the game on a 64 MB video card. Blood Money prefers ATI X800 series or nVidia GeForce 6800 series video cards. Hitman 4 doesnâ??t run on Windows 95/98/ME/NT but runs fine on both XP and VISTA.
Hitman has been one of the most admired series among gamers across the world with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin considered groundbreaking. It set high standards for stealth games and for the game that were to follow in the series. In fact, it set such high standards that Hitman: Contracts, third in the Hitman series, inspite of being much better in its graphics and gameplay than Silent Assassin, didnâ??t get a lot of positive reviews, most of them criticizing the game for its mediocre storyline and cakewalk difficulty. With all this up and around, the developer had to make a game that could keep the basics of Hitman intact and yet make its mark among ga mers. They found the answer in Hitman: Blood Money.
Blood Money exhibits a hell lot of new features in gameplay. Also, BM fancies major graphic updates, 47 and his surroundings are highly detailed compared to its previous versions. Better storyline, proper ending and background music add up to this superb game. It seemed that the makers didnâ??t want to leave anything to chance as they published quite striking ads for Blood Money. Among them was an ad which raised a lot of controversy and protest, depicting a beautiful woman lying on a bed in lingerie with a bullet hole on her forehead. The header of the picture read â??Beautifully Executedâ??. Anyhow Hitman isnâ??t new to controversies and these things sort-off add to the popularity of the game. Below I take up some of the features introduced in the game.
1. Gameplay:-
a. Enhanced athletic skills: Blood Money has made major improvements in 47â??s movements such as climbing pipes, windows, hedges etc.
b. Close combats: Hand-to-hand combats have been improved as 47 can knock out opponents with a head-butt or a punch. He can strip an enemy of his weapon and use it against him. A major upgrade in this section is that 47 can use his opponents as shields, termed human shields. This move comes in handy when there are a lot of people firing at you.
c. Stealth moves: Oblivious opponents can be pushed off balconies and roofs, 47 can hide in closets and can hide dead bodies in containers. 47 carries coins with himself which can be thrown towards enemies to distract them. 47 can strangle opponents who are standing just under him with his fibre wire.
d. Improved opponent AI: Opponent AI (artificial intelligence) is also increased as they are able to spot blood and eventually they follow the trail to the dead body.
e. Upgrading weapons: A cool new feature enables the player to upgrade his weapons. The upgrade option comes in the briefing menu before the start of a mission. There are five weapons that can be upgraded, Silverballer, SMG Tactical, M4, Shotgun and WA 2000 sniper rifle. Also, there is a column in the upgrade menu which allows you to buy painkillers, body armours, extra mines, improved lock-picks etc.
f. New gauges: noise meter and the notoriety meter are the two new gauges introduced into the game. While the former, presented in the mission ratings page, indicates the amount of noise made by the player in his mission, the later indicates how notorious the player is. The notoriety meter increases if the player leaves witnesses of his crime. More the notoriety meter, easier for the enemies to recognize him.
g. Intel and bribery: another very useful feature, available in the briefing menu of the game, allows the player to buy intel reports about his target and the mission area. It provides a lot of help in getting a Silent Assassin rating. Intel can be bought at the cost of 3,500 bucks. Bribery helps in reducing the notoriety of the player. It is found in the rating menu obtained after completing a mission.
h. Money: the player receives money after completing every mission. The amount received is as per the mission ratings. Also, a fixed amount of money is deducted from the total pay if the player leaves his suit or customized weapon on the scene.
i. Cool presentation: a newspaper column is shown at the end of every mission regarding the hit. The rating obtained in the mission is taken as the headline of the column. The article consists of a detailed description about the hit, informing the number of casualties, primary weapon used for majority of deaths, presence of witnesses, information about the deceased etc. The article also shows sketch drawings of 47â??s face, if he leaves witnesses in the mission. The face becomes more prominent as 47â??s notoriety increases.
2. Graphics:-
Well, there isnâ??t much to describe in this area. The graphics of Blood Money are impeccable compared to its previous versions. The characters are beautifully detailed specially 47, high cheekbones, long face, recessed forehead etc. Other objects such as tress, grass, vehicles, weapons are also satisfactorily detailed.
3. Storyline and Endings:-
The story starts with 47 getting a contract to kill the â??Swingkingâ??, owner of an amusement park. He was involved in a ferries wheel incident that killed a dozen people. The court found the Swingking innocent and cleared him of all charges. It seems quite obvious that some people thought otherwise and one of them contacted the ICA to get rid of him. This is an introductory stage which familiarises the players with all the moves in the game. The later part of the story is narrated by a former FBI director Leland Alexander who describes the assignments carried out by Mr. 47 in the past two years (2004-2005).
Blood Money has two different endings. One of them is a fake, unconventional ending while the other is a real and a suitable ending to the game.
4. Silent Assassin Difficulty:-
It is somewhat difficult to get a Silent Assassin rating in Blood Money, contrary to its previous instalment Hitman: Contracts where getting a SA rating was a walk in the park. In most of the missions, there are more than one ways to get a Silent Assassin rating. The best possible way would be to make your hit look like an accident and you retain yr suit and weapon as you escape.
5. Music:-
Like all the previous versions of Hitman, Blood Money too provides some cool background music. It takes up a firm tone if you are going in the right direction.
6. Loads of Money:-
The game provides a lot of money if a mission is completed in a conventional manner. I rather take it as a demerit coz even a mediocre rating yields a minimum of 4,00,000 bucks. As a result, upgrades are easy to obtain. Now, it can be seen that ultra successful games like NFS Most Wanted, Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 4 make the players toil before they get any considerable rewards. The extra amount of hard work kinda adds up to the pleasure when u actually get the reward, which make the game memorable to the players. Therefore, the extra amount of money spoils the fun.
7. Missions:-
Blood Money features only 12 missions. Though, the missions huge and pose moderate difficulty, a serious gamer would finish this game in no time.
8. Bugs:-
This has been a problem of most of the recent games. Blood Money too has a lot of bugs, specially in the â??You better watch out...â?? mission. This occurs mainly when u are storing yr weapon in the ICA supplies or while dropping an object.
9. Awards:-
Hitman: Blood Money was voted game of the year 2006 by BBC Scotland's videoGaiden.
Overall, this game has many positive features and I would definitely place it in the category of must play games and apart from the excessive bloodshed, everything else in this game is a turn-on. I would also like to add that with so much improvement in the gameplay and graphics, this version of Hitman can be considered as the best in the series. Lets hope that the next one would be even better. -
great game. good way to kill some time =]
by alexdadoof on July 17, 2006
Pros: follows up on the previous game schemes
Cons: its hard~ lol
Summary: I bought this game just because i like a challenge.
I never thought a game would make you think so much while having fun.
I guess maybe not as much ...Summary: I bought this game just because i like a challenge.
I never thought a game would make you think so much while having fun.
I guess maybe not as much as those adventure games like Myst or whatever.
But i enjoyed playing it.
Don't get this game if you're easily frustrated.
because if you exectue all the missions correctly, you'll never be 'caught' or seen.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Eidos Interactive
- Part number: 10045
Product Basic Spec
- Platform PC
- ESRB rating Mature - Intense Violence,Strong Language,Sexual Themes,Blood,Partial Nudity,Use of Drugs
- Genre Action
- Number of players 1 Player
- Difficulty Variable
- Learning curve About 1 hour
- DirectX version v9.0
- Operating system Windows 2000/XP
Game
- Developer Io Interactive
- ESRB Mature
- ESRB descriptors Intense Violence,Strong Language,Sexual Themes,Blood,Partial Nudity,Use of Drugs
- Release date 05/30/2006
Manufacturer info
- Eidos Interactive
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Eidos Interactive products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.eidosinteractive.com/
- Address:
651 Brannan St., 4th Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94107 - Phone: 415/547-1244
- Email: techsupp@eidos.com
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