Hitman: Blood Money amends all the problems with the previous games to create a complete masterpiece.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was easily one of the most improved sequels I have ever played. One of the better things they added to the second game was a suspicion meter. If you didn't know, Hitman: Codename 47 had absolutely no suspicion meter, meaning you could wear a disguise that collaborated with the guards, and you would never get caught unless you wielded a weapon that was unsuitable in that mission. Also included were much more missions than what Codename 47 had, further lifting the replay value.
After the critical acclaim Hitman 2: Silent Assassin had, a third game was released, entitled Hitman: Contracts. Most of Contracts was a remake of Codename 47, but now this time having features that made Silent Assassin a success, and which, of course, includes the suspicion meter. Contracts also added more weapons, more ways to complete your mission, among other things. Despite the fact that Contracts did not have as many missions as Silent Assassin, it was at least still a joy to play. Now that Hitman: Blood Money is released, there have been many changes to the series, which will be explained in the review. The question is, are they for the better?
Agent 47 is back, and he is ready to begin his task of assassinating even more people. When you start, you can begin the game in either Rookie, Normal, Expert, or Professional. Rookie may sound tempting to newcomers, but I find it excluding some of the best new features in the game. Normal and anything above is the way the game should be played. As with all the other Hitman games in the series, each mission in Blood Money consists of assassinating at least one person, but there are instances that you have to eliminate one or even two more people. There are other objectives such as recovering an item, so the game doesn't fully focus on assassinating someone.
Every time you complete a mission, you earn cold cash. One of the newer and better features in the game is the ability to paint out your own picture with the cash. At the beginning of the game, you have access to only five weapons, but with the cash you earn, you can buy more weapons or upgrade your current weapons. Want a silencer on one of your weapons? You got it. Your cash can also be used for a new feature, which is called the Notoriety System.
The Notoriety System works in a simple form, but plays a big part in the game. If you kill innocent civilians and it was witnessed by someone, or it was caught by "CCTV", 47's notoriety will build up. The higher it is, the easier the chance that someone will recognize you during one of your missions, making it that much more challenging to complete a mission. If you're steathy and approach things the way they are supposed to, your notoriety level will be at a minimum. On the plus side, you can use your cash to lower the level, which is basically a bribe. Either way, this is one of the best features ever introduced in the Hitman series.
What's best with the Hitman series is the ability to assassinate a target in whichever way you prefer. You can always go up to one of your targets and blast their face off, but that would cause an alarm and a large amount of guards would be coming your way, but hey, it's at least an option. Safer options would include poisoning liquid that the target would drink, or set up a plan that would assassinate the target while making it look like an accident. You can also distract guards by throwing something in one direction to catch their attention, so you can have a bit of an advantage over them. This is what keeps the Hitman series fresh every single time.
Upon completing a mission, you will be presented with a newspaper article showing your statistics of that particular mission, as well as a sketch drawing of Agent 47, whether it's a clear face sketch of 47 or not, depending on your notoriety level. This carries over to the next level, so you'll have to be careful and more precise on your targets during each level. But of course, you can either bribe a witness or police officer so your notoriety level goes down, which makes the game a little bit easier if you are having trouble, or you can replay the mission again; the game will take the best results.
Hitman: Blood Money has some of the best level design I have ever witnessed. Although the setting in Blood Money isn't as dark and mysterious as in Hitman: Contracts, that has no affect on how amazing Blood Money graphically is. Everything that surrounds Agent 47 feels realistic, and even has a bit of a gritty tone to it. The view of buildings from afar really brings Blood Money to life, something that the previous games did as well, but not to the point that Blood Money has.
The character models match their setting, so nothing feels out of place. Up close, they aren't as spectacular as they could be, but they are still otherwise excellent. Agent 47 still looks superb, and the cut scenes are well rendered and look fantastic. Other minor things such as tables, flowers, and lamps look life-like, and really make Blood Money a realistic world.
The music is easily one of the best parts in Hitman: Blood Money. The music was composed by Jesper Kyd, and this time around, he has done a marvelous job. Jesper Kyd was great in the first three games, but he really took off in Blood Money. In fact, to support such a great composer, I went ahead and bought the Hitman: Blood Money Original Soundtrack, something I haven't done with the previous Hitman games. The music he composed definitely fits the mood of the game.
On the other side of the audio department, the sound of footsteps and guns are well-done, and even when you drop a weapon or item, you can hear the thud sound of that weapon or item. The voice actors feel like they're really into it, speaking in a tone that suggests moody and serious. Agent 47's voice actor (David Bateson) does yet another fine job of giving Agent 47 a realistic feel.
With so many alternatives to take out your targets, you can easily agree that there is plenty, and plenty of replay value. If you feel in the mood to just take a shotgun and blast everything that moves, then you have that option. If you just want to discover a different way to take out a target, you can do that as well. One of the few problems I have is that when you save during a mission, it is only temporary. This has been a fact throughout the Hitman series, but still has not been fixed upon. This temporary save feature would only be useful when you save before you try to do a major objective in the event you make an error and wish to start again without replaying the whole mission.
Hitman: Blood Money is one of the best single player experiences I have ever played. Hitman: Blood Money amends all the problems with the previous games to create a complete masterpiece. Fresh features such as the ability to use cash any way you want and the Notoriety system breathe a new, terrific life to the Hitman series. With expanded replay value, beautiful scenery, and much more, you can't go wrong with what's in store for you. If you want me to nag on the weak points, that would be the fact that during a mission, saves are only temporary, but saves in between missions are permanent. I rarely give out high scores (above 9.5) unless it is with good reason, and Hitman: Blood Money well deserves it. Hitman: Blood Money is quite simply the best game in series. If you are in the least bit interested in video games, it is compulsory that you pick this up now.