Hitman: Blood Money delivers unprecedented imagination that will leave many fans waiting eagerly for the next addition.
GRAPHICS: Direct3D 9 compliant cards supporting pixel shader 2.0 (nVidia GeForce FX or ATi Radeon 9500)
This is where the dissapointment comes in. The game does not actually work on certain GeForce FX (and some ATi Radeon) cards that were promised to run the game. This shady business does not sit well with me because of the huge amount of money that IO and Eidos drew in from a crowd of people that they basically tricked into buying a game that would not work for them. Even now, the developers have yet to deliver a patch to address this issue.
This is all, however, aside from the point. If you were one of the gamers that purchased the game and was fortunate enough to enjoy its content you will be very impressed. The game delivers an immersive experience from beginning to end with plenty of memorable characters and environments in which to kill them. =)
The gameplay is an improvement from the previous Hitman games, but it is still riddled with glitches and minor problems that at times can become quite frustrating. Additions to the game include the ability to push people over ledges, etc... to feign the appearance of an accident and it also gives you the ability to hide people within trash bins, freezers, and crates to avoid the unwanted detection of their corpses. I had a little bit of a problem with the AI. Sometimes it seems as if they have eyes in the back of their heads and sometimes even psychic powers. On the other hand, sometimes they seem like they might be a few tools short of a toolbox (etc...) like when you stand about a foot next to them and throw a coin at the wall just behind their head and they actually turn around!
Graphics are a tricky area to tread into. Some of the lower end cards that were said to have been able to run the game can only do so with some makeshift player fixes and thus the graphics look absolutely horrible. I, myself, am playing the game on a GeForce 7800 GS OC and am able to enjoy the full effect of what the game has to offer. Some of the environments are so beautiful and detail oriented that one may want to spend an hour or so just walking around and seeing what the levels have to offer. Just one of the memorable scenes that I am able to recall was the New Orleans level entitled "The Murder of Crows". This level portrayed a crowded New Orleans street during Mardi Gras. Hundreds (Maybe thousands?) of people walked the streets wearing many different outfits and doing many different things. This is just one of the experiences you will go through that should make this game one of your most remembered. The game delivers some very clean images and you will be very appreciative of everything it has to offer when you get up close and take the time to explore.
The sound in the game was quite nice. It includes a score by Jesper Kyd that seemed to carry the game along very well. At certain points, however, the music would change drastically for no reason and I would be taken out of the moment to wonder if there was a reason why. Some of the background noises and effects were very well done and the gunfire noises sound great and very lifelike. When that base thumps after you just fired one of your silenced pistols it definetly has the potential to send chills down your spine. Also, some of the songs that I assume were written by proffesional artists were very fitting for the scenes they were included in and one of them, I must admit, was sort of catchy.
When you think of the potential that Hitman: Blood Money had it can be kind of a saddening to see how it turned out. I think that this game could have rivaled the Splinter Cell games if the developers had done just a little bit more and put a little more time into resolving some of the minor AI, and performance problems. The shadow vs. plain sight aspect of the game seemed to have been lacking entirely. Some people might also find that the game still is missing some realism that I think should be included in this game. Sure, it's just a game, but if I want extreme fiction I'll go out and buy a very fictional game. The beauty of this game is that you can really put yourself into 47's place and entice a little bit of the assasin you may have in you. I guess you'll just have to play it for yourself to decide if it's worth the forty bucks, but I'm guessing it's worth it.