Hitman: Contracts may very possibly be the worst in the series, but it still manages to be fun and darker than ever!
The new gameplay features in Hitman: Contracts seem to even out between the good and the bad, meaning that the gameplay by itself is really not all that much better than it was before, but since it was spectacular before, it's not a bad thing. Agent 47 moves much faster than he did in Hitman 2, so moving around when crouched is no longer like trying to push a freight train up a hill. There are also new ways to sedate guards and eliminate your targets. The anesthetic from Hitman 2, which seemed to knock out guards for about ten seconds or so, has been replaced with a needle filled with a strong sedative which knocks your enemies out for several minutes. Along with the sedative needle, there is also a poison needle which kills your enemies quickly and silently. The changes in AI had both good and bad effects; since the guards are now more forgiving, it's just a little too easy now. It doesn't take all that much effort to get the Silent Assassin rating on any of the missions if you know what you're doing.
The graphics in Hitman: Contracts weren't a huge upgrade from Hitman 2, the changes in graphics were so small that someone could easily confuse Hitman 2 with Hitman: Contracts. The only changes that I could really notice were the addition of very basic bloom effects and the models were a little sharper than they were before. Although the graphical updates did enhance the game's dark theme, they were not anything to get excited over. At best, they were satisfactory.
The best thing about Hitman: Contracts is the story. As I said in the overview, all of the missions are flashbacks, some of which are from Hitman: Codename 47. Most of the hardcore Hitman lovers did not like this, but there are a few reasons why I liked it. For one thing, most of my favorite missions were in the first game, and having the ability to do them again with new moves and a few changes in the levels' layouts, it made for great fun. The main reason that this was done was because not a whole lot of people ever played Hitman: Codename 47 and started with Hitman 2, so this game kind of cleared up everything for them without making them go backwards in the series. I'm trailing off topic, but basically this game's purpose is to serve as a connecting link between all of the games, including the fourth one (if you pay close attention to both of them there are some connecting links). The only flaw in the story that I could find is that a few missions, although they were fun, didn't seem to serve much of a purpose but to take up time.
There isn't much to say about the sound in Hitman: Contracts except that it is perfect. Everything is clear, the music is great, and the speech is all understandable, at least the english speech is. The voice acting has once again gotten better; Agent 47 no longer sounds like a depressed librarian and the enemies no longer sound like mad cows. The music in Contracts is definitely the best of the series. Jesper Kyd has once again blown my mind with a great score for this game. The gun sounds are solid and loud, making it easy to distinguish who is shooting at you and what they are shooting. There isn't much else to say except the everything sounds great and there is nothing to complain about.
Every mission in Hitman: Contracts has multiple ways to pull off a Silent Assassin rating, giving this game tons of replay value. I bought it back when it came out in April of 2004 and I still play it to this day. The only problem I can see coming up with the whole thing is that once you get Silent Assassin on all or most of the missions, there is no real incentive to go back and play them again unless you're like me and erase your save games for that exact reason.
In the end, Hitman: Contracts is not the best of the series, and it isn't the greatest game of all time, but it is a fun game that's easy to come back to and play for hours. I wouldn't recommend it to younger gamers, but I would recommend it to you guys who enjoy stealth games. If you haven't played this yet, it's definitely something to add to your shopping list.