Hitman: Contracts

Right from the get-go, this sets the tone as a darker, bleaker entry. Atmospheric. Psychological. There is also strong violence and sexuality, and in larger quantities than before. Cronenberg and Fincher would probably love this. Some of these attributes remained in these, beyond this one. This is the first... and thus far, only... sequel to have a stand-out concept. Granted, it is potentially gimmicky... and seems to run out of steam about a third from the finish... but it is interesting. This also makes the most sense as far as playing missions again goes... though about half of the original Hit-man is remade in some of them. That would be less unimpressive if there was a higher number in this. A dozen. Also, you can't pick what to bring on your initial run through them. Now, what does make that better is the fact that, once again, this is the one released where you can always earn Silent Assassin, the greatest rating to attain. Every single one is a "hit", and all can be executed with expertise and planning. They're all gloomy, as well. The level design leaves little to be desired, almost invariably. On doing well... getting SA is actually worthwhile here. Not just a handful, if that, of times, as the second one. If there is an exception to that here, I didn't see it. How, you ask? Two words: Bonus guns. We're talking, dual and/or silenced versions of ones easily found. In general, the weapons here look and work well, and are remarkably well-chosen. Heck, they honestly went all-out on that. The firearms in this are just plain awesome. There also may be more pistols in this than at least the earlier in the series. The interface is modified somewhat, and will take a little bit of practice to get used to, for those having tried the rest of these. The plot of this is good, and can be intriguing. This is where it starts getting so confusing, in the way of overarching story, that there, among us fans, are several reasonable and credible theories as to what exactly the time-line and such is. The next one adds to that. One can't help but wonder if this was rushed, and possibly half-hearted. I have heard that this was to tide us over, until Blood Money came out. I can see why, that one definitely had rather a lot of new features that were worked, and thought, through. The loading screens, while purdy and all, tend to be nondescript. And this doesn't have that much that wasn't already there. I've heard this described as basically a polished version of HM2. That would be the proverbial nail on the head, with bullseye precision. About all that was in that has been altered, usually for the better. Stealth is made more attractive, apart from the incentive I mentioned before, sneaking is also faster, by a considerable degree. That nifty jump from Codename: 47 makes a comeback, and is used more, if it could still be more frequent, especially considering the length of this, but nevertheless, a welcome return. Back to it not all being positive... a thing or two are made worse in this, or even disappear. In the latter category, there is the compass. Or, rather, there isn't. Why was it removed? Navigating is now way harder than it ought to be, and you now have to stop moving, check the map, and go by what direction our dear agent is pointed in on there, and use that to determine which direction to turn in to, you know, be headed the right way. The different setup for the map doesn't aid in that area. It's nice that they now actually made deceased characters be reflected as such there, but for crying out loud, in a game so complex in detail, with tons of rooms and such, you need to be able to tell where, you know, the doors are and where they lead, which isn't always true in this, and all obstacles in the way would be pleasant to see, also. Yes, I realize that they're, apparently, supposedly, satellite, and that even showing the indoors is a fallacy, if we're talking about realism, but that's how it's always been, and this is not the way to change them. Thankfully, both of those were back to the way they should be in the next one. This doesn't introduce any enemies that we haven't gone up against before, group, people or type. Not particularly, anyway. As far as I could tell, at least. There are some well-written lines in this. The finale is spot-on, and a successful homage. It's all quite fun. This poses a solid challenge, as well, in part because there is almost not even one of the 12 efforts to off that hold no more than one target. Yup. Several to take out, mostly. The difficulty settings assist in ensuring that all get an experience fitting their skill. The saving system is the same as the previous one. The sophistication of this is seldom threatened, although there are a couple of crude things in it. This is where the camera begun to get less constricted, and it was taken further in BM. The graphics are magnificent, if they do hold several glitches. The lighting is improved again, rendering it excellent. The cut-scenes are incredible. Almost exclusively full animation, supplemented with a few in engine, and they're smooth, stylish, crisp and cool. They tell the majority of the goings-on, and almost sans any dialog, through the visuals, that are marvelous. They're well-directed and effective. The audio is another strength. Every sound is as it should be. The music is fantastic... Jesper Kyd has yet to disappoint me. Do note that it is more focused on the eerie nature of this, than the action. This retains the "open-ended" game-play of the preceding follow-up(so yes, you can still blast everything away). I recommend this to anyone that all this appeals to. 7/10

I had very high expectations for this game and it delivers 75% of what I was expecting. The graphics are great, but when you enter 1st person mode they just look ugly. Second the computer controlled enemies are unpredictable, they just open fire on you for no absolute reason which leads to major frustration. Though the voice acting is still stupendous, the music sounds like it's out of a cheesy 60's spy film. One thing the series is still good at is allowing the player to kill the target in numerous ways, either by poison, a bomb, the old sniper rifle, going in John Woo style, the list goes on. Finally the controls have been redone and finally their is a training mission.

Final Score 7.1/10

Once again, we are in the shoes of 47 as he makes a living off death. Hit-man: Contracts is the third game in the Hit-man series from Eidos Interactive.

In the opening sequence of the game, we see 47 wounded in a hotel room fading in and out of consciousness. The various in-game missions are played as flashbacks in 47's mind.

If you have played the original Hit-man: Codename 47 game, you will no doubt recognise some of the missions such as Traditions of the Trade or Deadly Cargo. Thankfully, most of these mission levels have been redesigned to give them a fresh feel.

There are some great new missions as well, such as Beldingford Manor and the Meat King Party. These take place over a variety of locations and cover a variety of different environments, from slaughter houses to biker hideouts.

Most of the missions are very open ended, giving numerous ways for the player to take out the target. This adds to the replay value of the game, trying to discover interesting ways to make the hits.

Another great feature of Hit-man: Contracts is the score by Jesper Kyd. He manages to make a good and dynamic score that fits a variety of gameplay situations, and he makes it different from the previous games while still giving it that Hit-man feel.

The most noticeable improvements over the previous two games is in the graphics department. Graphics have been improved with the inclusion of reflections (including in pools of liquid), post-processing effects and excellent use of real-time shadows and lighting.

Beyond that not much has been changed save the inclusion of some new hand weapons, and the return of the minigun. While this is good as it keeps true to the Hit-man lineage, there could've been more innovation to keep gameplay elements fresh.

This is a definite purchase for fans of the other games, but players new to the series will enjoy it just as much.

Technically a standalone expansion/ direct spin-off to Silent Assassin, Contracts is a dark follow up to the former game and easily the darkest game in the series. But it isn't flawless.

The story is disjointed and weirdly presented. It feels abrupt but still ideologically works within the game's themes of fever Dreams. It's a chopped up narrative that takes us into the mind of Agent 47. The overall writing is pretty good. The dialogue is well written, but the underwhelming and bad voice acting from foreign characters brings down the quality and impact of the overall dialogue.

The atmosphere, sound design and soundtrack is by far the best part of this game. For a 2004 game, Contracts has some of the most impressive sound design you can find in a game. It's punchy and adds to the grim and suspenseful atmosphere. The soundtrack is grimy and haunting. Far ahead of its time for a videogame soundtrack.

The gameplay and level design is similar to Silent Assassin with a few helpful improvements. Some unpolished game mechanics from Silent Assassin feel SO much more useful this time around. The AI has been vastly improved and the overall gameplay feels authentic and feels like what Silent Assassin should've been as a game. (Although, Silent Assassin still has the much better story)

When I first played this game I found it hard and didn't want to play it but then a friend helped and I completed it in a number of weeks. It is a complicated game i can assure you of that. Very good game though. Enough violence to satisfy me. Could use more language though. Excellent graphics with the blood to make it look almost real. The first level is intense, picks up after the end of Hit-man Codename 47. Dead clone agents everywhere. 8/10 is a definite. 9/10 for the blood. Great game you should play it. The plot was the thing I din't get but it was a hard game. Buy and play it, the second level is really confusing.