Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

*Mini Review* - MINOR SPOILERS

I'll be honest, Hitman didn't really appeal to me for the longest time, probably because I'd never played it, and found the reviews to be uninspiring (including Greg's GS review). That said, after buying it for a steal on a Steam sale and playing it all the way through in a few long sessions, I can say it's easily one of the most memorable games I've played in a while - not to mention one of the best stealth games of the bast decade.

So what set's Hitman Blood Money apart? Two things primarily: the fantastic environments and the sandboxy open-ended gameplay.

The environments are really quite astounding. Technically, they do look a bit dated now (they're 5 years old, of course) with flat textures, blocky animations, and somewhat dumb AI. Yet the artistry makes each one of the locals really come alive. In fact, these are easily some of the best environments I've ever seen in a game - and that they're all here together, not a one weak link, is a true gift to players. Each location has a deep sense of place. Some, like a pornstar's mansion high on the cliffs of the Rocky Mountains, are just incredibly scenic, while others, like the northern California rehab clinic, while beautiful are more impressive for feeling like actual locations. The artistry behind these locations makes exploration and gameplay that much more compelling, and as you play and replay them they become like old friends.

Of course, if the gameplay wasn't solid none of that would matter. What Hitman Blood Money lacks in truly intelligent AI and technical brilliance it more than makes up for with the open-ended nature of play. Each assignments is possible to complete in a multitude of ways. Just reading through a solid walkthrough (like on Gamefaqs) reveals just how many ways there are to go about your work. Sure you can always make a bloody mess with your guns - but it's far more gratifying to see all the ways you can stealthily achieve your goals. For instance, in the Mississippi delta wedding, you can even take out the priest, dress and grab the bible, and wed the couple yourselves. The extent to which the developers have gone to make the systems flexible is really impressive, and makes repeated plays through the game almost endlessly rewarding.

That said, of course the ability to pay to erase all of your notoriety is rather lame, and does defeat the purpose of excellent gameplay to a certain extent. Of course - it also allows you the flexibility to try new things and be harshly penalized. The AI feels really dumb too at times - guards watching a stranger standing in the rain with a briefcase in a sensitive area ought to peak their attention, but as long as you're dressed right you're good to go. In many ways, learning the systems and exploiting them is what Hitman Blood Money is all about. So while the gameplay itself, given the systems at hand, is really compelling, it'd be wonderful to see some actually competent AI go into a game like this in the future (Absolution??).

All in all, Hitman Blood Money is a really great game. With richly immersive environments and open-ended gameplay, it's easily one of the very best stealth-action games to date, and ought not to be missed by anyone whose overlooked them in the past.