For any fan of action games, so much better than previous games in the series it almost renders them obsolete
Don't let the previous hitman games put you off this one because this game has fine tuned them so much they are (especially contracts) almost obsolete in comparison. Making the guards not shoot at you just because you are running, and not having them open fire on you at the drop of a pin does make it easier to play and gets rid of the previous games frustrations. The AI still isn't great but this is mostly just in combat, and if you take the more sneaky approach (which you will need to do to survive), problems shouldn't be encountered.
The levels are so much better (probably the biggest range of levels I have ever seen in a game, everything from a suburban house to a rehab clinic, and from a wedding in southern USA to the white house) than in previous games and the level of detail put in makes them stand out so much more and are a joy to explore, and the hitman series finally seems to be reaching its potential. There are a billion ways to do the levels which means endless replay value, even if you have played the levels to death and have killed your targets with every means necessary. Previous games were much more linear and when you killed your targets it was mostly always with a gun or fiberwire. In this game you can do everything from using a hammer to putting a bomb in a cake! Agent 47 is now more agile and can also initiate more hand to hand combat and is basically just more fun to play and makes him easier to get round the levels and get to his targets with ease.
The playstation 2 is starting to get into its last legs and like many others I will soon be converting to the ps3 (while still going back and playing my ps2, I still haven't got round to buying and playing silent hill 2 yet!) However if you are looking for a few more gems to play before doing so pick this up. I'm fed up with reviewers saying this game adds little to the series, this game makes the previous games look so, so average. I go back and try and play them but simply get annoyed as gameplay is so much more restricted and the AI is just bizarre, and really brings the games down.
Ps2 games can be bought for a bargain now, be it preowned or new, so I highly recommend this. Don't let the word "stealth" put you off this, as I personally think games people will associate this with such as splinter cell are just awful, although I do highly enjoy the metal gear solid series, but again people should not just seem them as "stealth"
Ignore previous hitman games and get this while its still possible to get great ps2 games!