Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Grows on you"

The Hitman series has always been known for its mix of stealth and action gameplay, and this entry of the series is no different with the exception of a few new features.

The game plot is revealed by a series of interview pieces with a retired police officer, in which he usually tells something about the death of a certain person that most people thought something (a different story to the public) and turns out it was something entirely different involving 47.
At first these don't make much sense, but as you play the game, you start to see where the plot is going, there aren't many remarkable points on it with the exception of the ending (which is amazingly delivered), so no spoilers.

The gameplay of this game follows the tradition of the old entries of the series, which is a good thing since it is what makes this series unique: you receive a briefing showing the place, who you have to eliminate, the background story of said person/people, then you choose your starting equipment and you are ready to go. What makes the game unique is that you can play in a stealth approach: observing enemy patrols, finding out how to infiltrate certain places, and planning a way to get close enough to take out your target or even how to take them down from afar.

One of the main features of the game that is still intact is that 47 is still a master of disguises and has the ability to change his clothing in seconds (it may sound a little weird, but it explains how someone can do the stuff he pulls off), which in most cases is the only way to access certain locations in the game. For instance, only workers can enter a part of the opera house that is still being build, I mean, you can enter without disguise, but that will attract attention AND the guards of the place.

An addition made in this game, is that now 47 can move faster while sneaking, in previous games, it was hard and painful to sneak around because it was too slow. He can now throw coins around to lure people to someplace where them and 47 can have a more "personal conversation" or simply use them to lure guards out of posts and such.

Although it is a stealth game, it is different from what the conventional stealth games are and play. In here, you don't use the darkness to hide, you use the people and your disguises, you can crouch behind something, but don't expect that to go unnoticed: people react to your actions, and someone sees you sneaking around or behind people, they will react properly.

It is weird that people only bother listening to YOUR footsteps. For instance, there's this guard walking with another close to him, he'll do his job normally, then later you take out one of the guards and take his place, the other guard WILL start looking back and perplexed stare at you. These things are a little annoying because it happens only with the player. Since you can't sneak all the time without calling unwanted attention, you have to adapt to survive, and having access to a plethora of ways to approach a place/person is what increases its replay value and makes it unique.

Also a new feature is the introduction of Accidents. 47 can now push people off rails, roofs, etc, or he can just knock them out and THEN throw them off such places. This adds even more different ways to complete the assignments. Since the money you earn is determined by your performance in the missions, things as killing innocent people or be seeing doing something suspect all count towards your final rating. If someone saw you, you CAN kill this people as a way to have no witnesses, but the game will not penalize you if you can make it look like an accident, this is a nice addition.

You can now also customize your weapons, like putting a silencer in your Baller pistols or SMG, or putting a more precise scope at your rifles. Upgrading equipment is also possible now, such as decreasing the time it takes to lockpick a door or increase the distance of where you must be to detonate your remote bombs.

A new possibility now in case things get hairy is the ability to take people as human shields. But besides the obvious purpose it also serves as a way to take someone faster to a certain place. For instance, instead of having to wait till the person is knocked down with the effect of some of your tranquilizer syringes and then drag them somewhere more discreet, you can grab then and "quickly" get them elsewhere and THEN knock then out without worrying with the possibility of someone seeing you.

In the graphics department, the game handles very well, its attention to detail is remarkable and every place in the game looks convincing, from a suburban house to a rehabilitation clinic or a Mardi Gras parade.

The soundtrack in this game is amazing, it server to set the mood for the missions but also to tell the player of the current situation, if something goes wrong and you're about to get shot by the guards, you'll know before hand because of the song that will start playing. The voice acting is really good, David Bateson delivers a believable cold Agent 47 as always, and Vivienne McKee does a great job bringing the faceless Diana to life in her "cold but sometimes caring" voice. The NPC's voices sometimes are goofy and funny but noticeable intended as a way to ease the tension in the game.

The big arsenal of weapons, equipments, and disguises give the player a lot of freedom to approach the missions. Being stealthy and infiltrating a place from the back or even the front, or simply go guns blazing, be certain that you can always surprise yourself when things DO work even when you try to be more creative.