While it can be very frustrating at times, when it's good, it can be really, really good.

User Rating: 8.5 | Hitman: Codename 47 PC
The art of killing; that's a very morbid thing to say (at least when you apply it in real life), yet that's exactly what makes this game so great. In Hitman: Codename 47, you assume the role of the Hitman, also known as Mr. 47, a genetically engineered clone that's been created with one purpose only: to become the perfect assassin. And by perfect assassin, I don't mean the one that goes shooting everything that stands in front of him, but the one that methodically calculates his every move, and coldly executes them to perfection. No, this isn't a run and gun shooter, it's rather a stealth shooter, that requires a lot of patience (and I really mean a LOT, more on that later), and a lot of thinking. While this combination will lead to some occasional frustration, for the most part it delivers a thrilling and very rewarding gaming experience.

Like I previously mentioned, this isn't your typical shooter; running and gunning will only serve you so much. While you're free to follow the loudest method of execution in every mission (and it is possible to accomplish the missions rambo-style), you'll often find out that, just like in real life, drawing unwanted attention, usually leads to laying cold in a body bag. The mark of a true professional assassin is leaving no mark at all, and that's exactly where the real fun lies in this game. You'll want to keep a low profile most of the time, whether it's by wearing a disguise, approaching your objectives in a stealthy manner, or utilizing an alternate method such as poisoning or ambushing your victim. All this leads to moments of great tension in most missions, and you will be forced to think before you take a single step.

Of course, if you're feeling more bold, you have quite an arsenal at your disposal (although you need to buy your weapons, and you won't have any money to access the most powerful weapons early in the game). This method will likely bring more frustration than enjoyment, since despite being a clone, Mr. 47 isn't superman, and he will go down after a few shots.

While some missions can be relatively short and easy, others will be very long and hard to figure out, and this is where the games' biggest flaw kicks in; there is no in-game save system. If you die, you will either start again at a certain location (sort of like a checkpoint), or you have the option to restart the mission. The latter is usually the only viable option, since your cover will more than likely be blown up by the time you were killed, and thus, the mission will become a lot harder to finish. It's very likely you'll curse the developers for this design flaw, and while I did get frustrated from having to restart a mission a few times, I feel that having no manual saves added a lot of challenge to the game, since it forced you to be even more careful when executing the missions. It would've been better to give the player the option to have at least a limited amount of saves depending on the difficulty level (something that was implemented in Hitman 2), but I feel that this flaw is no deal-breaker.

An aspect of the game that really shines is the graphics; while they may not seem cutting edge today, back when the game was released they were truly outstanding. The environments are very well detailed, the locations look alive, the character models are well designed (and it's freaky how much they will stare at you), and it's certainly going to be no problem at all immersing yourself into the different locations in the game.

The sound on the other hand could've been better. While the soundtracks that will be playing during the missions are very good (there's one specific tune for every major location you're in), the voice acting is a little lacking. It comes of as goofy at times, and it sounds a little to rigid. This hurts the cutscenes a little bit, but since cutscenes are only few and far in between, it's not going to be something that annoys you too much. Overall the sound is ok, since the music makes up for the poor voice acting.

Depending on how good you are, the game can be sort of long, or relatively short. It's very likely it will take you several tries to complete some of the most difficult missions in the game, so odds are you won't just breeze your way through the game. However, the freedom of executing missions at your will, means that there's plenty of replay value here (I always replayed every mission at least one more time, to find any alternate methods).

Despite it's minor flaws, and the fact that it's a game that may push your frustration levels to the limit, Hitman: Codename 47 is an excellent game. If you're interested in getting into the Hitman series, I'd recommend you start here. So long as you're a patient gamer, you will enjoy this game.