A great game, but it seems to be confusing difficulty with sheer random luck at times.
Of course being a murderer is risky business; and in real life, if you up and kill someone there is always a chance of SOMEONE having natural intuition and knowing it's you. This is good in real life as it helps a lot with crime preventation. However; in a video game where you are the hitman, it makes for some very unfair deaths. You see; the gameplay is a stealth game. Your goal is to follow some very precise missions without being noticed. You'll steal opponent uniforms and try to blend in. By blend in, I mean dodge all of your 'allies', never run, and never walk around armed with anything but the weapon everyone else has. (Guns are like fancy sweaters, if you have what's hot, you get to live, if what you have is not, they shoot you without warning and you lose major points) For most part this system works; it's not too hard to sneak past a guard or too kill someone in a dark corner. However; some missions FORCE you to walk around guards where the only thing POSSIBLE to do if you want to get a good rank is to walk past a guard in disguise. You'd think if you walked steadily, you'd be playing properly and get by. But no, in an unfair difficulty add-on, you have about a fifty percent chance of not dying.
Also; they limit saves so eventually you have to leave gameplay up to chance which is sort of unfair. Of course; if you don't want to get a good score and just want to shoot people (why did you buy a game called 'Hitman' then? Why not Call of Duty or Halo?) for the first few missions you can just try and kill everyone. And doing that is satisfying, don't get me wrong. I personally enjoy using the strangling wire and the silenced pistol for dirty work.
Don't get the wrong idea by my earlier ranting, as I was basically getting all that was wrong with the game on the table. Fortunately, everything else is great. It would have to be to get such a high score even by Gamespot. I never played Hitman 1 or any of the spinoffs, but even so I was able to jump right into the story. 47 is a very interesting character, and the people he meets tend to have a chemistry most mature shooting games don't have. Recalling him meeting up with the prisoner in the basement still brings a small grin to my face.
While slightly disjointed; the storyline is very nice and suave. Perhaps the disjointed part actually adds to the games appeal. There is mystery; but you still always know at least a little bit of what is going on. Well, except on some missions where the goal is very complex. I do have to admit to using a few walkthroughs on certain levels. Again, the game is challenging.
Music was my favorite part. A powerful orchestra worked wonderfully for the game. It fits so well that the game wouldn't be half as good without it. If there was a soundtrack; I might honestly consider buying it. Voice acting isn't movie-worthy; but everyone sounds good for a video game. The gunshots and steps all make noises; and can really add to atmosphere. This is most noticable whenever 47 enters sewers. Hearing rats squeaking, water dripping, 47's footsteps, AND the cars engines echoing on the pavement above you was a very impressive soundscape not many Xbox games can rival.
Also, the graphics are very nice. Everything to the barcode on 47's head is there. Locations look nice and rarely drab. Enemies can be a bit generic; but still pass. The ability to dress 47 up in many different uniforms is very cool. No problems here.
Replayability is there, there are many weapons to collect from missions. Speaking of missions; there is an option to redo any mission at just about any time, so if you are like me and want to get the best ranks you don't have to worry about starting a new game or anything. I haven't beaten the game yet; so I don't know if there are any extra costumes or anything.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was a great game, and it only cost me four dollars at Gamestop so there really isn't a reason to not check it out. I give the game an 8.4/10
Positives:
-Excellent soundtrack and soundscape
-Fun weapons and kills
-Interesting storyline
Negatives:
-Randomized difficulty
-occasional under-explained missions
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 10/10
Sound/Voices: 8/10
Replayability: 7/10
Overall: 8.4/10