The game that started it all. Only hardcore Silent Assassins need apply.
Now that three adventures of '47' have been released and a fourth on the way, it's hard to recommend the baldie's inaugural outing, mainly because of the lack of saves.
Hitman is a realistic game. Not in the way characters deal/recieve damage, but more in the universe it's set in. Were you to try and assassinate a police chief in a residential area with dozens of cops around, it'd probably be as difficult to do as in Hitman. This is where the lack of saves becomes painfully apparent. The first few missions start out open ended, giving you several paths to victory, although there is usually a "correct" way that will give you less trouble but demands planning, timing, and usually a disguise of some sort. You'll find yourself replaying missions to figure out when you have to be where to do what, only to get caught at the next such 'junction' and start again. For example, in one mission you have to make it through some locked gates. By stealing a disguise you can trick the guards at the gates to let you through, but *only* if you are trailing another guard that is passing through the gate at the same time. How do you find this out? Probably by walking up, disguised, to the guards on your first attempt and getting multiple head perforations. Restart. Most of the later missions play this way.
So why is this game fun? It's the thrills of knowing that things can go wrong at any moment and the immersion in the game world, coupled with nice effects like the swaying of leaves.
Some of the missions of this game have been 'remade' in the Hitman: Contracts game, so there aren't many reasons to revisit this one. Granted, there are a few well crafted levels and even the ones that have been given a new paint job work well in their original form. However this is a game mainly for the crowd that plays for Silent Assassin ratings and at the highest difficulty.
Be prepared to restart often and don't worry about pulling out the big guns if everything goes wrong, as there are no rewards for completing missions with aggression/stealth as in the newer games.
It's about getting the job done. Happy gaming.