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Definitely one of the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 38 / 39
Date: October 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hitman 2 is, without a doubt, one of the most superb shooter games I've ever played. However, it should be duly noted that it, like its predecessor, is not a normal shooter. If you like melee games like Unreal, Hitman 2 may not be for you. It's all about stealth. On the harder levels you cannot win if you just go around shooting everyone.

That said, this game excels at being a thinking man's shooter. You can make it through many missions and only kill your targets if you're careful. You can now drug people, so that they wake up later but you can still steal their keys, guns, etc.

Hitman can assume disguises if he finds them, or he can change into the clothes of dead adversaries. This allows him to infiltrate enemy territory without raising an immediate alarm. Unlike in the original game, however, guards now see through disguises quickly if you stay near them too long, or carry a gun they wouldn't normally carry. They're very smart.

The weapon selection is top-notch. Old favorites like the fibre wire, Hardballers (now called Silverballers), army m60, and the WA2000 Sniper are back, along with some new additions like the SPAS auto-shotgun and the hunter's crossbow. You can even get a silenced pair of Ballers if you beat the first mission without firing a single shot (think: anesthetic or fibre wire).

Controls are pretty much the same, with one crucial exception: you now hold a key down to toggle run/walk. In Hitman, there were 2 separate keys for run and walk. Now there's a forward key and a key you hold to run. Much more intuative, I think.

The only thing that detracts from the game is the overall interface; by this I mean the system of choosing missions. In Hitman, the player created a profile which kept a list of previous missions for easy replay. This is gone. Hitman 2 keeps track of games simply through saves, so a list of 30 save games mixed among 3 difficulties can get confusing when they have only the name of the mission. However, if you just stick to loading the top game, you're pretty sure to have all the weapons you had when you stopped playing the night before.

Overall, this game is extremely fun. Better graphics than the original, beautiful levels, awesome weapons, and an amazing soundtrack that sounds straight out of a spy movie. If you like espionage/assassin games, games that require stealth not slaughter, then this is the perfect game for you. And even if you like killing everyone and everything that moves, this game has lots to offer (I like whacking pigs with a golf club or picking doves out of the sky with a crossbow).

Buy this (and the original, if you don't have it) and enjoy! You won't regret it.

A Different Kind of Shooter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: November 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game takes into detailed account all of the shortcomings of the first Hitman game, Agent 47. Good ol' 47 is back in this thrilling new game, and for those who haven't played the first one, you're missing part of what makes this game great.
Silent Assassin introduces in-game saves, (something that the first hitman, Agent 47, inexcusably left out) as well as a vastly improved musical score and some new weapons. The music, by the way, is performed by The Budapest Symphony, which is every bit as majestic as it sounds.
For the Duke Nuke'em and Quake 3 types, this is not necessarily the game for you. Go rambo and you'll find yourself 6 feet under by the time you can get out your cholroform. Stealth, secrecy, and patience are the orders of the day. You must watch the guards to figure out their patterns, search carefully for your foe; all while appearing normal. Another improvement to this game is the AI. Wearing a disguise WILL NOT allow you to simply waltz into the maximum security prison anymore.
Running, holding the wrong type of gun, or even hanging around a guard too long will make the bad guys suspicious. They don't like people behind them. Some will ignore you, some will avoid you, some will ask for ID, and some will just shoot you.

If you think you can be patient and discreet, and (usually) resist the urge to just stand there lookin' cute and when something moves you shoot, this is an outstanding game with to-die-for (well, to-kill-for) scenery. A few areas are rather droll, with few innocent bystanders -- much of the time everyone around is a guard, or sometimes the civilians are more observant than the guards. For those who have played Thief 2: The Metal Age, you know what I'm talking about.
Overall, this is an outstanding and challenging game. Though the list of missions is short, there is no limit to the number of ways to do them, and you'll enjoy performing them over and over again.

Big Improvement from first

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: January 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

After playing and finishing all twenty-one levels in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin I feel confident that I can write an honest review. I'm one of the few who have played the first (Hitman: Codename 47) in the series and because of that I was curious to see Eidos and IO Interactive work on this sequel. The original contained many flaws and short comings so I was curious if the manufactures fixed all these flaws and if they truly this time made a great game.
The original crashed almost repeatedly and with the no game save feature you found yourself repeating the level over and over again. Hitman 2 never crashed on my machine and ran smooth and fluid throughout all the levels. The game adds in-game save features besides just the auto save presented in the original. Hitman 2 also added difficulty levels so people can adjust and play on the skill they believe that their on. The original did not contain in-game saves and difficulty levels. (4.75/5)
The music in the original only really accomplished of bringing the atmosphere of being a Hitman to life. For that I applaud it but the sound usually did not bring out the atmosphere of the many exotic locations and failed to be entertaining. The sequel not only matches the atmosphere of the place and being a Hitman but also is very entertaining. The downside is if you find yourself in the same part (like Russia, Japan, etc.) you will find they recycled a lot of the music. The sound effects in the sequel are sharp when you download a file off the hitman website. (4.5/5)
The graphics in the original were revolutionary; the graphics in the sequel are not. They are of course better than the three year-old game but could have been better. They did do a nice job of creating rain, snow, and other natural effects but with the games out already, their not revolutionary, just good. There are more exotic locations in the sequel than the original (go figure since the sequel contains eight more levels than the original). In the sequel you get to visit Sicily, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Nuristan (where ever the hell that is), and India. All of these contain nice graphics and all except two levels located in Japan look original enough to actually feel like there is a new location every time and not just a rehash of the old levels. (4.25/5)
The game play was a lot better in the sequel than the original. The story line was more addicting and did not throw in many sci-fi elements to completely blow the game. This time you had a bigger purpose instead of money. You also got additional skills topped to your old ones to increase the fun factor (the ability to pick locks, to knock out people by using anesthetic, the ability to peek through key holes, and the ability to knock out people with the back of your gun). The map is nicely improved in the sequel, becoming a valuable tool to finish the job. The missions are much more open ended with even more exotic hits. This time a disguise will not carry you far calling for some more thinking. Carrying a wrong weapon, running, lingering around, moving to close to the guard, or simply acting suspicious by picking locks, crouching, or going in a wrong room will get you shot. To combat this the creators added a threat meter, if the guards gets suspicious it will show up on the meter. This allows you to get out of a situation fast before it becomes a gunfight. The creators also added a first person view in the addition to the already existing third person view. (4.75/5)

Overall great game, a big improvement from the original: (4.56/5) A-

A Good Game With Some Small FLaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: April 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Hitman 2 paces you in the shoes of Agent 47, a professional assasian. In the wake of his first adventure, he is now trying to live out a peacful life of obscurity in Scicily, seeking religious redemption. However, the kidnapping of his friend and mentor cast him back into the world of contract killings.

A 3rd person shooter/suspense, this game has some very appealing aspects. First off, the graphics are noticably beautiful. There is no skimping on the texture of the game, from Russia to India the scenery looks stunning. The weapons of the game are also great. You begin with a fiber wire used to silently strangle your hapless enimies (a real treat to watch) and depending on the skill level, dual .45 pistols and a silenced 9mm. Along the way you can acquire various sniper rifles,(which include a hunting crosbow and a .50 caliber barret antitank rifle) pistols, sub,achineguns and shotguns. Before you go on a mission you decide which weapons to bring (you can only carry so many) and your choice impacts your plan.

The missions of the game are very fufilling. While they always have the same basic premiss (sneak in somewhere and kill someone, then escape) they are different enough to not become boring outright. The method of disposal is up to you. You can beatsomeone to death with a golf club, plant a bomb on thier getwaya car, disguise yourself as a waiter and poison thier champagne, or of course...kick the door down and unload on everybody in the room. You are rated after each mission based on your stealth and agression. Ratings range from proffesional and iceman to sociopath and butcher. Which is good and which is bad is up to you.

Your abilities in the game are somewhat situational dependent. The agaency the Hitman works for often drops items in a secure location for him to use, such as bombs or poison. However, it is up to you to use these or not. You can take the cloths of killed bodyguards r civilians, but if the guards find a dean man with no cloths, they will become suspicious of wo is wearing them.

Now for the unfortunate bad points. First of is the plot. It starts off well enough, with the Peace-seeking 47 unwillingly thrown back into the world of killing, but the plto fails to deliver. it wanders around someone stealing a nuclear weapon and engineering clones of 47 (from the original Hitman). It fails, in the end to resolve the character of 47. Second, the game looses replayability very quickly. I beat it in about a weekend, and then started issuing challenges to myself, like seeing if i could accomplish a mission without changing cloths, or shooting anyone or something like that. Once you have exhausted all the different approaches for the missions, of which there are around 15 (way to few!) theres not much left to do but move on...

Which is a shame, because the setup of this game is so much fun. If they make a 3rd, they should borrow from Soldier of Fortune II the random mission generator, a feature which allows you to go on a mission that has nothing t do with the storyline or anything. It would keep the game fresh and entertaining for more than a weekend.

All in all, this game is worth buying. While it has its faults, gamers seeking a good looking, challenging game have found a great pick.

It's a hit!: The best stealth/shooter I've played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: November 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

When I got my XBox, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was one of the first games on my list that I wanted (I had read reviews everywhere, but at the time it had not yet been released). When I finally did buy it, it did not disappoint.

The game is set-up with an interesting storyline, but one that you will soon forget as you progress through the game. You are Agent-47, a retired hitman who has gone straight. But when a priest whom he had befriended is kidnapped, he goes on the hunt for his captors. Along the way though, Agent-47 picks up right where he left off, and several missions into the game you forget why you're offing people because the priest is no longer even mentioned.

The missions take you to several different locations, and Agent-47 has many ways to accomplish a task (at the end of a mission, you will be rated on kills, stealth, aggression, etc). He can kill someone, drag the body into a hiding place, and change into the person's clothing as a disguise. You can also take any weapons they may be carrying. This gives the game a whole new depth: you're not just stuck walking into a scene and shooting everyone within your sights. Instead, you can walk undetected past a guard, as long as you keep moving and are wearing the right diguise. It doesn't always work, but that's half the fun, right? No tactic is guaranteed to work in this game, so sometimes you have to try multiple tactics to complete your mission.

The controls are fairly simple to use. You can access your map or mission objectives fairly simply, and can also holster or swap weapons with just several buttons. Unfortunately, when you first start out there's a tendency to hit the wrong button when you're in a shootout and drop your gun, but you'll soon learn not to do that. :-)

On screen, you also have several guides. There's the crosshairs of your gun, which will appear whenever you are carrying a gun (as opposed to having one holstered, for more covert operations). There's also a damage meter (a shot in the head hurts you a lot more than a grazing blow to your leg), and the heartbeat monitor. This is a GREAT tool. When an enemy is suspicious (such as when you're trying to sneak by him), it will pulse, and eventually flash red. This gives you the opportunity to lay low and wait for it to stop, or open fire before he does. This is invaluable in the stealth missions, and a really unique feature. This will also tell you to a reasonable certainty if guards have been alerted to look for someone suspicious milling around their compound.

There's a host of weapons and tactics available in this game, from your typical guns to crossbows, piano wire, and ether rags. Each gun takes a different type of ammo and can hold a different number of rounds, and true to real life, once your clip is empty, it takes precious seconds to reload. The sniper rifle is probably my favourite of the weapons. You can switch into the scope view and get such a surprisingly detailed view, it's just an amazingly lifelike option. You will have to use this on several missions in order to complete your assigned tasks. The map is an invaluable tool, as it shows in real-time the location and movements of everyone, including VIP targets and innocents (like hotel maids or deliverymen).

The missions themselves are also very diverse. Some of them require a very specific sequence of events to do them properly (change into officer's uniform here, pick up sniper rifle there), but others can be completed in a variety of ways. You can sneak into an area undetected, or walk in firing and shoot down everyone in your path. Having since played games (such as Silent Hill 2) where things MUST be done a certain way and in a certain order to see results, I really appreciate this flexibility.

Pretty much the only bad thing I have to say about the game is the lack of saves, which all things considered probably is not THAT terrible. Basically, once you get into a mission, you can't just save on a whim, meaning that if you get shot or muff something up, you've got to start over (and over, and over). Considering some of the missions are long (and if you screw up at the end, you're in trouble), this can get annoying. It's not so bad on the easier missions, but some of them are downright difficult, and you can get frustrated. Also, walking is a bit difficult at first (you use both thumbsticks to control where you look/aim and where you go). Several tries into it, I found that inverting the aim in the options menu helped tremendously.

All in all, "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin" is definitely one of my favourite games on XBox. The flexibility and difficulty are just about right for a game like this, and it makes other "stealth/shooter" games (like "007: Agent Under Fire") look downright foolish. Bottom line, this is a must-have for anyone who wants a serious shooter game with a real plotline and believable background to it.

Excellent game and very challenging.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played the first Hitman a lot. I liked its style and it did have some well-done aspects. However it did have some glaring mistakes that kept it from being a hit. Thankfully most of those have been done away with. And what was good before has been refined in to an even better game. If you did like Hitman, the sequel is much better. If you did not like Hitman, the sequel is much better.

There are many things to like. The sound stands out in my mind. The weapons all sound good. Some I liked more than others just for their sound. And the music is top notch; a real symphony adds much more atmosphere than the usual video game background noise. The voice acting is good enough and is kept short and to the point.
The graphics are good with some notable lighting and shading effects. The physics are also above average for a video game. The models vary in detail but are generally good. Lots of cool particle effects, from the lingering smoke of automatic weapon fire to the flash of a bullets smacking off metal pipes as well as some impressively gruesome blood spattering. But the many guns look great. They are highly detailed even out of first person mode. And the addition of a first person view is great since there are many indoor areas. While it is not the newest engine from Id, it can hold it's own.
The AI on the other hand is a mixed bag. It is not too quick, but just smart enough to offer a challenge. While the enemies you will face are competent enough to detect you if you act suspicious they will not use much in the way of tactics. In one instance a few bad guys came running straight at me in a line down a corridor firing away. It was easy enough to now them down. It knows how to locate you and to shoot at you, that is about it. However when not going in Rambo style you can admire some of the more subtle aspects of the AI. Even when using a silenced gun a guard near by can still hear the bullet hitting the wall. If a civilian sees you do something suspicious he/she will run and find a guard, even tell them what you look like, who will then investigate the location of the disturbance. Yet after games like SOF2 and NOLF2 this AI fails to impress but it is still not bad.

Of course the core of any game is the gameplay. Here Hitman2 uses what worked before and refined it. It also improves or drops what didn't work the last time. Stealth is still rewarding but not required. Hitman2 let's you set the pace, either to the beat of automatic weapons blazing away or the steady footsteps of a silent hunter. Usually you will end up in the middle. Either method works, and works better in some cases than others. While it's fun to whip out an Uzi and waste anyone standing in your way, I also enjoyed the professional hit by keeping my body count low. It's this dynamic with great sound and good graphics that make the game worth playing.

Unfortunately I found some parts of the game less than impressive. The story starts out strong with some great cut scenes, but drops off by the mid point of the game and really doesn't appear again until the final two missions. For the most part, it serves as a thin reason to send the player off to some exotic locations. But these locations do little or nothing to support the story. I can live with out a story to a game, just that his one started with one that seemed promising. Thinking of the later part of the game, I found the last few missions (before the final two) to be dull and tedious. There were not as good looking as the previous ones or as well designed. I got the impression that they were tacked on to fatten the game. They were not bad, just not as interesting and mostly repetitive.

What my biggest complaint is that the map is still near worthless, making any real pre-planning pointless. I had to screw up a couple times each mission just to get a good feel for the layout of the level. An early mission has you knock off a Russian general and local crime boss in a public park. I decided the use a sniper rifle to take them out. I studied the map and saw a building marked radio tower. I thought a tower would be high enough to have a good view of the target. So I planned my way and it was going perfect until I got to the tower to find out that it had no line of sight at all with the target. Why couldn't this have been indicated on the map? In another mission I had planned an elaborate route to my target based off of what the map indicated were walled off alleys. Only when I got there I found out that I could get through some of them since some were not really blocked off. Yet the map leads me to think so. Other things like windows or where stairways lead are not clearly marked. I like thinking; I don't like guessing at what the map is telling me. It should be helpful, not confusing.

Still the rest of the game is a great experience. Whatever flaws are quickly out done by the many strengths. If you are looking for a slick and stylish "thinking shooter" with an action movie quality, look no further.

A Different Kind of Shooter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game takes into detailed account all of the shortcomings of the first Hitman game, Agent 47. Good ol' 47 is back in this thrilling new game, and for those who haven't played the first one, you're missing part of what makes this game great.
Silent Assassin introduces in-game saves, (something that the first hitman, Agent 47, inexcusably left out) as well as a vastly improved musical score and some new weapons. The music, by the way, is performed by The Budapest Symphony, which is every bit as majestic as it sounds.
For the Duke Nuke'em and Quake 3 types, this is not necessarily the game for you. Go rambo and you'll find yourself 6 feet under by the time you can get out your cholroform. Stealth, secrecy, and patience are the orders of the day. You must watch the guards to figure out their patterns, search carefully for your foe; all while appearing normal. Another improvement to this game is the AI. Wearing a disguise WILL NOT allow you to simply waltz into the maximum security prison anymore.
Running, holding the wrong type of gun, or even hanging around a guard too long will make the bad guys suspicious. They don't like people behind them. Some will ignore you, some will avoid you, some will ask for ID, and some will just shoot you.

If you think you can be patient and discreet, and (usually) resist the urge to just stand there lookin' cute and when something moves you shoot, this is an outstanding game with to-die-for (well, to-kill-for) scenery. A few areas are rather droll, with few innocent bystanders -- much of the time everyone around is a guard, or sometimes the civilians are more observant than the guards. For those who have played Thief 2: The Metal Age, you know what I'm talking about.
Overall, this is an outstanding and challenging game. Though the list of missions is short, there is no limit to the number of ways to do them, and you'll enjoy performing them over and over again.
Sorry if you already read this one, I wrote it before I had an account.

Hitman 2 - A New World in the Life of a Hitman

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 21
Date: February 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If u have ever played the orginal Hitman - Codename 47, then your gonna love this game. the plot is that following the Hitman's disturbing ordeal in Professor Ort-Meyer's Sanitarium, he is welcomed in the care of Father Vittorio and spends his days within the walls of a Sicilian Monastery. After spending a great deal of time there, the sequel kicks off with the Hitman being drawn back into his ill-born profession by an ex-Spetsnaz assassin. Some great new add-ons will be the ability to save, and said that a program will be made to edit levels in the game, new weapons include: Pistols (Colt Python, PSM, & Ruger .22 Silenced), Same submachinguns, & SnipeRifles (Crossbow, Dragunov SVD Sniper's Rifle, & Barrett M95). This truly is a big step for the Hitman Community.

Better than Splinter Cell (sorry)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Hitman 2 is a real cross between the aesthetics of Splinter cell and the atmosphere and design of Theif 2. in Splinter Cell there are many pre-scrpited moments that try to create times of tension and fail miserably. Hitman suffers from none of this. the biggest difference from Splinter is that you can disguise yourself as various employees of big bosses. You can then pass by various guards/undercover guys unoticed as long as you walk calmly and don't attract their attention. This creates fantastic tension and is on a par with Theif (almost).
Graphics are superb and sound also. Also the map is big, big help providing you with the power to plan your attack or getaway. All in all Hitman 2 delivers the stealth of Thief (without the medieval backdrop) and the graphics (nearly) of Splinter cell. I would recommend you play this before SC and it should be cheaper now!!!

Very fun, but not perfect

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit that this is the first "shooter" type game ive bought. I finally got a computer that could actually play one. First off this game is a lot of fun, very addicting indeed, and Im usually a fan of strategy games so that says something.

A lot of work and creativity went into the levels of this game and I think thats the best thing about it. I also think is has a lot of replayability. Its interesting to study the AI of this game. For example you can kill a person and if no one sees you you can come back to the scene of the crime and stand around looking at the corpse with everyone else like you have no idea who did it. If someone sees you though they will tell a guard. Theres countless other examples that make this game impressive.

Pros:
1. Good AI, not perfect but very smart.
2. Beautiful graphics, very real.
3. Lots of weapons, everything from wire to strangle people with to revolvers, guns with silencers and powerful submachine guns. Also lots of levels to experience.

Cons:
1. The sniper rifles are waaaay too accurate. Sometimes you can shoot someone in the leg with one and down they go, dead. I think this is just too easy. Theres been several times when I thought I missed altogether only to find that I not only hit them but that theyre down completely.
2. The AI while good is not always perfect. You can shoot a person in the leg from far off for example and if they cant see who did it they merely put their gun away and stand around as if nothing happened. Theres other examples of this like when guards come after you in a room for example when they enter its like they dont see you and they look around all over first when youre right in front of them. This does not always happen however.
3. Just a minor complaint, some of the guns are made to be way too poweful. Some of these will knock people into the air and across a room. Looks cool, realistic no.

Overall very fun like I said. I really enjoy having the first person view, I dont think I could go for third person view after playing this.

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