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Evil Doers Beware, The Hitman Cometh!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: LEG

When I first picked up and played Hitman Contracts I didn't know what to expect. I had heard many positive things about the game before, but had no clue it would turn out to be such an awesome game. One drawback to Hitman Contracts in particular is that it is somewhat of a sequel to Hitman Silent Assassin. Since I have not played any other Hitman games, I was a bit lost on the whole story line thing. Instead of worrying about who the Hitman was, where he came from and why he does what he does, I just went ahead and played the game. It is a "game" after all and if I want to get into something with a good story, I'll read a book!

Hitman Contracts is the third installment in the series and is a hybrid action/stealth type game. You can change your view from first person to third person with the press of a button. The learning curve wasn't too bad and once you get a "feel" for how the various weapons work, you'll be killing the baddies in no time at all.

At the start of each of the 12 missions, you are briefed on your "marks" or targets. Essentially, to finish each level you just have to take out your designated targets. This is where the game play really gets fun. Since the game is not "linear", you can basically snuff out your marks any way you want, which adds to the replay value of the game. I ended up replaying each mission several times and each time played it in a different way.

If I wanted to be stealthy, I could knock out a bad guy, take his clothes so as to "disguise" myself as that character and take care of the business at hand. However, I had to be very careful. The enemy AI in this game is pretty good and if you seem to be out of place or act too weird, then you become the hunted instead of the hunter!

I was also able to go in with a blaze of glory and blow up everything and everybody to kingdom come! Either method accomplised my main goals, but at the end of the mission my ranking was directly influenced by my actions. So, I could end up being a coveted "Silent Assassin" or your run of the mill, every day, "Mass Murderer." It was totally up to me!

Hitman Contracts for the PC, PS2 and XBox is rated "M" for mature. There are scenes of very intense, extreme, graphic violence, lots of blood and gore, strong language, strong, graphic sexual content and extreme use of drugs.

Overall Score: 8 out of 10

A Dangerous Mind

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Coming from playing Blood Money into Contracts, I've noticed how much IO improved a lot of features. Contracts seemed a lot difficult and your cover gets blown quite easily by the highly suspicious and irritated AIs. The functions seem less fluid. But with all that aside, it still is a great game.

I've become a fan of the Hitman series when I first played Blood Money. I figured I'd get Contracts since it's the only one of the series (at the moment) that's compatible with the Xbox 360. In the 3rd installment, players are taken to the mind and flashbacks of our beloved hitman. Because we are taken inside his memories, the missions are a darker, grittier rehash of the ones played on Hitman: Codename 47. Hardcore fans have said it's a little redundant with a very dull storyline. I thought it was pretty clever, leading up to the last mission of this game, as well as a connection to one of the missions in Blood Money. I feel in Contracts, we see a strong development of 47 and why he's a force to be reckoned with.

As far as gameplay, like Blood Money, it's open-ended and non-linear. There are different ways to take out your targets, but will take quite a lot of trial and error to get through the levels... Even when heading towards your "point of interests," it can leave you confused for the first several tries. The challenging aspect of this game is going through each mission on stealth mode. If you want a true run and gun game, look elsewhere.

Graphics are not excellent, but not bad either. The soundtrack, on the other hand, takes this game 10 notches higher. The music is very dark and does an excellent job at immersing the player. It fits the environment of the game. As always, Jesper Kyd is brilliant.

However you'd like to play it, Contracts is great for gamers who like go out in a blaze of glory... But a lot better for those who have great patience and like to keep it stealthy. :)

Very disappointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was and still am a HUGE fan of Hitman 2 - freaking awesome game. I'm also not all that big on trying to complete missions with a silent assasin rating... Nor do I run n' gun... I'm kinda in-between, shoot a couple guys, but remain stealthy, no close encounters, etc.

This game is fairly absurd. Without a strategy guide, it's nearly impossible to figure out the small things like poisoning food, etc... For instance, Beldingford Manor, you have to poison and kill the horses with gas so they don't smell you, but first kill the stable guy to get his key, then find a water heater and turn it off so some lady in a shower won't be there when you go through the hidden door... the only problem is, there are no real clues and these kind of things are nearly impossible to figure out on your own, the game just gets daunting, and simply "that didn't work, reload and try a different approach" - it gets old FAST - this is the FIRST game I've had to get a strategy guide for in YEARS.... it's just that silly. Yet I was able to work my way through Hitman 2 with a few drawbacks and reloads, but it was reasonable.

I honestly don't recommend this game all that much, the plot is non-existent... and there is no real mission briefing, you aren't "traveling" around as a hitman like in H2 - you simply are just "there" in the levels... rather stupid.. and kills the whole "point" of playing the mission... just seems pointless...

The game is not that much fun compared to hitman 2, to hard to play silent without strategy guide and completely lacking a plot or "point" to even play the game...

It's still an OK game regardless, but many players will not enjoy it.

If you liked the previous Hitman games this is for you

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hitman Contracts did a lot of things right. The missions are much more open, the interaction is improved, and even the load times seem smaller. If you liked the previous Hitman games this certainly will work for you, I loved even the first Hitman game despite the then horrible control interface in the PC version of Hitman I. So all of that is better, but there still are some snags.

1) the enemy A.I. remains lacking. You can still just ambush them as they run stupid one after another past a door.

2) the briefings are horrible, I though Hitman 2 explained a lot more what was expected of the mission. In this case you often have to stumble a bit to find some of the crucial aspects.

3) there is no plot. I always thought this was going to be a straight up prequel. But the "story" is mostly the memories of 47 as he is wounded and remembering his past contracts. This form creates a very strong disconnect between missions as well.

4) there are limits on save games per level. I just hate that, specially since I love to try to kill no one but the target, which means a lot of risks and potential loading. IMHO this was done only to increase the hours of gameplay since the game is relatively short. And considering how sometimes a simple error can ruin your stealth; it is easy to press a wrong button and accidentaly pull out a gun, or a common programming error where a guard sees you through doing something you wish he hadn't seen. That sort of stuff is mostly ok, but I wish there wasn't a limit on saves per level.

That said I don't wish to paint too negative of a picture. It is still Hitman, it still is pretty good, and it is a great step up from the original Hitman. It just didn't feel better than Hitman 2.

Great but short game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hitman: Contracts is a great game for the less-than-hard-core gamers out there who just want a game that they can pick up easily and play without having to work too hard. I beat the game in about a week and a half. I bought the book which has helpful, but if you are acquainted with the series you can probably get by without it. The programmers have made it more difficult to get by with just the run and gun approach, and offer rewards for obtaining the silent assassin status. I have played many of the missions over again, trying different approaches. Darwbacks: it is short (only tweleve missions) and there is absolutely no plot.

Rent it

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: August 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Beat this game in two days. You can beat it in two hours if you run through, indiscriminately killing. Why not? We're Americans, born and raised on the philosophy- Work smarter, not harder. Guess the foreign programmers didn't take that into account. It's alright, we still have Halo.

Awesome game..if you're the right type of gamer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First off, I don't play a ton of video games. My girlfriend's parents got me an XBox as a birthday present a year ago and I have since bought maybe 5 games for it.

Nonetheless, I played this game and I love it. It definitely requires a certain kind of game player, though. You'll need lots of patience as you learn how the system of sneaking around works. I played through all of Hitman 2 before I finally got comfortable with it. I then replayed Hitman 2 to get "Silent Assasin" (the highest rating) on each level.

I rented Hitman:Contracts to see what it was like. It keeps all of the good stuff from Hitman 2, plus fixes a bunch of things. For one, you now walk a lot faster, and even move faster when you "sneak". That's much nicer. The graphics are nearly the same (although Hitman 2 was pretty amazing, so thats not too bad) with a little improvement in the shadows. The levels are also incredible! The first two levels will blow you away with detail and atmosphere...so eerie and gruesome. The game is very satisfying when played "right" if you're patient, but too easy to play the "wrong way".

Okay, now the bad stuff: Too short. I rented it and beat it in about 4 days. I played a lot of hours those 4 days but its probably 15-20 hours of gaming time total. Less choices. You can't pick which weapons you want to take with you on a mission like you could in Hitman 2, until after you beat the game and replay it. Lastly, the overhead map is still real crappy, doesn't label waypoints or provide much helpful detail, but does show unrealistic information like where enemies are, which way they are facing etc.

Still, overall a great game.

ok

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

graphics-4

gameplay- 3

replay value- 3

controls- 4

rent before buy

AWESOME "SILENT ASSASSIN" GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game .The best way to play it is to try to get silent assasin on every level.This game is more of a stealth and thinking mans game ,although you can run and gun on some missions.... but thats not why your called "SILENT ASSASSIN" like on Hitman2.This is my 2nd favourite game after Splinter Cell :pandora tomorrow.If your a fan of stealth and cunning ,then get this game.This is more of an adult themed game .I cant wait for the next one.That GAMEINFORMER EDITOR missed the point of this game .. HITMAN is a (stealth) game ,its waaaaaay EASY just to (run and gun in this game) Actually the RUN & GUN feature of this game is WEAK...... its no HALO.The thing that made it more challenging for me was to get "SILENT ASSASIN" on every level.

Slow & Boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I stopped playing this game after finishing the first two levels. I found the play slow and boring and occassionally odd.

The odd: You "sneak" directly in front of enemies and they don't see you -- even if you bump into them.

The slow: You need to "sneak" around a great bit and movement in that fashion is slow.

Boring: You can play it as a straight shoot/slash game, but, it isn't really made for that so it is not very good. As a sneaking game, you need to follow the games procedures (get the pipe, bring it here, blah blah blah) and just following its directions is pretty dull. If you try to do something different, it rates you poorly. For example, on one level I shot my target and one guard in the restroom. No alarm, no one else around, but, I think the game didn't like that because I didn't follow their procedures (I think I was supposed to dress as a waiter and bring the guy food).

Lastly, it allows a set # of saves per level (0-7, I think, depending on difficulty). SInce I like to play for short periods of time, I didn't like having to plan my saves that way.

All in all, I suggest you pass.

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