Hitman: Contracts

I had very high expectations for this game and it delivers 75% of what I was expecting. The graphics are great, but when you enter 1st person mode they just look ugly. Second the computer controlled enemies are unpredictable, they just open fire on you for no absolute reason which leads to major frustration. Though the voice acting is still stupendous, the music sounds like it's out of a cheesy 60's spy film. One thing the series is still good at is allowing the player to kill the target in numerous ways, either by poison, a bomb, the old sniper rifle, going in John Woo style, the list goes on. Finally the controls have been redone and finally their is a training mission.

Final Score 7.1/10

The strongest aspect of the latest Hit-man game is its visual element. Running on a new graphics engine, which seems to suggest Japanese Anime, "Hit-man: Contracts" delves deep into the mind of a professional killer. Set before the events of "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin", it opens with Agent 47 seriously wounded in a Paris hotel. He's haunted by the memories of his past killings and the game takes place almost entirely in his head.

It's the psyche of Agent 47 that brings this title to life with a surreal atmosphere and the disturbing presence of the macbre. Unlike "Manhunt", which bordered on the pornographic in its depiction of violence, this game is more of a psychological shocker. Every level is a variation on the "it was a dark and stormy night" scenario and the first mission establishes this with a very bizarro style.

It takes place in a strange European nightclub/slaughterhouse. The owner is an overly obese man who's twin brother tortures a young girl upstairs while listening to oldies on a .45 record. Agent 47's assignment is to kill the owner and his lawyer who dopes up in a private room. The whole place is a like a Halloween party gone bad where the clients dress up in S&M-like attire and get wrapped up in lapdances.

"Hitman 2" was a huge improvement over the original and proved to be a great stealth game in the vein of "Splinter Cell". However, this third installment, while it does visually impress, isn't as innovative. It merely smoothes the gameplay of its predecessor and has made the missons more open-ended. Stages now have at least two different ways of how to neutralize the "mark", but this can be either a blessing or a curse depending on the player's tolerance for self-discovery.

In fact, Hitman fans will either love or hate the programmers' decision to include only a few number of original levels for "Contracts". The bulk of the game consists of recreations of assignments from "Hitman: Codname 47". This is disappointing considering Eidos' had first said it was not interested in doing a remake of the first game. The best mission is a new one set at a British manor which the company claims was inspired by Robert Altman's "Gosford Park" (Go figure).

If I seem to be negative in this review, rest assure, I am giving "Contracts" a thumbs up. This is a good game, I did like stepping into Agent 47's shoes once again and its strenghts certainly do outweigh its weaknesses. I only wished the title had been a complete original, then it would've been a great game. 3 stars out of 4. Grade: B

Coming 2 years after Hit-man 2 it's hard to believe that a game from 2004 could look and feel so 1998. The story has Agent 47 collapse in a Paris hotel room where he has flashbacks to previous missions (including 4 remakes from the first game) while an unseen doctor helps him recover. The tone is darker and more personal, and it feels tighter, I just wish the lazy programming didn't spoil it.

There are 12 levels in total, and if you're just in it for the 'thrill' of mass murdering then you'll whisk though the entire game in a single day. If you're going for the 'Silent Assassin' rankings then you'll get a bit more mileage out of it. Your efforts might be spoiled by security guards and cops seeing through your disguise FOR NO REASON! You better be rock solid on your controller with no twitchy fingers if you want those rankings, and be prepared to scream at the monitor until your larynx disintegrates.

Hit-man: Contracts came in at the tail-end of the Sixth Generation of console video gaming and thus became dated very quickly. It's a lot tighter than the expansive, and slightly overwrought, Hit-man 2, but IO Interactive really should have refined the programming.

Graphics C Sound B Gameplay B- Lasting Apppeal C

Once again you take control of Agent 47, the infamous Silent Assassin. This time his world is amazingly intricate and incredibly dark. Something that I say really reflects the overall motif that the previous two games were trying to achieve. In "Contracts" there are no daytime missions like in the previous two games. The second game had a few, but this time, it's all about rainy nights with plenty of dark corners to lurk in as you hone in on your target. It is a slightly unrealistic touch as it seems to conveniently rain whenever Agent 47 is given an assignment, but no matter, because it supplies a great atmosphere to your surroundings. Also in an interesting touch the game is shown in flashback. The opening sequence is actually Agent 47 stumbling into a hotel room in an as of yet undisclosed city with a bullet in his gut. As he passes in an out of consciousness during the painful surgery he remembers his previous contracts.

The levels, aside from being remarkably ambient visually and aurally, are filled with possibilities. If "Silent Assassin" had many, there is a multitude here. You can even use a pillow to smother someone in their sleep. A truly sneaky and merciless way to get at a target who doesn't even know you're there, but like I said, this is probably the first game that reflects the very dark nature of Agent 47 himself. There are no rules, only the completion of the contract. There are, however, ramifications. For instance in one level you can either poison your target's drink or throw a gas can down the chimney and into the fireplace by which he is sitting. Result is the same: contract complete. However one way will leave you with collateral damage as well as everyone in the mansion scouring for you. I'll leave you to figure it out.

The flashback structure also has a potential letdown, in that many levels are remakes of levels from the first game. The levels are redone very well with a serious boost in design, but something totally different would have been nicer. Also, you start each mission with a preset gear set. Unlike the first two games you can't choose anything for any mission until you complete the game. Then you're finally awarded a level select as well as weapon select for each level and this is where you can finally use all of your bonus weapons that you receive with the "Silent Assassin" rating. Each level has it's own bonus weapon and even if you don't first complete the game with Silent Assassin on each level, you can go back level by level and get your rating to the high enough until you have all the bonuses. There are also several secret weapons (like the infamous MiniGun from the first game!) which can only be found through this process. This also provides room for replaying past levels and enables you to try different approaches to for them. Or it lets you go on a rampage with that MiniGun once you find it.

Intricate, tense, and very re-playable this is Agent 47's best outing yet. I have yet to play "Bloody Money" and I am really looking forward to it. --- 9/10

Rated "Mature" for violence.

Technically a standalone expansion/ direct spin-off to Silent Assassin, Contracts is a dark follow up to the former game and easily the darkest game in the series. But it isn't flawless.

The story is disjointed and weirdly presented. It feels abrupt but still ideologically works within the game's themes of fever Dreams. It's a chopped up narrative that takes us into the mind of Agent 47. The overall writing is pretty good. The dialogue is well written, but the underwhelming and bad voice acting from foreign characters brings down the quality and impact of the overall dialogue.

The atmosphere, sound design and soundtrack is by far the best part of this game. For a 2004 game, Contracts has some of the most impressive sound design you can find in a game. It's punchy and adds to the grim and suspenseful atmosphere. The soundtrack is grimy and haunting. Far ahead of its time for a videogame soundtrack.

The gameplay and level design is similar to Silent Assassin with a few helpful improvements. Some unpolished game mechanics from Silent Assassin feel SO much more useful this time around. The AI has been vastly improved and the overall gameplay feels authentic and feels like what Silent Assassin should've been as a game. (Although, Silent Assassin still has the much better story)