Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

HITMAN 2: Silent Assassin is the HITMAN game that put the series on the bigger map. It's a challenging and suspenseful stealth game that feels unique, requires skill, but has some unfair obstacles.

The art direction and atmosphere is beautiful and vibrant. It's a surprisingly artsy game with diverse cultural aesthetics complimenting the slightly cartoony art style of the game. The soundtrack is phenomenal, unforgettable and ambitious.

The story is surprisingly touching. Codename 47 before it was fairly light and simplistic on its story. That game had some rough writing, which resulted in a story that was okay. Silent Assassin, however, contains a much more focused, fleshed out and unique story. Easily the most heartfelt story that a stealth game could have. The writing, dialogue and overall storytelling is great. The voice acting is still quite rough, though. It's a tragic story with a lot of questions and story moments left for the player to interpret in their own way.

The gameplay and level design still feels ahead of its time, but feels much rougher after playing the recent World of Assasination trilogy. The AI is very inconsistent and some game mechanics feel unpolished. Once you come into grips with the way the game plays and feels, it's a rewarding and compelling experience.

With "Hitman: Contracts" soon to be released, I decided to go back and replay this title to refresh my skills and walked away fairly satisfied with the gameplay and graphics. The thing "Hitman" does so well is make you feel like the ultimate badass contract killer. Yet, it's not the kind of game that you should go in with guns blazing (although you can do that), but with strategic planning and a quiet, slow pace.

It seems strange then, that so many noisy firearms are up for grabs, only in the final level are you encouraged to blow away bad guys "Max Payne"-style. Yet, by then, the thoughtless shootout is welcomed, since throughout the entire game you have to mix brainpower with firepower.

That, in itself, is not for everyone, but it's the goal of the game. Besides, walking into a highly inhabited area, killing the "mark" and then strolling away as if nothing ever happened is much more satisfying then just to kill everything in sight. It makes you feel much more "professional", after all you are playing the role of a hitman.

The game, however, does have some flaws that keep it from being great, something I'm hoping "Contracts" will improve on. For instance, you can't tell how much noise you are making as you quietly approach your adversaries, they just all of a suddent get the drop on you. Another one being the way the anesthetic works. It takes far too long to dispense, making you a vulnearable target. The victim also does eventually wake up from it, even a full dose, making it pretty useless. I hope "Contracts" lets you use a tranquilzer gun.

The A.I. is a little too unforgiving, making this unplayable for more casual gamers. One last thing, the nightvision goggles seriously impairs your vision by making you see through a "cone". "Splinter Cell" did this much cooler and easier, given it was essential to that game. Well, there you have it, my review of the game. It is very good, but takes patience, lots of it, to fully grasp the game and appreciate its pleasures. *** 1/2 stars out of 4.

This game has seriously deprived me of much needed sleep this past week since playing it for the first time.

What can I say? There's so much depth and different variables in each mission alone, there are more than enough missions to satisfy the most hungry tactical-shooter fan.

When you've successfully completed a mission for the first time, you'll want to go back and try different methods, approaches to get a higher score (=more stealth and less violence), the ultimate score being that of Silent Assassin where basically nobody sees you and you only kill your designated target with one bullet or stab (or strangle).

Another old game that I've been a fan of is Ghost Recon, a tactical shooter with many simulation elements. The thing is, to survive in "Hitman 2" you can use the approach of methodically killing every baddie in sight. This can also be fun to relieve stress and frustration of repeatedly failing a mission.

For a 2002 game, the graphics are still beautiful and a pleasure to behold, in combination with the excellent atmospheric music (with strong Star Wars influences in some places) these elements make a fantastic game for the lovers of tactical shooters.

Regular FPS 'run and gun' players steer well away. This game needs brains and not just in the blown-out variant.

10 out of 10 with a subtraction of 1 for stupid ethnic stereotyping in *some* missions. So in all 9 out of 10 but still I can't stop playing it!

Simply put, this game is outstanding. The graphics are top class, the physics engine rivals that of unreal tournament 2003, and the gameplay is one of the most amazing thing ive come across in a video game in a long time. Each level is brilliantly designed, and the fact that each mission has numerous ways of completion, really helps create a non-linear feel to the whole thing, not to mention, making this a game you can replay over and over again. One key theme to this game is the whole "silent assassin" thing, so be prepared to spend a lot of time waiting for that perfect moment to make your move - of course you can just run-and-gun your way through the levels, but youd be missing out on something that makes this game truely unique. Nothing beats the feel of stalking in the shadows, picking your moment carefully, and when the times right, strike with the utmost precision....and where if you dont watch your step, it could all be over. An easy 8 out of 10 - you need to get this game.

Now to start I never played Hitman 2. I first heard bout the game in previews then someone who had bought it gave me a loan. At first i hated this game because I found it to be slow moving but then I was given it as a present. After playing it I actually fell in love with it. This game is cool in that it makes you want to go stealth. You can solve problems with multiple solutions but eventually you want to see if you have the skill to do it through stealth. And you will need a high amount of skill because at times this game seems impossible but believe me if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a great sense of pride. Overall anyone should buy this 10/10