Hitman: Contracts

Written by Adam Woolcott  on March 16, 2004

First Impressions: Bret УHitmanФ Hart not included.

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Originally on the PC with Hitman: Codename 47, and moving into the console side of things in 2002 with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, I/O Interactive's franchise of contract killing has been a decent success (it is a Greatest Hit on PS2, after all), though overshadowed by Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell in its genre of stealth action, both of which saw releases in some fashion in 2002 about the same time Hitman 2 was in stores. This is despite the Hitman series being even stealthier than the pair combined. That hasn't stopped the company from developing a third entry into the series, with Hitman: Contracts. Mixing in the trademark assassination missions with brand new, more free-form methods and a more forgiving difficulty curve, Contracts looks to take advantage of being totally unopposed on PlayStation 2 this spring (as the new Splinter Cell won't be out until summertime on the PS2, and MGS3 in November) and garner new fans to one of the more Сsilent' stealth franchises around.

Hitman: Contracts starts in a precarious way Ц Agent 47, the bald, imposing, yet cuddly and gentle cleaner with a huge UPC symbol on the back of his head and always dressed formally in a suit and tie, is shot in a Paris hotel, and is left to die Ц years of his assassinations catching up to him. As he fades away into death yet hangs on for life, he starts having hallucinations Ц recalling his past hits in gruesome detail. Yep, Contrats is a flashback game, where you relive some of Agent 47's Сfinest' kills in complete detail, with all new open-ended gameplay and more realistic methods of the art of the hit. While it's likely you'll be able to play the game gung-ho like Hitman 2 did (albeit with not so hot results at times), the hardcore stealth elements make for an action game that requires much more brains than brawn.

Much of Contracts and the assassination missions hinge on your ability to abuse the environments around you to make the kill cleanly and inconspicuously (even though 47 is a massive bald guy with the UPC symbol on his head, not a guy who blends into the crowd), be it with your stock weapons or finding items in each level to use. For instance, you can use a pool cue in some form to kill Ц use your imagination to discover the many possible ways of using that one. Other levels let you kill someone merely by poisoning their food, while dressed up as a waiter or a cook in the kitchen. Why, you can even kill someone while they're busy in open-heart surgery, which sounds like a very brutal, yet silent kill. Yes, Contracts goes beyond the usual assassination missions of its predecessors, and though it seems like an uneasy, violent set of objectives, the different paths to actually completing each mission will allow for free-form gameplay to do it differently every time, and even do it without the risk of collateral damage or even too much intense violence.

As mentioned, you can disguise yourself, just like past games. In the case of Contracts, it's even more necessary just to slip into areas to do your business (like the aforementioned surgery kill, I'm pretty sure 47 can't just walk into an operating room without someone noticing him dressed in his trademark suit and tie waltzing on in). That brings in the civilian aspects Ц there's a lot more emphasis on avoiding civilian contact and harming innocentsЕif you need a special disguise, you might have toЕborrow one from an innocent, which means not killing them, but simply knocking them out. This is why the more stealthy kills are the intended purpose of Contracts: they take out the element of innocent bystanders getting caught up in a mission. Still, 47 will have to keep his distance like always, since people will notice him and recognize him if someone catches a glimpse of his face. So despite a disguise, 47 has to tread carefully and avoid raising the eyes of those who shouldn't know he's around.

One of the biggest complaints with many concerning Hitman 2 was an unforgiving learning curve that made progressing through the game overly difficult for new players to the series. With that in mind, Hitman: Contracts will include a much easier learning curve (i.e. one that slowly progresses until you learn the ropes rather than getting assraped on the first or second mission due to the trial and error gameplay system), as well as an Easy mode to help you enjoy the game if it's too challenging. However, the game will still maintain its usual challenge on higher difficulty levels, but now the game is playable for all types, be it those with skill and those with less skill (you know, like Ninja Gaiden should have included). It should be enough to make everyone happy, hopefully.