Hitman: Contracts (Xbox)

There are a couple of drawbacks: the game is a little shorter than might be expected, and it is more of an evolution from previous adventures than a independent sequel. But these are minor niggles, especially when you consider that this is the best game to date in the Hitman franchise. It's going to be interesting to see how creators Io Interactive develop the series, but for now they've given us a healthy dose of what's gone before, and made it a little better. --Simon Brew

This is the third game in the Hitman series. There's a fourth on its way, but this is the newest addition. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a classic game and one of my favorites. I was not let down by this as it comes back with the same engine and gameplay as its predecessor. This time, you've got new weapons, missions and twisted ways of killing people - the sole purpose of the game.

47's memories will take him from his "birth" in Rumania to places such as Siberia, England, Hong Kong and Rotterdam. Again, you'll have to use your cunning to overcome each level if you want a high rating. This means stripping corpses and using their clothes as a disguise to bring you closer to your target. Your targets include Dutch bikers, German terrorists, corrupt Russian officers and even an English Lord. Each level is so different from the other and the settings are beautiful. One example of such is in Rumania - "the Meat King's Party" -where you have to get into a slaughter house where there's a party where everyone's clad in leather masks. You can almost smell the drugs and the disco smoke (this level is similar to the club scene in Michael Mann's Collateral).

The Hitman games, with their beautiful haunting music, are undoubtedly dark. Contracts, however, is easily the darkest. The "Meat King's Party" is a seriously disturbing level. When you stalk the mansion grounds in England, you'll hear the giggle of ghosts echoing in the dark corridors and even in a thermal bath hotel in Budapest, if you look closely, you'll see the victim of a murder walking down the shut off wing of the hotel. In some ways, this could be a horror game.

The arsenal is better now. You'll be able to choose from Magnum .44s, assault rifles, silenced pistols - the list goes on, but of course, your trusty trademark dual ballers and fibre wire are still with you. A great feature in one level for example, is when you have a box of roses. You fling it open and out comes A SPAS 12 Gauge shotgun - I sense Terminator 2 inspiration.

In some ways this game is very irritating. The levels are generally deeper and harder, with more objectives, but the missions are sparse in number. There's plenty of replay quality as you try to get the best rating possible, however, playing the levels in this way is very hard, you can't use much aggression and you really have to put in a great deal of time, concentration and brains . . . as well as patience. Unless you blast your way through, the levels are harder than the other two games. There'll be many times when you have to leave behind your guns to get past the metal detector ahead unnoticed. Some levels also can get monotonous as you walk around for ages, from one room to the next, doing noting, trying to work out ways to get to your target. This game won't always be action packed.

This game lives up to its predecessor completely and is just as good. My own personal favorite is Hitman 2, but this is still brilliant. It's easier to get bored of, but all the same, a brilliant game and worth renting/buying.


Silent, smart and very, very Deadly. Just buy it!   December 12, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Since playing on Hitman 2, I was very impressed by the amount of ways you can complete a mission and eliminate targets. This showed imagination and freedom in gaming that I'd never come across before so I couldn't wait the third installment (Hitman: contracts).
Since playing Contracts, I havn't been the least displeased in anyway possible. It has built up on everything that made the second game (Silent Assassin) a huge success like having multiple ways to conquer a mission but this time theres even more ways for the missions which makes the game highly
re-playable so being very repetive isn't a bad factor.
There is a wider range of weapons like more close-up weapons such as pool cues, shovels, syringes, meat hooks, meat cleavers (even pillows) so taking out enemies up close and silent isn't a problem. There are loads of fire-arms including shotguns, mini-guns, SMG's and plenty of others. Their is a few less missions than last time but that is forgiven by the fact that the missions are so, so long, apart from the first mission that is quite a cool mission anyway. The levels and environments really are extrordinary especially the fourth mission, Beldingford Manor, that is quite an eerie level with a huge map and is probably the best mission on any game that I know. It has great objectives and more than plenty ways to do them. The second mission, Meat King's Party probably why the game is said to be so disturbing and rightly so.
Again, if you complete missions with the Silent Assassin rating you will be awarded a bonus weapon which isn't available in gamplay, Another reason to keep playing.

Overall, this is probably my favourite game among all the others and those who dwell on stealth games should be imensely satisfied, if not the gamer will be the type that doesn't aim for stealth and goes on a rampage shooting anyone in sight, if you play it like that their is no satisfaction rewarded.

Play this game, be disturbed, be pleased.


Use your imagination   October 18, 2004
Mr. Rob Collins (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This game is really for patient people who enjoy using their imaginations to come up creative solutions to problems. Mostly these problems are (a) how to get into different areas without arousing suspicion and (b) how to kill your targets without anybody noticing. You always have the option to run around and kill everybody (in which case you'll get a Mass Murderer rating), but this simply isn't as fun as using surveillance to learn the patterns of your targets and hatch some devious scheme (which if you do well, you'll get a Silent Assasin rating and bonus weapons). Sneaking around and swapping disguises is great fun, especially when you walk right under guards' noses! It's the freedom to try out your ideas that makes this game so fun. The missions and layout of buildings are really intelligently designed, with lots to explore and try out different things. A surprise is around every corner. Every mission will require different tactics to succeed.

My one criticism is that the game doesn't really allow you to make mistakes if you want that perfect rating. Really what you have to do is explore the map, try different things until you blunder into a mistake (and people start shooting you) and then reload and try something differently. This can result in missions taking over 20 re-loads as you try out different tactics, which can get pretty frustrating. So you can sometimes feel punished for using your imagination and spontaneity - it's as likely to result in people shooting you as it is with you discovering some useful trick. Thankfully the save points do help with this, but on Hard mode you only get 2 per level, resulting lots of repeating stuff you already know how to do.

Anyway, I don't want to sound too negative - this is a FANTASTIC game. Great for people who like a bit of freedom with their gameplay and aren't just looking for a blood fest.