Product Description

Hitman: Contracts delivers more action-packed and suspense-filled missions, with a greater variety of ways to make the perfect kill and an increased arsenal of firearms and close-combat weapons. A new graphics engine showcases your "work" in brutal detail and brings the new locations to life. An improved control system and more gradual learning curve will ensure that the game is accessible to all aspiring hitmen.

Hitman: Contracts takes you into the mind of Agent 47, the most ruthlessly efficient contract killer in history. The game begins in Paris as Agent 47 finds himself wounded and trapped in what is a dangerous situation, even for him. Hitman: Contracts explores the dark psychology of killing for a living and promises to be the most disturbing episode in the series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3471 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Eidos
• Released on: 2004-04-30
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
With its winning mix of action, strategy and stealth, Hitman Contracts marks a successful third entry in the franchise, and has some neat new tricks up its sleeve. That said, the core of the game is still fundamentally the same as before. You take the role of a genetically modified hitman who from the off finds himself in deep trouble, holed up in a tight spot surrounded by people who want him dead. The reasons why become clear as you play your way through a series of flashbacks, some of which draw heavily from the previous games in the series. Fortunately, the similarities also stretch to the gameplay, which is by turns taut, tense and violent. The game gives you plenty of freedom in choosing how to tackle the various missions you're presented with, and particularly in the early stages it's tremendously good fun working out the best way to achieve an objective.

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

Customer Reviews

Quality game with just a few flaws
The original Hitman: Codename 47 was an average game, with a unique premise: you WERE the hitman, known as Agent 47, sent to do contract killings. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin expanded upon this, enabling tons of open-ended ways to get your hit (and believe me, some of these ways were very inventive). Hitman: Contracts is possibly the strangest of the entire series, for quite a few reasons.

The graphics, while pretty good, aren't that big of an improvement over Hitman 2. While this isn't a bad thing, per se, but IO could have easily done more with the game engine. However, what's there is definitely above average. The maps are very large and detailed, a slight step up over Hitman 2. Nice little touches like reflecting blood and the authentic look of all the guns make this even better.

In Contracts, the game begins in Agent 47's hideout, where he is injured from his latest hit. He blanks out, and a flashback of Hitman: Codename 47's Asylum stage begins, setting the stage for mostly the entire game: flashbacks of Agent 47's deadliest hits, with some of them even being from the original (such as Traditions of the Trade and Lee Hong Assassination). The final level may even bring you a couple of flashbacks to the classic hitman film Leon.

The gameplay in Contracts is its shining glory. There are still open-ended stages where you can either run in, guns blazing, or stealthily dispatch your contracted hit. One great example of this system is the fourth stage, Beldingford Manor. Let's take a look at the first hit, Lord Beldingford. He sleeps in this stage, only getting up to either take a dump or drink a glass of milk. There's a couple of different ways you can do this. You can simply shoot him (silently or alerting all the guards), kill him with a melee weapon (like the new improvisational weapons like the fire poker or meathook), smother him with a pillow, poison his milk...there are many ways to finish the job. How do you get in his room easily, you ask? Take one of the guard's outfits. There are also about 40 different weapons, including secret ones you can only get by earning the Silent Assassin ranking on each mission.

Hitman:contracts is more of the same, but just as fun if not more fun than its predecessors. If you liked Hitman 2, buy it. If you didn't, this probably won't change your mind, but try it out anyway. I guarantee you'll at least have some fun with it.

The best stealth-shooter. Ever.
This game has many ways to finish the game, so replay value is high. Going around shooting is fun, but what the best way to play the game is by mixing action and stealth to bump off your target. One bad point, though, is that the Japanese levels get repetitive. And people complain that Hitman 47 'slides' around. Well, he does. But ID made it like that on purpose. It makes it individual. There are also updated levels from 'Codename 47: Hitman' (the first Hitman game) so that makes it a plus for people without a computer, since 'Codename' is for PC only (I have a Mac).
The graphics are next-gen PS2 graphics, and there are also quite disturbing parts, like the sick level in a meat-packing factory (use your imagination to figure out what goes on there!), and also the levels are varied.

A Very Stylish Shooter
Like a stylish film noir movie Hitman Contracts grabs you with its style and atmosphere. The story recounts 47's life as we see him injured and struggling to survive. Each mission is varied and set in unique locations around the world. This ensures that you never become bored as each mission offers a new set of challenges.

Graphically the game is very impressive with some excellent level design and large areas to explore. The weather effects are also very impressive and add to the atmosphere. One area that doesn't match up to the rest of the quality though is 47's animation as he seems to glide rather than walk and whilst this doesn't ruin the experience it does seem odd that this area is weak.

The orchestral score certainly adds to the atmosphere rising and falling in tempo depending on your mission progress.

The real beauty of this game lies in its level design and the freedom given to you to complete your objectives. The game ensures that you feel like a contract killer coolly carrying out your job amongst the unsuspecting.

Overall a superb game that is just fun to play and makes you feel cool.