Review: Hitman: Blood Money (PS2)
Videogames rarely handle comedy well, the majority of titles settling for predictable one-liners or pre-scripted bouts of toilet humour in an attempt to try and put a smirk on a player's face. It's something that makes this latest instalment of Io's most literal murder simulator a very unlikely candidate for funniest game of the year. Despite a lot that puts anti-hero Agent 47 up against an obsessively powerful adversary and sees you hunt down rich paedophiles and psychotic assassins, it rarely slides far away from a blackly comic streak that raises Blood Money far beyond its sombre peers.
Though most rib-ticklers are the result of following the developers' lead, executing them invariably feels like your own work. From the first mission to last, no chance for comic potential is unexploited. Even more satisfying are the moments when the game's clockwork puzzle of reliable AI, inventive yet believable environments and solid physics combine with 47's weapons-grade influence to bring some one-night-only moments of laugh-aloud ultra-violence. Being spotted by an idle passer-by during a kill often results in a Benny Hill chase after the panicked fool. Daft enough, but the snowballing effect of covering up one death after another usually brings the entire mission crashing down; exponential law ensuring the level is soon awash with screaming bystanders and guards.
The emergent chaos that occurs, often through mere bad timing rather than a genuine goof on the player's part, can lead to frustration and annoyance. Lower difficulties are accommodating enough to allow for the odd slip-up via mid-mission saves and amnesiac AI, leaving room for experimentation. However, the game engine's own errors- throwing a corpse over a railing only to find it land on 47's head a second later, for instance- can prove fatal on Professional level, where AI is unforgiving and saves non-existent. For the most part, the balance between the uncertainty and predictability of the result of your actions holds, but patience and an ability to adapt to unwanted changes are still the hallmarks of any good assassin.
It would be something of a mistake to describe this title in the terms of a standard action game, and in truth, the Hitman titles always aims towards the puzzle-game camp, rather than the likes of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell. Observation and planning play a far greater part in making a successful kill than using a raft of gizmos, and as such the blame for most failures is laid upon the player. This added responsibility for a successful mission ensures that Blood Money is a more involving title.
In all other extents, Blood Money is exceptionally well crafted- a true swansong for last-gen systems and a glowing introduction to next-gen possibilities. Even on elderly hardware the PS2 version manages to combine exceptional graphics with some impressively crowded and vast environments, and even provides progressive-scan and Dolby Surround support. One particular level- a game of cat-and-mouse hunt through a crowded Mardis Gras- stands out as a truly bewildering achievement. Evidence if any were needed that perhaps the shift towards new hardware may not mean an end for older systems.
It's an impressive package for a series that has never really achieved the visibility it so sorely deserves. No moment of dialogue or piece of animation seems wasted, every ounce of play-time is intended to either inform the player's actions or add another stroke of character to the levels. Hitman's world is as perfectly, consistently, and darkly drawn as any of its inspiration, from Heat to The Bourne Supremacy. Agent 47 in particular is a magnificent case of efficiency in drawing a character, his sullen, misanthropic and imperfectly human personality a delight compared to the rafts of rent-a-gun marines and faux-gangster clones that most developers settle for.
His dubious morality allows players a certain leeway with which to explore their own virtual violent streak, though the highest ranks on each mission are available only to those who restrict 47's murderous talents to his monstrous targets. Of course, the temptation to deliberately aim for the truly abysmal grades- wiping out the entire population of the level, for example- is still there. It is certainly possible given the perfectly-balanced controls and varied methods of execution, but civilians rarely represent an enjoyable target. When later levels draw you into direct conflict with security personnel whose only mistake is getting in your path, your objective may become even harder to complete due to your own moral issues.
It stands testament to Io's achievement that such traditionally throwaway characters as guards have such a level of characterisation- and it is as vital to the success of Blood Money as the upgradeable weapons and slick controls. So often developers mistake violent content for maturity, constant swearing for grittiness, overblown dialogue for good storytelling; Blood Money makes none of those mistakes. It may not be perfect, but few if any titles of late will generate such a compulsive hold with such economic use of power.
Rating: 8 / 10
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