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"Give Your Xbox a Workout"

Introduction
It is very rare that a videogame series can stay so fresh that it is able to be so successful by giving the player the same game and experience in each new sequel. The Hitman series has more than reached this upper echelon of videogame elitism and will continue to do so with such an intricate plot and a well-loved main character that does not even need a name. So successful is Hitman, that even a movie based on the series is even successful and even out performs Mario in this area. Hitman has not evolved much from the original PC game to the fourth installment of the series. The plot has finally caught up with Agent 47 as his world-renowned professionalism has got the interest of not only foreign governments, but also competition. Hitman: Blood Money definitely reaches a peak in this series. A lot of risks are made to take the player out of the dingy streets of China and the dark tunnels of Russian military bases to the many exotic locations in the United States as well as a few interesting ventures abroad. Everything you love about playing Hitman is well intact in the fourth installment and perhaps leaves everyone with a hope to see this series produce a fifth. With all of the content loaded in this game and with the original intent being a release for the Xbox 360, the Xbox version not only is the same game, but puts your Xbox to its full grinding potential as with other games like Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. And as with all of the Hitman games:

Silence is golden.

Story 9

Blood Money doesn't necessarily have Agent 47 following a trail. In fact it is the exact opposite in which there really is no change to the structure of the Hitman plot. The main villain in the game will reveal that he has identified and obtained proof of Agent 47's existence and begins to convince a reporter about the dangers of cloning due to his own misfortunes and long journey to capture Agent 47. The game is set in a mood of death with a surprising opening main menu of Agent 47 on a cremation bed in a very remote funeral home with "Ave Maria" being played. There are plenty of questions to be raised about this opening and will gain your attention and want to find out what happens next after each mission you play. Your progress in the campaign will be measured out in the newspapers as your actions cause you to gain recognition and notoriety. If you play the game without guns blazing then you will be left in obscurity and gain more for your silent assassin skills. Agent 47 has a very short and sweet tutorial mission to get the controls down. A grieving father who can't forgive a shady theme park owner for his son's tragic death from a disastrous ferris wheel accident places an order for extermination. From there you will have a training room where all of your collected items and weapons are stored and where you can target practice. The plot follows another organization finally being able to catch up with Agent 47's employer and places the assassin on the assassination list. A lot of outrageous villains will be out to get the kill on 47 as you will have to avoid and eliminate other assassins out to get you as you go after another designated target. The plot builds and builds with the main villain's narration to how 47 ended up in the care of funeral services and articles in the newspapers will detail your previous mission's collateral as well as the overall story behind the game. It is a very intricate plot only stifled by using stereotypical and even Batmanish enemy characters. The stereotypes are quite obvious so much in fact you are given a chance to party with some yokels in shooting alligators. There are some perks to using stereotypes, but in Hitman the stereotypes get ridiculously exaggerated so that you don't think twice when mowing down security guards and police.

Gameplay 10

Like a Reese's candy, there is no wrong way to play Hitman: Blood Money. The controls are easy to use and get used to especially for veteran Hitman players. Everything plays out the same in Blood Money as it does in the earlier games with your mission starting out with your target's last minutes either being carefully timed and planned for a clean silent assassination, or brutally taking out everyone so that there are no witnesses. Each mission is radically different from the next and each are just as fun to explore. Blood Money features a way for you to off your targets by making it look like an accident so that you are not even suspected. These mishaps are very comical from an actor accidentally shooting your target on stage to too much lighter fluid in the BBQ setting off a firestorm. You can also dispose of bodies as there are plenty of containers strewn around to dump them in as well as some other unique ways as tossing bodies over ledges and into sanitation truck disposals. The weapons come standard with plenty of guns and items to collect. Remote mines are definitely my favorite. These can set off and cause accidents or you can just have them go off right in your target's unsuspecting face. Security is given some slack as your enemies will not be out looking for you to be disguising yourself as in the other earlier games. Syringes on your person will take care in knocking out or killing someone with a sneak attack and the trusty fiber wire always comes in handy. Agent 47 will run into a load of interesting circumstances that may or may not involve the mission or plot. Many assassins will be sneaking around in missions to trick you into an ambush and some may come right out and challenge you to a fight to the death. Get too curious in a Las Vegas hotel and you might find yourself being seduced by an overweight and intoxicated woman. Civilians may also be an interference to your mission at times like the snoopy gardener living next door to the pet clinic you are stealing rat poison from. The missions are very open ended as to how you pursue your objectives and targets with collateral damage attributing to your notoriety in which if you are identified then you will start missions with people running away from you. The notoriety factor plays into the higher difficulty options with the easiest difficulty allowing you to go in guns blazing without any significant detriment to your later missions. There are so many ways to go about each mission that you may need to look up a guide or two to figure out all of the ways to score a silent assassin rating. The achievement points rely on completing missions with a few challenging ones having you complete a silent assassin rating on the hardest difficult and having upgraded all of the standard weapons and collecting all of the other weapons.

Graphics/Sound 10

Hitman: Blood Money is much more expansive in its environments than the environments of the earlier games. The settings and locations are very unique to the game and each location gives you a representation of where you are. The graphics are very detailed and you are given a lot to see and do as you continue along the blood trail. The sound and music is exquisite. Jesper Kyd is able to outdo himself in every Hitman game and this game indeed outdoes all of the previous games combined. The opening “Ave Maria” is definitely the signature theme to the Hitman series now as it sidelined the other Hitman themes in the movie. All of these themes and more are found among the Blood Money tracks. Once again you will put the Xbox to the test with this game so if get to the New Orleans mission with all of those Mardi Gras partiers moving around it may slow the game down a bit and you will hear the Xbox grind as it struggles to keep up. The effect on the Xbox should was not a problem for me so go ahead and give it a workout.

Replayability 8

Blood Money is always fun to go back and play. There are no online benefits to Blood Money. This is later attempted by Eidos in the Kane and Lynch game. Blood Money is a single player game that takes a considerable amount of time to get through. It takes at least a week to get through if you play through it while attempting to get the silent assassin ratings for each mission. It can be either challenging or mindless gun blazing fun, but even playing the easiest mode will still see you spending hour after hour enjoying each level. There are no missions I dislike or skip over in going back and playing Blood Money. I mentioned the achievement points earlier and here I will say that they make the game worthwhile and make you want to attempt Blood Money on the hardest difficulty. There are some extras to collect and upgrade, but that is about it. This game relies heavily on the fun to go back and replay a mission.

Final Recommendation 9.25/10

Hitman: Blood Money for the Xbox gives you the most your console can produce for you. The game is the exact game you will play on the Xbox 360 so you do not miss anything like you would playing the Xbox version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. The stereotypes are unfortunately a hit on the story of the game with near cartoonish villains and regional stereotypes. However, the gameplay and style that Blood Money has keeps the Hitman series staying as fresh as when Hitman first went to work. It is the same game as the others, but never gets old. The missions are amazing and very fun to go back and replay over and over to fully explore. You get all that you paid for with the fourth installment and I highly recommend this game to those who want to be introduced to the series. You do not have to play the other games to understand Blood Money and this is definitely the best of the series as far as the gameplay and plot go. Hopefully we will see a fifth installment, but in the meantime we are left with an outstanding game in Hitman: Blood Money.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/08

Game Release: Hitman: Blood Money (US, 05/30/06)