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Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4.0 stars
"More Blood loads of Money"
Pros: everything
Cons: bugs are quite annoying
Summary: Curtains fell as two muzzle flashes are seen, triggering the final credits for the game. I looked at my watch, it showed 3.23 AM. It was late but I wasnâ??t thinking about the day that lay ahead or the boring tuition that was just 6 hours away. My mind was deep in the thoughts of the game that I had finished for the third time. And as they say third time is the charm, I got the best ratings for my performance in the game. Most of you would have already figured it out that I am talking about Hitman: Blood Money.
Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth instalment in the Hitman series, developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. Blood Money belongs to the modern action adventure/stealth genre, released on 30/5/2006. It got a â??matureâ?? rating by ESRB, citing the excessive bloodshed and partial nudity in the game. The game is launched on PC, PS2, XBOX and XBOX 360, all of them getting similar ratings.
For PC, Blood Money requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM and 1.5 GHz processing speed. There is no mention about the minimum amount of video memory required. Some of my friends were able to run the game on a 64 MB video card. Blood Money prefers ATI X800 series or nVidia GeForce 6800 series video cards. Hitman 4 doesnâ??t run on Windows 95/98/ME/NT but runs fine on both XP and VISTA.
Hitman has been one of the most admired series among gamers across the world with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin considered groundbreaking. It set high standards for stealth games and for the game that were to follow in the series. In fact, it set such high standards that Hitman: Contracts, third in the Hitman series, inspite of being much better in its graphics and gameplay than Silent Assassin, didnâ??t get a lot of positive reviews, most of them criticizing the game for its mediocre storyline and cakewalk difficulty. With all this up and around, the developer had to make a game that could keep the basics of Hitman intact and yet make its mark among ga mers. They found the answer in Hitman: Blood Money.
Blood Money exhibits a hell lot of new features in gameplay. Also, BM fancies major graphic updates, 47 and his surroundings are highly detailed compared to its previous versions. Better storyline, proper ending and background music add up to this superb game. It seemed that the makers didnâ??t want to leave anything to chance as they published quite striking ads for Blood Money. Among them was an ad which raised a lot of controversy and protest, depicting a beautiful woman lying on a bed in lingerie with a bullet hole on her forehead. The header of the picture read â??Beautifully Executedâ??. Anyhow Hitman isnâ??t new to controversies and these things sort-off add to the popularity of the game. Below I take up some of the features introduced in the game.
1. Gameplay:-
a. Enhanced athletic skills: Blood Money has made major improvements in 47â??s movements such as climbing pipes, windows, hedges etc.
b. Close combats: Hand-to-hand combats have been improved as 47 can knock out opponents with a head-butt or a punch. He can strip an enemy of his weapon and use it against him. A major upgrade in this section is that 47 can use his opponents as shields, termed human shields. This move comes in handy when there are a lot of people firing at you.
c. Stealth moves: Oblivious opponents can be pushed off balconies and roofs, 47 can hide in closets and can hide dead bodies in containers. 47 carries coins with himself which can be thrown towards enemies to distract them. 47 can strangle opponents who are standing just under him with his fibre wire.
d. Improved opponent AI: Opponent AI (artificial intelligence) is also increased as they are able to spot blood and eventually they follow the trail to the dead body.
e. Upgrading weapons: A cool new feature enables the player to upgrade his weapons. The upgrade option comes in the briefing menu before the start of a mission. There are five weapons that can be upgraded, Silverballer, SMG Tactical, M4, Shotgun and WA 2000 sniper rifle. Also, there is a column in the upgrade menu which allows you to buy painkillers, body armours, extra mines, improved lock-picks etc.
f. New gauges: noise meter and the notoriety meter are the two new gauges introduced into the game. While the former, presented in the mission ratings page, indicates the amount of noise made by the player in his mission, the later indicates how notorious the player is. The notoriety meter increases if the player leaves witnesses of his crime. More the notoriety meter, easier for the enemies to recognize him.
g. Intel and bribery: another very useful feature, available in the briefing menu of the game, allows the player to buy intel reports about his target and the mission area. It provides a lot of help in getting a Silent Assassin rating. Intel can be bought at the cost of 3,500 bucks. Bribery helps in reducing the notoriety of the player. It is found in the rating menu obtained after completing a mission.
h. Money: the player receives money after completing every mission. The amount received is as per the mission ratings. Also, a fixed amount of money is deducted from the total pay if the player leaves his suit or customized weapon on the scene.
i. Cool presentation: a newspaper column is shown at the end of every mission regarding the hit. The rating obtained in the mission is taken as the headline of the column. The article consists of a detailed description about the hit, informing the number of casualties, primary weapon used for majority of deaths, presence of witnesses, information about the deceased etc. The article also shows sketch drawings of 47â??s face, if he leaves witnesses in the mission. The face becomes more prominent as 47â??s notoriety increases.
2. Graphics:-
Well, there isnâ??t much to describe in this area. The graphics of Blood Money are impeccable compared to its previous versions. The characters are beautifully detailed specially 47, high cheekbones, long face, recessed forehead etc. Other objects such as tress, grass, vehicles, weapons are also satisfactorily detailed.
3. Storyline and Endings:-
The story starts with 47 getting a contract to kill the â??Swingkingâ??, owner of an amusement park. He was involved in a ferries wheel incident that killed a dozen people. The court found the Swingking innocent and cleared him of all charges. It seems quite obvious that some people thought otherwise and one of them contacted the ICA to get rid of him. This is an introductory stage which familiarises the players with all the moves in the game. The later part of the story is narrated by a former FBI director Leland Alexander who describes the assignments carried out by Mr. 47 in the past two years (2004-2005).
Blood Money has two different endings. One of them is a fake, unconventional ending while the other is a real and a suitable ending to the game.
4. Silent Assassin Difficulty:-
It is somewhat difficult to get a Silent Assassin rating in Blood Money, contrary to its previous instalment Hitman: Contracts where getting a SA rating was a walk in the park. In most of the missions, there are more than one ways to get a Silent Assassin rating. The best possible way would be to make your hit look like an accident and you retain yr suit and weapon as you escape.
5. Music:-
Like all the previous versions of Hitman, Blood Money too provides some cool background music. It takes up a firm tone if you are going in the right direction.
6. Loads of Money:-
The game provides a lot of money if a mission is completed in a conventional manner. I rather take it as a demerit coz even a mediocre rating yields a minimum of 4,00,000 bucks. As a result, upgrades are easy to obtain. Now, it can be seen that ultra successful games like NFS Most Wanted, Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 4 make the players toil before they get any considerable rewards. The extra amount of hard work kinda adds up to the pleasure when u actually get the reward, which make the game memorable to the players. Therefore, the extra amount of money spoils the fun.
7. Missions:-
Blood Money features only 12 missions. Though, the missions huge and pose moderate difficulty, a serious gamer would finish this game in no time.
8. Bugs:-
This has been a problem of most of the recent games. Blood Money too has a lot of bugs, specially in the â??You better watch out...â?? mission. This occurs mainly when u are storing yr weapon in the ICA supplies or while dropping an object.
9. Awards:-
Hitman: Blood Money was voted game of the year 2006 by BBC Scotland's videoGaiden.
Overall, this game has many positive features and I would definitely place it in the category of must play games and apart from the excessive bloodshed, everything else in this game is a turn-on. I would also like to add that with so much improvement in the gameplay and graphics, this version of Hitman can be considered as the best in the series. Lets hope that the next one would be even better.
Hitman: Blood Money (PC):
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