I gave in...and bought this:



It sucks that I can't play as long as I want to, because of the pain in my hand. But what I've played, I'm loving.

I've been a fan of the Hitman series since Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (the first of the series to appear on home consoles). I highly enjoyed Hitman: Contracts, as well.

This is looking to be the best of the series, judging by what I've played. I love this series because there's really no right or wrong way to take out your target. You can be the silent, stealthy type, or you can go all John Rambo on their asses and run in, guns a blazin'. Its this open-endedness that makes the Hitman series so compelling, and so fun.

While the 360 version is far superior in the graphics department, the versions on the current generation consoles aren't too shabby themselves. Nice textures, great shadow effects. It's definitely a visual treat even on the current gen consoles.

And the rag doll physics. No other game pulls this off better than the Hitman series. You'll have a blast (no pun intended) killing people in this game. Point blank shotgun blast to the gut...and watch them fly backwards, limbs flailing all the while.

Another great feature of the Hitman games is the ability to play through in either a 3rd person perspective, or a 1st person perspective. For me, I usually navigate the environments in 3rd person, and switch over to 1st person when I need to cap some fools. The game controls like a FPS no matter what perspective you use (you move with the left analog stick, aim with the right) (PS2 version). There is no auto-aim.

The developers have also tweaked the controls. The Hitman games have always felt a bit awkward when trying to execute certain moves, but most of those problems have seemingly been fixed (or at least addressed) in Blood Money. There's a "key" in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, displaying the Triangle, Circle, and X buttons (PS2 version, the other versions display their respective buttons). When you reach something you can interact with, (say...there's a gun that you can pick up), it tells you by displaying...say...".45 pistol" beside the corresponding button. Press that button, and you pick up the gun.

You can also hide bodies now. If you take someone out (which you will do rather often), there's usually a dumpster or container nearby. You can drag the body over there, and toss it in.

The notoriety system is pretty neat, as well. At the end of every mission, you're provided with a newspaper article discussing the crime scene. If you were sloppy, and you left witnesses...you're notoriety will raise...and guards will be more likely to recognize your suspect you in later missions. If you pull off a lot of head shots, the article will describe you as a "professional". If you're stealthy (i.e. no guns, only fiber wire, syringes, and using the "environmental kills", the newspaper really won't have any info on you. The notoriety doesn't play a factor on "Rookie" difficulty, though.

This is by no means a review for Hitman: Blood Money. This is just me expressing my love for the series. Blood Money is looking to be the best in the series. Expect my final score in the coming weeks.