Players : 1
About time! A game that actually delivers what it promises: Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.
When most games released quench my thirst for an afternoon at most, it comes
as a really refreshing change to play a game that feels like the best game
I have played in months. As I write this review, November beckons so it's
fair to assume that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City could still the crown
for my "game of the year", but time will tell, and Hitman 2 succeeds
above most by allowing you to do what you want, when you want, without being
restrictive.
The basic premise is simple. You know what a hitman is and what he does. He
has missions to accomplish, the idea being that he does so without attracting
too much attention and if he does startle someone, then he'd best put them out
of his own misery and hide the body.
And now you get that chance. The first mission finds you sneaking round a
mansion to bump off a mafia boss before going after someone else on the
premises, whilst avoiding the numerous guards, or bumping them off one by one.
As a clue to gaining entrance, I had to pretend to be a delivery man.
A bodyguard took a good look at me suspiciously, then got even more so as
I strafed round him endlessly so I could end up right behind him to slice
his throat with my fibre wire. Nice!
As I type I've got up to the end of the third mission, the second and third
featuring a trip to St. Petersburg, a place I knew as Leningrad when I went
on a school trip in 1986, but we didn't get chance to explore the sewers and
take out high dignitaries whilst dodging bullets in the snow. They still
had similarly shitty weather in the April of that year though.
For some info on the original Hitman game
click here,
but whilst that was enjoyable, this is a damn sight more so because of the
ability to save wherever you like, albeit with a maximum of seven saves per
level.
The game is also a delight to look at, let alone play. The attention to detail
is unsurpassable. In the church in the test level at the start, just try walking
in and out of the confessional booth... just look at the curtains and the way
they billow back and forth as you walk into them slowly... then at speed.
Fantastic!
Now go and look at the light coming in through stained glass windows, then
spin round and see it glare about gloriously. Absolutely gorgeous!
Soundwise, this is also first-rate. Whether it's birds flapping, like a John
Woo movie, people crying, or gunfire, it's all in superb DD5.1 sound. Bizarrely,
on the St. Petersburg levels the sound of gunfire sometimes disappears and won't
come back until you reload the game from scratch.
The only niggle is the control system which takes some getting used to and
you can still press the wrong button as you try to get to grips with it.
On the plus side, as well as shooting the baddies, stealing their clothes,
the game having quick loading times and the ability to interact with almost
everything, such as killing the lights, what struck me most was that it's
about time we had a game that makes you feel scared again,
Thief II: The Metal Age.
Yes, it creates that much tension, and I make no apologies for strong language
when I say that this game is absolutely fucking excellent and if you only
buy two games this Xmas, buy this as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City...
I say, "if you only buy two" as you'll buy the other one anyway, such was the
godsend that was
Grand Theft Auto III.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
And now you get that chance. The first mission finds you sneaking round a
mansion to bump off a mafia boss before going after someone else on the
premises, whilst avoiding the numerous guards, or bumping them off one by one.
As a clue to gaining entrance, I had to pretend to be a delivery man.
For some info on the original Hitman game
Soundwise, this is also first-rate. Whether it's birds flapping, like a John
Woo movie, people crying, or gunfire, it's all in superb DD5.1 sound. Bizarrely,
on the St. Petersburg levels the sound of gunfire sometimes disappears and won't
come back until you reload the game from scratch.
