26-Apr-2004 As Agent 47 fulfils his contracts in gory detail, it's hard to know if he's a hero or a hoodlum. He does what he has to do to survive.
Nameless, he's an enigma. He introduces himself bullet by bullet from his clips, or by squeezing the necks of his garrotted victims. In Hitman: Agent 47, and the sequel Hitman 2, that was as much information as you got. But in Contracts, you're only ever one bloody footprint away from a clue to 47's past. Yep, we're finally going to find out what drives this merciless killing machine.
Once More For The Camera We've grown to like Agent 47 as a dour antidote to 007's suave sophistication; crucially, his missions are fewer and broader than the objectives that face Bond. When the only rule is to survive, everything else goes out of the window. Faced with decisions, you can be as delicate or brutal as you wish, and the amorality that underpins your choices can't fail but to force a reaction from you one way or the other. You might feel proud, for example, to have maintained cover from start to finish, but equally psyched if you slaughtered every guy in the vicinity. You make your choices, and live with them.
Costume Drama Certainly the emphasis is more on stealth in Contracts; remaining undetected and dropping enemies where they stand with all-new close-combat techniques. It's much stealthier than either of the previous games, but that's because the enemy AI is vastly improved. So although you can still wear the clothing of victims to use as a disguise, you must take care whose path you cross and how you cross it for the disguise to work.
The first level is a Sanitarium, where you have the option of dressing like an inmate to bypass guards on the lookout for you. In this scenario, it's okay to run around like you don't know what you're doing, because so is everyone else. Act like a nut while dressed as a senior-ranking officer, and subordinates are gonna suss something's up - you have to know your way around and look good getting there.
Dens Of Iniquity In the early stages of Contracts, a procession of disturbing scenes forms the backdrop to Agent 47's nightmarish memoirs. You're reliving 47's past by completing the tasks, so for example, you get to join him in his escape from the cloning ward of the Sanitarium, through a Fetish Club in a slaughterhouse, across a Siberian wasteland and ultimately to the seedier side of Hong Kong.
It's claustrophobic and oppressive, from dodging the Sanitarium's inmates to serving Opium to crooked bank managers, and gunning down 'waiters' in the Wang Fou restaurant. The temptation is always to shoot first, but of course it's wisest to keep your weapon concealed.
Gun Club As with the previous games, the boon with Contracts is the total freedom to behave as you wish and complete the mission. After playing Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, and more recently Thief: Deadly Shadows, it's refreshing to know you can just go in guns blazing. To hell with undercover, just bring it on! And, while SCPT makes a big deal of having two or three alternate routes through missions, you only have to play the Sanitarium level to realise Contracts is alternate routes gone mad!
But the thing that'll really make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end is that you do need to become like 47 to survive. At all times you have the power to risk his life, but you're compelled to take measured steps in order to complete missions in style.
Builds on everything we've come to admire about Hitman, which can only be a good thing. This version was kinda early, so let's see how the final code shapes up...
All of Agent 47's objectives are laid out in a detailed map of the area. Enemies are represented by a crossed circle - if they're alerted they show up red. Points of interest - a stash of clothes or useful person - are highlighted by exclamation marks. It's all very straightforward, just surviving is the hard part!
An inmate’s clothes left neatly on his bunk, waiting for you to wear them as a disguise
Guys are waiting at the rear of the plane, but there’s a chance you could sneak out front
Place the bombs where indicated, then get the hell out of the area before detonating
// At Your Service
Posing as someone else isn't just about dressing the part. When asked to deliver Opium to a guest in the Fetish Club, you must behave as though you've done this 100 times before. Even if you get so far without raising suspicion, there are routine searches to pass. If you're carrying anything other than standard-issue for the role, your cover will be blown. Of course, it's sometimes cool to wait for the Mini Uzi to be found. Surprise!
A search is ‘standard procedure’. Unless you like a challenge, discard all weapons first
Fresh tomatoes and all that jazz, dude. Where do you want me to drop this rabbit food?
Nobody can see your face or smell your fear when parading around in this stupid outfit
Best not to go running around like you need a pee at the train station, or you’ll be spotted
// The Smoking Gun
There's no hand of God to pluck you out of the game just because you triggered too many alarms, so Agent 47 has to stay in control at all times. When we attempted Massacre At The Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant, we thought we'd play it sneaky. Then we figured 'What the heck' and settled into some FPS-style shoot-outs. And if anything, Contracts handles better in FPS mode, at least in our opinion.
It gets noisy with all these rounds going off. Your ears will be ringing
The obligatory John Woo-style sequences with twin pistols claiming chunks of flesh!
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