Hitman: Blood Money

Format Xbox

Developer Io Interactive

Publisher Eidos Interactive

Genre Action, Adventure

The developer shifts in his chair. He is clearly uncomfortable. "Yeah, it happens all the time," laughs Hitman game director Rasmus Højengaard nervously while we're badgering him about the forthcoming Hitman: Blood Money. Really? You've actually had to ditch some forms of assassination because they're too extreme?

"Usually what you see in the game are extreme ideas that have been given a family treatment," he says. "That's the approach we vouch for." As in the Manson family? Because if this is considered 'family', with the raft of new weapon upgrades and lethal new game modes, we don't want to come round for dinner thank you very much.

Agent 47 is back. Ladies and gentlemen, start your screaming... Since our last shadowy encounter with baldilocks, a lot has happened to Agent 47. His mentor has been murdered, he's lost the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and to top it all it appears he's getting a little bit lazy. And getting lazy means opportunists trying to muscle in on your patch, which for Agent 47 means the appearance of a rival hitman stalking the streets and taking hits off his book. Could it be the insidious slaphead is losing his touch? He's a bit too old for all this killing malarkey now, surely?

"He will never be too old - it's in his genes man! He'll probably die with his Silver ballers tightly clenched in his fists." His what? "Oh sorry - his guns." Okay then. But surely he's lost his touch if the rumours of another hitman are true? There can't be room for two top killers in the world.

"Well, the good old hunter-becomes-the-hunted scenario seemed to be a very nice foundation for a character like 47. We also wanted to create a very large and multilayered story, so we could make a tasty blend of intrigue and twists and turns," says Højengaard.

The 'hunter' in question is a rival hitman, another master of murder who is out to screw up Agent 47's life, big time. We're talking about him not only trying to assassinate 47, but force him into highly volatile conditions where situations can quickly go tits-up. It's this new story element that gives Blood Money the new game mechanic. You'll have to buy off witnesses (or murder them, of course), but you'll also have to consistently alter your appearance to evade assassination, or to prevent drawing unwanted attention to yourself.

"We wanted to add some dynamics to the gameplay. Hitman is not really a shooter, and it's not really a stealth game - it's a balance of both," says Højengaard. "We wanted the game to have consequences if you just went in guns blazing. That's where the new Notoriety system comes in.

"If you just kill like mad, and leave witnesses, it will have consequences later on in the flow of the game. The levels will get harder, people will start to recognise you, and your picture will be all over the newspapers. This kind of paranoia and suspicion adds a lot of spice, as well as giving you feedback as you play through the game. If people start pointing, you know you're not being careful enough."

So what do you do to counter that, then? Surely some sort of disguise would help, short of chasing down every last witness and running them through.

"Well, Hitman has got many new cool disguises, but I won't tell you too much about them. You're just going to have to experience them all in the final game." Fine, be elusive then. See if we don't pop a cap in your ass, or something. Okay, tell us about this amazing new 'Blood Money' feature, then. Højengaard smiles. It's clear this is something he's proud of.

"The money acts as several things. It of course acts as a score, but the coolest thing you can spend it on are all the nice upgrade gadgets for your five signature weapons. They can all be upgraded with between ten and 20 different add-ons. Apart from altering the appearance of the gun, you can add upgrades that affect the weapon's power, stability, precision and noisiness."

"Your money will also be spent on clean-ups after your mission", says Højengaard. "The more of a mess you make, the more money you're going to have to spend to clean it up. If the going gets too tough you can even use your money to lower your notoriety. Heck, you can even buy new identities, or if you're stuck on a level and need some help, you can buy additional help in the form of hints."

All handy stuff, we're agreed, but we don't want to be stealthy all the time for fear of being seen by a few measly passers-by - we've got to have some gratuitous gore in there. Are there ever any times where you're encouraged to cause a scene? Are there any 'anti-rewards' for being particularly noisy or violent? We're poking his arm at this point, with a stern look on our face.

"Well, you can get all kinds of weird mission ratings if you take strange and exceptionally violent approaches to the game. We don't really encourage specific playing styles much, but of course some places are better for shootouts or for rigging potential 'accidents'," he says.

But IO Interactive isn't about to start putting signposts up showing us where and when to go mad with a rifle. We've played the Vegas level and it seems a much more open-ended game than before. "Yes, the levels are more open-ended. There are several reasons for this, one being that they are quite big. The levels have also been designed to support openness, though there are always hints and pointers on hand so the player doesn't get frustrated. There are so many new things you can do that we needed to really think through every little detail of a level to make everything neatly balanced."

And every little detail is still being addressed as well. Although IO is unable to produce an online Hitman game just yet, it is certainly within its sights. According to Højengaard, the idea is "always in our heads". Until that day, we're going to have to learn to put an end to our hunted status, and reclaim the rank of 'top assassin'.

With hints that Diana, 47's hot chocolate-voiced controller, is returning, plus an as-yet-unannounced collection of locations spanning the globe, there is still much to be uncovered in Blood Money. Even pointing a couple of fingers at Højengaard in the shape of a pistol doesn't help. Tell us something no one else knows, we scream a little too theatrically. He's having none of it. "If you search the basement of the Paris Opera level, you might be able to find some really strange critters...", he says.

Official Xbox Magazine staff