Hitman (computer game series)
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Hitman is a video game franchise available on most modern formats. It revolves around a man known as Codename 47 (usually simply referred to as 47), an assassin for hire, whose skills place him in high demand for jobs. The games contain a considerable amount of violence and are rated Mature (17+) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
The games were developed by Danish developer IO Interactive, now a division of Eidos Interactive. Three games have been released in the series: Hitman: Codename 47 (2000), Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), and Hitman: Contracts (2004). A fourth installment, titled Hitman: Blood Money, has been announced for a May 30th, 2006 release. A film, starring Vin Diesel as the lead character, is set to release in 2007. See Hitman (2007 film) for more details.
The games have been noted for their impressive musical scores by Jesper Kyd.
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Basic gameplay
All games of the Hitman series present players with choices in carrying out the game's missions. Players can perform precise assassinations or be incredibly brutal in their own approach to achieving mission goals; however, the game rewards the more subtle approach by giving special weapon rewards when players achieve the Silent Assassin rank (usually achievable by eliminating only the mission's target, and without raising the alarm doing so).
The gameplay revolves heavily around disguises, which the player uses to fool enemies and gain access to restricted areas. The focus of the Hitman series is not hiding in the shadows from the enemy, but rather blending in amongst them (although sneaking behind guards and avoiding patrols becomes more prevalent in the gameplay of later games).
The player's character, Agent 47, is not particularly maneuverable; he cannot jump at all, let alone scale walls or mantle up ledges (there are a couple of pre-scripted places where he can jump from one balcony to another, but these are rare). This generally limits the player to a single plane of movement, although he is often presented the opportunity to move to higher or lower areas through the use of ladders, stairs, elevators, or hills.
A major feature in the game is the "alert" meter, detailing how much attention the player is receiving from the public or guards and is dependent on many things. For example, Walking around in a guard's uniform with the correct corresponding gun won't gather much notice, whereas running around in a waiter's uniform in a restricted area while carrying a giant rifle instead of an appetizer tray will generally result in a massive firefight.
In terms of action, the Hitman series runs a middle ground between shooters and stealth games. Unlike most stealth game protagonists, 47 can survive considerable damage before dying. Combined with the game's impressive arsenal, this allows for some high-action firefights. At the same time, players are unable to heal 47's health in the middle of a level, which tends to encourage the player to avoid as much damage as possible especially in later levels, where enemies begin carrying high-powered weapons such as shotguns or sniper rifles that can kill 47 in one or two hits. In fact, many levels are possible to complete without firing a single shot; this style of gameplay looks set to become more prevalent in the new Hitman game, Blood Money.
Games
Hitman: Codename 47
The Hitman, Codename 47, wakes up strapped to a sparse bed in a padded room, in hospital garb. A disembodied voice over a loudspeaker releases him and subjects him to a series of obstacle courses where he is instructed in firearms and murder techniques. 47 is eventually led to a pair of guards, whom he murders in order to escape captivity. The story then picks up a few years later, rejoining 47 as a professional assassin in the employ of the International Contract Agency (ICA). 47 is sent around the globe on a series of missions to eliminate four global criminal masterminds, all while trying to unravel the secret behind his origin.
Unlike most shooters, where the player is thrust into a hostile world and must kill to survive, Hitman: Codename 47 generally takes place in neutral environments such as hotels, restaurants, or city streets, and the impetus is on 47 to initiate the violence. However, unlike later games in the series, violence is mandatory and there are several levels where getting into a large-scale gunfight against dozens of guards is inevitable. This is particularly true concerning a level that takes place in the Colombian jungle where the player battles South American drug soldiers, a level criticized by many players as being inconsistent with the "stealthy" tone of the game.
Compared to later games in the series, Hitman: Codename 47's gameplay is more simplistic. There is no "suspicion" meter, so guards will always leave 47 alone as long as he's wearing the right disguise, and not openly wielding a weapon which does not suit his attire. On a technological note, Hitman: Codename 47 was one of the first games to use the now popular ragdoll physics.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
After learning about his dark past and unnatural conception at the end of Hitman: Codename 47, 47 seeks refuge in a monastery in Sicily. Attempting to put his murderous past behind him he begins a new life as a simple church gardener.
Unfortunately, 47 is brought out of his soul-searching retirement when his host and friend Father Vittorio is kidnapped by the Mafia. Desperate to find his friend, 47 contacts the agency which used to employ him, asking for assistance. They use spy satellites to track Vittorio to the fortified mansion of Don Giuseppe Giulliani. 47 storms the mansion in an attempt to rescue Vittorio, killing Giulliani in the process. Upon entering the mansion's holding cell, though, 47 finds that it is empty, Vittorio having been kidnapped from Giulliani by the Russian Mafia.
The Agency now requests a job in return. 47 is once again performing hits for money, initially to finance the search for Father Vittorio, but eventually simply because he's fallen back into old habits. As in the previous game, the hits form an overall pattern, as a single influential client sends 47 across the world on the trail of components for a Nuclear Weapons System. The locations visited include India, Japan, Nurestan, the Petronas towers, Sicily and St. Petersburg.
Hitman 2 was a significant step forward in terms of the series' gameplay. Many of the criticisms of the original game were addressed in the sequel. The control scheme has been streamlined to be more along the lines of a standard FPS game. An optional first person perspective was added for those who want to play the game from the perspective. The stealth element was also improved with the addition of a "suspicion meter" which gave the player a visual indication of an enemy's suspicion level, based on 47's behavior (such as running indoors, wielding a weapon, or trying to sneak up behind their backs), causing them to attack him when the meter went high enough.
The game also introduced the "Silent Assassin" ranking system, in which the player is given a different rank based on the manner in which the game is played. A highly aggressive, non-stealthy player who kills everyone at the location will be branded a "Mass Murderer", while a stealthy player who manages to complete a level without being noticed and only killing the intended target will be rewarded with the highest rank of "Silent Assassin" as well as a bonus weapon such as dual wielded silenced .45 pistols. Thus, the game rewards the player for critical thinking and problem solving, encouraging the player not to treat the game as a simple shooter.
Controversy
The game caused controversy on its release due to a level featuring the killing of Sikhs within a depiction of their most holy site, the Harmandir Sahib. Eidos claimed that the "Sikhs" in the game weren't Sikh at all but simply guards, and the "temple" was a hospital. The game itself contradicts this however, when it refers to the site as a "Gurdwara" (Sikh temple). An altered version of Hitman 2 was eventually released on the GameCube and Windows platforms with the offending material removed from the game.
Hitman: Contracts
Published in 2004.
The hunter has become the hunted, as 47 is seriously wounded by one of his own targets, who seemed to have been expecting him. Bleeding to death and taking refuge in a hotel room somewhere in Paris, France, 47 drifts in and out of consciousness as an army of heavily armed French SWAT units converge around the apartment complex.
Hitman: Contracts' story centers around 47's flashbacks to earlier assignments. Many of the game's missions are re-imaginings of previous ones in the series. Almost all of the major missions from Hitman: Codename 47 have been re-made and included in Contracts; the exceptions being the Colombia levels, which were scheduled to be included but were dropped, and the final two levels (the first level of Contracts begins with the conclusion of the first game and the escape from the asylum in Romania where 47 was created). The locations visited include Budapest, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Paris, Romania, Rotterdam, Siberia and the United Kingdom.
The "suspicion" meter has been improved and is less twitchy and unpredictable than it used to be. Enemies generally will not see through a disguise, unless 47 stands right next to them for several seconds or enters a restricted area. They will also no longer open fire for little things, such as running or brushing past them. The graphics have also been marginally improved, with the addition of reflective surfaces and new shading techniques.
The game is darker than the previous two entries, literally and figuratively. Literally speaking, all of the levels either take place at dusk, nighttime, or during inclimate weather. No level features sunshine, or even just slightly overcast skies. The game's interiors are either poorly lit, take place in near blackness, or feature eerie, almost supernatural lighting ranging from green-hued fluorescent bulbs to candles. Several fans and reviewers have commented this effect is most likely due to how 47 has recalled them; as he is lying bleeding to death, these memories and thoughts are unlikely to be completely accurate, giving the game a nightmarish tinge in places. Jesper Kyd's fantastic composition also reflects this change of tone and is truly fascinating. Silent Assassin had an orchestral and epic score which created an heroic atmosphere, but the score of Contracts reflects the game's twisted and sinister mood perfectly through dark electronica tracks that could fit in a horror movie. Many fans consider Contracts' music the best of the series.
Several levels include disturbing imagery beyond what has been seen in the series' previous entries. The best example would be the second level called "The Meat King's Party", an S&M party taking place in a slaughterhouse. One scene in particular features the mutilated corpse of a teenage girl hanging upside down from a ceiling, wrapped in plastic; beneath her, the girl's obsessed kidnapper has created a shrine to her, centered around a large photo of the girl, on which he has written the word "BITCH" in her blood. A record player nearby plays Paul Anka's Put your head on my shoulder, while the girl's killer, an obese, semi-nude man in a bloody apron, cackles in what sounds like a clip from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Also in the same room, the ceiling is completely decorated with car air fresheners in form of pines, a tribute to the film Seven staring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman This same level features disturbing depiction of strong perverse and morbid sexual behaviors between people wearing leather masks and bondage outfits, and mating next to gory animal corpses and carcasses. In another level, the Thermal Bath Hotel, the player can stumble across a cordoned off police crime scene, which features a bathtub filled with blood and a mutilated corpse in the next room. By entering the adjoining wing of the building, the player can actually see the murdered man's ghost drifting around the halls and reflected in bathroom mirrors.
All this adult material makes Contracts the darkest and most violent Hitman to date.
Hitman: Blood Money
The upcoming fourth installment in the series, Hitman: Blood Money deals with 47's contract agency, the ICA, being systematically wiped out in a series of hits. Fearing that he is the ultimate goal of these killings, 47 flees to America where he offers his services as an assassin-for-hire.
According to the official website, the only confirmed locations are Paris (the mission that backfired on 47 in Contracts), the Rocky Mountains, Mississippi, San Diego and Las Vegas. It also seems a Louisiana bayou and New Orleans will be part of the fun. 47 will have more choices about how to execute his operations. If, for example, he makes his killings look like accidents, little suspicion will fall upon him. If, however, he goes on a rampage, his face will be printed all over newspapers, causing people – including the target – to flee when they first see him.
In the previous three games, there was no such repercussion for killing sprees, other than the fact that the highest possible rating cannot be attained. 47 will have new ways to approach missions as well. He can now dispose of bodies more efficiently, (i.e. hiding them in lockers or dumpsters) and can now use people as human shields. 47 will also use close-combat moves such as disarming an opponent with armlocks, and headbutts.
47 can also use the money he earns for certain things. In Codename 47, the only game in the series with interactive money, 47 would spend his earnings on weapons. In Blood Money it can be used for hush money, weapons deals, bribes, etc.
47's exploits now appear in newspapers. The player can read what is being written about 47 and his handywork. The point is, of course, to make it as non-descript as possible, to make all of the killings appear to have no connection to foul play. The game is expected to be released in early 2006.
Major or re-occurring characters
- 47
- A genetically engineered assassin created from the recombinant DNA of five of the world's most dangerous criminal masterminds. His name comes from the last two digits of a bar code on the back of his head.(640509-040147) He is a tall, blue-eyed, bald, no-nonsense individual, who prefers a well-tailored suit and tie and who has a barcode stamped to the back of his head. Tailored from conception to be a ruthless killing machine, 47's strength, speed, and stamina are significantly above the human norm, and he possesses a single-minded, cunning intellect.
- Raised in the sterile environment of the laboratory and trained in the fine arts of infiltration and execution, 47 gravitated towards the profession of Hitman upon his release into the real world, joining and eventually becoming the top assassin in the International Contract Agency. Yet, in spite of his creator's best efforts, 47 still possesses a fierce individuality and the spark of a conscience, a fact which greatly vexes his creator.
- Although he's usually cold and to the point in his dealings with others, 47 can at times be quite introspective, especially when he's contemplating his own existence. He has no qualms and will kill anyone for money (from corrupt crime lords, to unfortunate opera singers, to a former Governor of Massachusetts), and shows no mercy whatsoever towards said targets. However 47 can be kind, freeing a kidnapped prostitute in Contracts as well as taking a certain professional pride in not creating any collateral damage. He has demonstrated a degree of mercy towards those people not on his kill list (for example, in Hitman: Contracts, 47 knocks out a butcher with the blunt end of a meat hook, rather than cutting out his throat with the sharp tip) and even setting free other agents.
- 47 is voiced by David Bateson.
- Diana
- 47's controller at the Agency. Diana gives 47 his assignments, briefs him on his missions, and occasionally serves as his guide over the radio. 47 has never actually seen Diana face-to-face, and is familiar only with her voice. She appears to have a serious, business-like demeanor, as well as an American idea of what an English accent is like (whether this is a lacking in the area of voice acting or an intentional reflection on the character is unknown). Diana was seated behind 47 on a plane giving him a briefing at the end of Hitman Contracts. She can be considered an unseen character.
- Dr. Ort-Meyer
- 47's creator and the ultimate villain of Hitman: Codename 47. A brilliant and dangerous individual. Expelled from the scientific community for his radical theories on genetic manipulation, Ort-Meyer has spent almost half a century combining and manipulating DNA in an effort to create an army of perfect super-soldiers. He was responsible for raising and indoctrinating 47 at his asylum, where 47 was kept as a virtual prisoner for most of his life. Ort-Meyer eventually engineered 47's "escape" from the asylum in order to test his performance in the real world. The consummate megalomaniac, Ort-Meyer used his powerful hold over the Agency to manipulate 47 into killing the other 4 masterminds behind the Hitman Project, so that Ort-Meyer could have the fruits of his labor all to himself. Ort-Meyer then attempted to have 47 himself eliminated, having perfected "Mr. 48", an improved, mindlessly loyal series of clones. Ort-Meyer underestimated 47's abilities, and in the final showdown, 47 eliminated the Mr. 48s and Ort-Meyer himself.
- Agent Smith
- A fairly inept American secret agent with ties to the CIA and the Agency. He has an unfortunate tendency to be captured and tortured by the very people he's assigned to spy on. As a result, the Agency has sent 47 to rescue him on a number of occasions. His torture experiences have caused him to take up drinking on the job, making him even more ineffective. Smith is about as close to a comic relief character as the Hitman series has.
- Like 47, Agent Smith dons a variety of disguises, but most often he's seen beaten and stripped down to his American Flag boxer shorts. He seems to regard 47 as a friend, no doubt because 47 has rescued him so many times. Of course, the feeling is not mutual. 47 sees Smith as an ineffective hindrance.
- Mei-Ling
- A young woman from the Chinese mainland, abducted and recruited into the brothel of Hong Kong crimelord Lee Hong. 47 rescues her in exchange for information about her employer in preparation for assassinating him. After escaping from Lee Hong, Mei-Ling somehow ends up hooking up with Hayamoto, yet another Asian crime lord, and 47 ends up rescuing her again (much to his consternation).
- Mei-Ling is apparently the only woman 47 has ever kissed, an experience 47 did not seem to enjoy that much, since 47's conditioning apparently includes a strong lack of interest in sexuality in general (in the original Hitman, 47 reacted to that kiss with significant revulsion. In the remake Hitman: Contracts, 47's reaction has been changed to one of detached bemusement). She was known as Lei Ling in Hitman: Codename 47; the reason for the this change remains unclear.
- Sergei Zavorotko
- The central villain of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. An influential Russian crime lord and arms dealer specializing in the transport of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons (NBC weapons). Sergei is the employer and older brother of Boris, one of 47's five "fathers", although he is much more powerful than Boris ever was.
- Sergei brought 47 out of retirement by arranging for the kidnapping of 47's friend Father Vittorio, then anonymously arranged through the Agency for 47 to perform a series of hits on his business partners. The hits were merely a diversion, however, and in reality Sergei was using 47 to assemble the parts of a Nuclear Missile System capable of penetrating the American Missile Shield, a system Sergei planned to sell to a wealthy Sikh doomsday cult for a considerable sum of money.
- Like 47, Sergei has incredible strength and durability, capable of smashing through wooden walls and surviving a few dozen bullets to the chest. He's no superhuman, though, and dies after a single headshot or 3–4 shotgun blasts. He's very temperamental and often peppers his speech with Russian profanities. He also always carries around a large SPAS-12 shotgun.
- Mystery Man
- A mysterious man in a black suit. Little is known about his past other than the fact that he himself claims to have seen 47 while in Rotterdam, presumably during Hitman: Codename 47. He first appears in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin as an advisor to Sergei, he is the one who brings 47 to the attention of Sergei. Ultimately, he convinces Sergei to put out a hit on 47, leading to 47 learning about and killing Sergei. A couple of cutscenes towards the end of the game suggest he is really manipulating Sergei for a higher power. He may be related to the "Rival Agency" in Hitman: Blood Money. He is also been given the nickname G-Man by some fans because of his similarity to the Half-Life character.
- The Albino
- 47's nemesis in Hitman: Blood Money. Mark Pachezzi III aka "The Albino" is an expert assassin and a master of disguises who's able to blend into the background like a chameleon to carry out subversive operations.
Methods of execution
The Hitman series permits the player to kill targets (or non-targets) in a variety of silent, innovative or even sadistic ways. In Contracts, melée weapons such as knives can be used to kill in several different ways including forward stabs, horizontal throat slitting, frontal slashes, repeated stabs under the ribcage or a thrust to the side of the head. Along the course of some missions, 47 can also run a sword (or a pool cue) through the back of an unsuspecting person, tear through the back of skulls with a meathook, as well as electrocute, drown, boil, strangle, axe, bomb, suffocate, poison, crush or stab some of his adversaries. Wounded people can be quickly prevented from drawing attention to themselves by being beaten to death with pool cues or the butt of a gun.
To achieve the coveted silent assassin rank, 47 must often sneak behind the mark and use his fiber wire to strangle a (usually male) mark. The system for getting a "Silent Assassin" rating in Contracts is generally more forgiving of shooting your target, provided it is done with one unheard bullet. A number of other targets require poison in milk, whiskey, soup, or tea. One hit can be accomplished by shooting the mark through a pillow or suffocating him. Another can be done by throwing a gas can down a chimmney, or stabbing him with a fire poker while his hopelessly inebriated friend sits close by. The silent assassin approach to the Lee Hong hit culminates in removing Hong's food taster, either through poison (causing an alert) or laxative (temporarily causing him to leave). In the first game, a player can even kill a mark, who's having problems with heart, by increasing the steam pressure in sauna.
Contracts' arguably most elaborate hit involves disguising 47 as a SWAT team member, and then participating in a raid. It has been speculated that this mission was inspired by the finalé of the movie Léon, in which the title character (a contract killer) uses similar methods in a similar scenario.
Excluding a few special cases, most of those who appear in the series can only realistically be killed with firearms, bladed weapons or by being bludgeoned with blunt objects. The standard weapons for 47 include a piano wire with which to garrot, a pair of Arcadia Hardballers and on occasion a sniper rifle. In addition to these weapons, hitman can also take scores of weapons from guards, police, targets or cachés across the series. Other weapons, often appearing under different names include;
Ranged weaponry
Handguns
- Beretta 92 (1)
- AMT Hardballer (1) (3)
- Desert Eagle (2)
- Luger Pistol
- Derringer
- Colt Python
- Makarov
- S&W Model 500 (2)
- Arms Moravia CZ-G2000 (2)
- Sig P220 (1) (3)
- Glock 17 (2)
- Ruger MK II (1)
Shotguns
Machine pistols and Submachine guns
Military Rifles
- AK 47 variants, particularly AK 74 and AKS-74U (1)
- M4 Carbine (1)
- M60 machine gun
Heavy Weapons
Melée Weapons
- Chloroform
- Captive bolt pistol
- Axe
- Katana
- Jian
- Golf club
- Meat hook
- Kitchen knife
- Piano wire/Garrotte
- Combat knife
- Scalpel
- Electroshock gun
- Meat cleaver
- Fire poker
- Shovel
Explosives
- Remote detonated carbomb
- Improvised explosive devices
Notes: (1) indicates that this weapon can feature a suppressor, (2) indicates that it is possible to wield two of these weapons at the same time, (3) indicates that it is possible to wield dual suppressed versions of these weapons.
External links
- Official Hitman: Codename 47 website
- Official Hitman 2: Silent Assassin website
- Official Hitman: Contracts website
- Official Hitman: Blood Money website
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- Hitman fansite and forum
- Hitman Humour fan comic
- DieselPower for Hitman 2da:Hitman
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