I recently have been playing the Hitman series in anticipation for the latest entry. I took the Bombcast's recommendation and am playing them in reverse order so it would be easier to adapt to the earlier games' "quirks" once I had gotten a decent understanding of how the games play. Blood Money was fantastic and probably the most interesting game I have played in a while. Contracts was solid even if not quite up to par with Blood Money. Silent Assassin however seems incredibly difficult to get used to even after playing the last two games. The AI is way too paranoid, shooting you if you run or if they come within a few feet of you, walking and sneaking is incredibly slow, and levels feature too many wide open spaces.

Does this entry just take a little getting used to or are my problems something I will have throughout the entire game? Am I simply wrong about this game and too stupid to understand it?

I am in no way saying I think this game is horrible. Just that its flaws have not stood the test of time. I am curious about what other fans think about this entry?

@Rainbowkisses: I really think playing them in reverse was a stupid suggestion. I've also been doing a series playthrough (started last year) since I had only ever played the first game back when it came out.

What you're describing is exactly the reason why it's not a good idea to play in reverse. Systems get more refined, the interface becomes more comfortable to deal with and more complexity gets introduced. Let alone the fact that Hitman Contracts remixes a lot of the missions from the very first game which makes no sense if you haven't played that one before it (though story wise, the games are forgettable anyways).

Starting with Hitman: Codename 47, you get a very basic introduction. You've got your trusty fiber wire and can buy all the extra weapons you need. There's no real reward for going through a mission without any hiccups. It focuses more on self-imposed guidelines and lets the players fool around at will.

Hitman 2 introduces the mission rating system. It becomes desirable to reach a Silent Assassin rank on each mission by figuring out what the sneakiest way is to achieve the goal by circumventing most guards and only tranquillizing only very few people due to the limited supply of anesthetic you have. It becomes a somewhat more complex game with additional layers added on top of the basic assassin-simulator.

Hitman: Contracts takes these systems, makes things quite a bit smoother and more comfortable to play while taking most of the cool missions from the first game, remixing them with changed level design, additional goals and new ways to approach the situation. It also adds brand new missions. Again, the game encourages playing for the silent assassin rating and wants players to experiment even more. It further refines the controls and UI, makes sneaking faster and revamps the tranq-mechanic a little.

I have only just started playing Hitman: Blood Money so I can't say how that evolves ultimately. Though I can already say that it's very weird how they completely changed the control system in that game when you've grown very accustomed to the way things behaved in the first three games. There seems to be a host of new stealth mechanics like hiding in closets and dumping bodies in boxes so they don't get seen which is very cool.

I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would recommend playing these games in reverse. It basically means you get stuff taken away from you and you end up with a visually worse experience every time you put in the next game. Gameplay becomes slower and "harder" because you're already used to the more refined version. It really seems like a completely idiotic suggestion. You adapt to the "quirks" by starting with their purest form and not going from a more modern control scheme backwards to a more atypical one that gets progressively "worse" as you go backwards.

Playing them chronologically is absolutely the better call, in my opinion. I've loved them all and I'd say they have all aged very well since the core stealth gameplay that offers a wide variety of solutions and possible approaches is pretty much timeless.

I have played Hitman Codname 4 a ton on pc. never completed it as a save file gets courrupted or a whole new pc or what not.

I have completed Blood money many times. I swear i have 5 silent assassin rateing on pro but the ahievment has bugged. I also played contracts to a point and its was wonky and weird to play. Hitman 2 is just weird.

I too popped it into my xbox 1 to play it as i had played ps2 in past. and jesus just as you said OP they are paranoid as hell. I am dressed a postman...I should walk through the gates...on nope too close they shoot me. Try again. I walk he says stop I do ok I get through the gtes. A guard spots me and tell me to leave I do so he gets closer and says leave...and nope I am now to close he shoots me.....when i was out of restricted area and i complied with him..he got up in my face.

I just dont think I can do it. fucking no matter what I do I get shot. Its just over sensative. Hitman 1 wasnt. Hitman contracts just asked stupid things of you and I just ended up running and gunning.

While blood money...its sane. its a little quirky...but it works.