The definitive Hitman experience
I've held off on writing a review for Blood Money for a while, solely because I found it hard to put into words the excellence with which it pulls off its intended goals. However, with my recent playthrough of Absolution, I felt I needed to explain just to what degree Blood Money succeeds in embellishing the best that the Hitman series has to offer.
After Hitman: Contracts, it isn't hard to see why many Hitman fans were dismayed with how the Hitman series was progressing. After the challenging, yet admittedly fun Silent Assassin, Contracts turned out to be merely a rehash of the first game's levels, and seemingly a step-back for the unique series. Yet when Blood Money came out, the series experienced a sort-of rebirth, with fresh graphics, new features, and a real story that reinvigorated the franchise.
It's difficult to describe just what makes Blood Money great. Perhaps it's the missions, each of which is interesting and memorable. Each mission has innumerable methods of completion that even I, after around six years of on-and-off playing, have yet to explore. Whether it's the classic and challenging "Silent Assassin" run, which involves only the fatality of your target and the subtlety of a Japanese ninja, the blunt yet effective run-and-gun technique, or any variation in between, the game never gets old. This is in part due to much better level design. No longer are you trekking across snow-covered Russian towns and endless hallways and sewers, but exploring South American vineyards, European theatres, and even the White House itself. This contributes to a much more enjoyable game experience in all.
Unlike Absolution, however, Blood Money doesn't throw aside the Hitman series' emphasis on stealth for enjoyment. In fact, getting that exalted "Silent Assassin" rating is one of the most thrilling parts of the game. Though it may seem counter intuitive to game design--"kill as few enemies as possible," that is--the game exceeds in pleasing with its tense and exciting moments. Picking the right time to take out your target, in contrast to most games' emphasis on taking out a target as soon as possible, is undeniably the most defining part of the series.
Also unlike Absolution, Blood Money grants you a quicksave system, which does much more than in most games, allowing you to revise, rather than replay, sections of your game. Instead of going for the most obvious path to completion, which the game fortunately makes clear for the new player, it's easy to try out new paths and tactics. You get fewer quicksaves the higher you set the difficulty, but at normal difficulty, endless fun awaits the imaginative. The quicksave system is such an important part of the game that I'd go so far as to state that its absence in Absolution is one of its main faults. Trial-and-error is one of the most important parts of any Hitman game, and to force the player to get through a level without the ability to revise his or her decisions is a major design error.
Blood Money, after more than a half-decade in the market, may seem a bit archaic by today's standards. The graphics have show their age for a while, and the AI can, at times, contribute to a major feeling of frustration. The number of models the game has can be counted on two hands, and the game's lack of explicit action may disappoint Call of Duty fans used to major setpieces and gunplay. However, should you decide to pick up Blood Money, perhaps after a stint with Absolution or as a new Hitman series player, I'll wager that you won't be disappointed. The game is often dirt-cheap on Steam sales, and is still one of my most-played games today. A must-buy.
