by Eidos
Eidos' unorthodox killing machine returns for a second outing, this time gracing the Playstation 2 for the first time, in a stealth based game of intrigue, murder, and action...
I have to be honest before I start and say that these type of games generally don't appeal to me. I count myself amongst those who wasn't particularly drawn to or excited by Metal Gear Solid 2, and to me Hitman 2 seemed like just another stealth based game that wasn't going to grab my attention.
Your character, an assassin codenamed 47, has made every effort to distance himself from his past life and has taken solitude in a monastery. However, he is wanted back on the job and a Russian crime lord has kidnapped your mentor and friend, the priest at the monastery, and is forcing you to work for him. You contact your former agency for help in rescuing him and they agree as long as you are willing to take on a job for them...
So you are left with no choice but to revert back to your shady existence and as underworld assassin, armed to the teeth and trained for stealth and skilled in a range of termination techniques.
Your mission starts out with a task to eliminate a mafia boss, but things soon take a turn for the worse as you find yourself falling deeper and deeper into your old routine as your travel the world trying to rescue your friend.
Each of the levels is well designed and differs greatly from the one before, in terms of mission objectives, structure and the whole look and feel. It may only be a minor point, but there is nothing I find more irritating than playing a game for a while, completing a level then finding the next one to seem almost identical.
The game offers a wide range of weapons at your disposal - lethal and non-lethal, and every mission offers a variety of ways of completing them. Whether you try to sneak around with a minimal loss of life, or go in guns blazing is entirely up to you. Both work just as well, and require equal levels of skill and precision.
There are a variety of other gadgets you can use in your missions include binoculars, night vision goggles, lock picks and many more. If you can make use of it, it's probably somewhere in the game. One innovative idea for this type of game is that pieces of equipment and weapons that you find during each mission can be carried on into the next, giving you a much greater choice of weapons at your disposal.
Despite the rather suspect subject matter at the heart of the game, it offers an engaging storyline and you gain an immense degree of satisfaction as you complete each mission in this strangely compelling game. Being able to vary your style of play between stealth and action helps Hitman 2 to appeal to a much wider audience, myself included.
If you choose the stealth mode of attack, you can hide in the shadows, sneak up on opponents quietly and either attack them, use chloroform to render them unconscious, or a fiber wire to strangle them silently and effectively. Once you have done this, you have to make sure that the bodies aren't discovered and if necessary, take their clothes as a disguise to allow you to explore your surroundings unnoticed.
The controls do take some getting used to and I felt that this was the game's weakest aspect. Some moves are not as easy to perform as they should be and sometimes you will find yourself struggling with the controls to do what you really want. Also, there are times when your positioning needs to be so precise that it can make certain stealth attacks more of a chore than they need to be.
The visuals in Hitman 2 are absolutely stunning. The character animation is superb, with fantastically detailled backgrounds. There are so many little touches to the scenery that you could be distracted from the main objective at hand. It doesn't matter which viewpoint you use either - first or third person - it still looks fabulous.
Sound is even better though. The sound effects and speech are crystal clear and the effects are incredibly realistic. From gun shots to footsteps, cars to ambient sound effects, it all makes for a convincing game world. One of the most impressive sounds for me was on the second mission in a snow-covered city. Everywhere you walked you could hear the snow crunching beneath your feet. Breathtaking.
The highlight has to be the music though. The game has an incredible score composed by one-time Amiga musician, Jesper Kyd, and has been recorded by a ful 130-piece orchestra - the most ambitious score ever arranged for a game. It really adds to the tension of the game and stresses the magnitute of the task at hand.
On first impressions, the control system and the difficult level left me feeling rather cold, but after repeated playing I really started to enjoy this and was getting drawn into the game more and more, and I think what saves this is the option to be able to go into each situation with a full-on assault. I can see the appeal that it would have to a lot of the games playing public. If you enjoyed the original on the PC, or if you are a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, then you won't go wrong with this, but otherwise, you might want to look elsewhere.
It's a pity that the Christmas period for Eidos is missing it's two big games (the latest instalments in the Tomb Raider and Championship Manager series) and is reliant on this and Timesplitters 2, neither of which have sold particularly well. It's going to be a tough time for Eidos, and games with limited appeal like this are not really going to help.
Overall - 84% - Reviewer: Simon Plumbe
