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Hitman 2

Nick delivers the verdict on this massively popular stealth shooter.

It's one of life's universally acknowledged truths - Hitmen are cool. Swanning about in swanky suits spouting philosophy and generally being kick ass is definitely the way to go. Being primarily a crowd pleasing medium, it comes as no surprise to note the growing number of assassin-basedgames in the market today. The original Hitman: Codename 47 was one of the first to jump on this particular morally ambivalent bandwagon, and despite being pretty flawed in certain ways, didprovide a lot of enjoyment. With Hitman 2, IO Interactive have sought to repair the game's faults,and bring indiscriminate killing to a wider audience - laudable, in my opinion.

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Hitman 2 sees the player take control of the same mysterious character from the first game - the enigmatic 47, a genetically engineered killer with the dubious moral honour code that hitmeneverywhere seem to share. At the beginning of the proceedings 47 is retired, but dusts off his dualpistols when his priest buddy is kidnapped to force 47 to work for the mafia. Naturally, 47 takes this rather badly, and instead of complying with the mob's demands he opts for a more confrontational approach. And so begins his quest for retribution.

The game's basic style remains fairly similar to the original, and involves skulking arounda variety of complexes avoiding detection and doing what it takes to make your hit. The featured locales are much more ambitious this time round, however, and thankfully IO have seen fit to remove the ill-advised jungle levels which so ruined the atmosphere in the first game. Indeed, superiorlevel design is one of the greatest improvements Hitman 2 has to offer.

Levels are large, but also include a commendable amount of detail - it pays to sit backand explore quietly a little, since your reward will usually be a different way of approachingyour mark. The variety of levels is also laudable, and critically the vast majority are of a highstandard. Featured locations include a snow-bound St Petersberg, a Sicilian monastery and the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur. Levels vary in style from indoor labyrinthe affairs tomore open and spacious environments - notable for an impressive draw distance. Graphically things are nice, although a little bit static. It would have been nice to have a greater sense of immersion, but as it stands most of the environments offer only shallow attempts at creatinga believable environment. Hitman 2 also takes no advantage of the graphical niceties for whichthe Xbox is renowned. Where are the water reflections? I guess I'm just impatient for the developers to really get to grips with the console.

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1. Good review. One of the few I’ve read that doesn’t try and mask the games shortcomings under a tide of hyperbole and superlatives. The flaws within the game world are especially pertinent given the increasing amounts of freedom within games (spearheaded by Deus Ex and GTA3, as mentioned) … hopefully as more systemic design and construction styles replace the current typical ‘special case’ models then these kind of flaws will be less common and less accepted.

   DX2 don't fail us now!

   manah Tuesday, 29 October 2002, 15:56:47

2. I would say this is a fair review except for the reload issue. The black button will reload your weapon. I would say that is worth at least 3% to the score.

   ROBOGriff Wednesday, 30 October 2002, 09:11:45

3. My bad....just tested it there, and you're absolutely right. I could've sworn it didn't work before :)..... Note to self: check controls thoroughly in future...

   Nick McCrea Wednesday, 30 October 2002, 12:23:11

4. GREAT review!! I'm looking forward to buy Hitman 2.

   Poul Thursday, 31 October 2002, 12:00:24

5. Great game. Especially the animations. Very realistic and smooth and really add a lot of chracter to Mr.47. Level Design is great and graphics are just about right for its time...Good Replay value too...

   Nerve Monday, 4 November 2002, 16:05:33

6. The computer has a reload (r) button, so maybe you can program the xbox to have one too.

   Michael C. Thursday, 7 November 2002, 17:16:59

7. Its a wicked game to play, thats if you enjoy blowing people away a variety of weapons, but I think it is rock hard to play

   Joel Machin Monday, 1 September 2003, 06:52:35

8. On the XBOX version you can reload, simply press the WHITE BUTTON, 47 takes out the clip and replaces it with a nice new fresh one.

   Travis Wednesday, 8 October 2003, 13:52:53

9. Wow. I see why you call yourself "confused kid". You're a moron & you're mad because you don't understand "big words". Cussing works better, doesn't it, special ed? But since we're predicting? I predict you're low inbred trailor trash.

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