To help you pick out the best Hitman game, we’ve prepared a list of all of them, so that you would easily be able to make your decision. For the uninitiated, Hitman games revolve around a cloned assassin codenamed Agent 47, who is known for his extremely furtive ways of getting rid of his targets. Stealth forms a major aspect of this series, and the games reward you bountifully if you use that approach. Hitman games also succeed in testing your patience, for their high difficulty needs a lot of strategic decisions to take and waiting for the right moment to make your moves.
The first title from the series came out back in 2000, and the franchise is still running strong, with its latest entry having been released late last year. In this list, we’ll be talking about all of them to give you a clear lowdown on what the Hitman series is all about. And while we’d recommend you play each and every title from it, if you’re goal is to settle down for one you’ll most definitely be able to do that by the time we’re finished with the compilation. Here it goes them.
1 – Codename 47
The game that started it all, Hitman: Codename 47 acts as an origins story, telling you how the bald assassin came to be who he is now. He is depicted as a test subject who is being meticulously trained in the art of killing. He somehow manages to escape from the test facility, and is hired by a European contract killing organization call the Agency which is to be at the background of each and every game that followed. Released in 2000, Codename 47 rewards you for silent kills, and your weapons of choice can be anything from a garrote wire, a knife or silenced guns. A disguise system which became a trademark of the Hitman series later on was introduced through this game at first. This utterly memorable title is now available to purchase for Windows.
2 – Silent Assassin
If you’re looking for a long and gripping story, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin should most definitely suffice. Hardened Hitman fans never stop short of praising this game for its high difficulty as well. Orchestrating the killing of your targets can be done in a number of ways, and it’s this open-ended approach which makes the game such a delight to indulge in. Silent Assassin’s gameplay is given a unique angle by its suspicion system. When disguised, if you happen to behave contradictorily to the person you’re disguised as, the suspicion bar will fill up and ultimately break your cover. For instance, while dressed up as a Russian soldier, carrying an AK-47 in your arms will keep the suspicion meter at normal rather than carrying any other weapon.
3 – Contracts
In 2004 came Hitman: Contracts, and if you’d asks us to find one weak link in the entire series, we’d have to say it’s this one. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still a wonderful game to jump into, but compared to other titles from the Hitman series, it does not stand out in any way. This grim and dark offering features recreations of four levels that were presented by the first game in the series, apart from other interesting arenas to tread on. Gameplay mechanics are pretty much similar to those of Silent Assassin but a few minor tweaks for the better are indeed noticeable.
4 – Blood Money
This fourth entry to the series came out in 2007, and managed to take every Hitman fan out there with storm thanks to its ridiculously satisfying and endlessly thrilling stealth gameplay. Blood Money managed to refine the entire Hitman experience by means of some great new gameplay features. These include the ability to hold a human shield, enhanced unarmed combat, upgradable weapons and most importantly the facility to hide bodies of neutralized enemies in containers, so that others don’t raise an alarm on spotting them. The Agency, the organization for which Agent 47 is working for suddenly starts facing a threat to its existence when a rival company starts elimination its employees. Sensing that he is their next target, 47 travels to America and prepares to eliminate the new organization. With this gripping story and truly revamped gameplay, Blood Money indeed comes off as a breath of fresh air.
5 – Absolution
The latest offering in the lot, Hitman: Absolution is an absolute gem of a game to have on your systems. It kicks in some of the most brilliant open-ended levels the series has ever seen, and combines with them its slick gameplay in a pretty neat manner. Absolution is the first game from the series to exhibit such enthralling visuals. A grand color palette and fantastic lighting brings its environments to life like few other games can. It rewards patience and orchestrated kills, and its long yet exciting narrative binds it all together excellently. Furthermore, Absolution is the first title from the series to feature an online mode in the form of its Contracts mode which lets you create assassination contracts, and place them online for others to compete in.
Conclusion:
We hope these descriptions will help you in determining which is the best Hitman game you can purchase. There’s still time for another new game from the series to arrive, but it’s much certain to grace next-gen consoles like the PS4 and the Xbox One. So until then, we’d recommend that you finish these titles one by one, to prepare yourselves for the next entry. As we’ve mentioned besides their names, Silent Assassin, Contracts and Blood Money can be bought in the form of an HD bundle, adding tremendous value to the whole deal.