Hitman: Codename 47

The difficulty is intense through most of the game. Even the training which is required might take the average gamer several attempts to complete it. Top this with a no save feature and a game that crashes for seemingly no good reason and you might annoy the average gamer. I'm proud to say that I used no cheat or hint Manuel to complete this game. Though there were times when I actually went searching for one and luckily did not find one (right now in 2002 the Manuals are out of print). I believe a save feature (limited) should have been added, at least when the game crashes you will not have to re-start. There are thirteen levels (training, plus three parts(each part contains four levels)) which might seem kind of short but not when you have to repeat each level a horrendous amount of times. Eidos and IO Interactive also added a lot of puzzle solving in Part three which will lengthen playing time a lot. I found that you can beat most levels in one try by referring to the briefing. The information in the briefing is quite good, providing list of objectives, map, and other useful information. On average the briefing contains two-thirds of the information needed to beat the level; the rest can be done by simply playing the level and making quick decisions. (4.5/5 We all have been asking for tougher games - 0.5 for no limited save feature)

The level design is both genius and flawed throughout the game. You encounter a lot of exotic locations (Hong Kong, Columbia, Budapest, Rotterdam Harbor, and an Insane Asylum) with the ultimate task to kill these six bosses: Lee Hong, Pablo Belisario Ochoa, Arkadij Jegorov AKA "Boris", Dr. Odon Kovacs, and Professor Ort-Meyer. Obviously not every level will give you the task of whacking the boss but usually these levels do a good job by tying in with the story. For all you sharp shooters out there I saw only one level where using the sniper rifle was really beneficial (big disappointment) but the use of car bombs, poison, and other cool odd ways to kill your mark make up for that short coming. Not every level can be accomplished stealthy (I thought this game was about a Hitman?) some you have to go Doom style to succeed, or maybe I just didn't see another option. The levels that I witnessed that can be accomplished stealthy are one, two, three, eight, nine, and eleven. Four and ten can be done mostly by using stealth but in some instances you have to resort to Doom style. While five, seven, and thirteen are pure Doom levels. Six in my opinion was a filler all you had to do was run from point A to B, this can be done without firing a single shot and this is by far the easiest level in the game. (3.75/5 could have been easily a perfect 5 but the Doom style missions brought it down)

Storyline is weak; throughout most of the game you pay very little attention to the story until it turns totally bizarre and spoils the Hitman motif. Turns out you're a clone among 48 (you're the 47th) and the bar code on the back of you're head is a quick way to identify you. This conclusion left a sour taste in my mouth. At least while the story was weak it went with the Hitman motif but the last two levels turned this into a Sci-Fi game. (3/5 I took two off for the terrible concluding storyline and the weak storyline at the beginning)

Game play is very addictive. The designers actually make you feel like a Hitman. The suit the atmosphere is one of the best you will see in a game of its kind. The bugs though quickly overshadow this wonderful aspect of the game. A game that crashed more times on my PC ( 3 GHZ, Radeon 128mb DDR 9700 Pro, and 1034 DDR Ram, and Windows XP). I do not usually see problems, no game but this has even crashed on my PC. Other bugs included elevators that make your body disappear, small leaves from plotted plants that prevent you from going forward, and other glitches. To enjoy and successfully finish this game you got to not pay attention to the abundant flaws but work at the good aspects of the game. (4.5/5 took 0.5 for the bugs this was very generous of me)

The music is mediocre, several good songs are present but the rest is just ordinary. All the songs though do a nice job contributing to the theme of Hitman. (4/5 the songs did a good job of setting an atmosphere of being a Hitman top this off with two good songs and you get an okay rating; the rest of the songs were okay)

Final Verdict:
3.95/5 Stars
B -

I would not recommend this to everyone, only to a gamer looking for a challenge, a gamer who is patient and is willing to dedicate his time to this project. Also a gamer who has always dreamed of becoming a Hitman.

Look forward for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. :)

1) often the puzzles are logically inconsistent. At one point you have to kill a limo driver, but later on the limo is driven off -- by WHO??? In another level, you have to pretend to be a guy working at a club, so you can get to a point to also pretend to be a patron of the club.

2) The game consists of a series of assassinations. Each one requires planning to get the job done, which is reasonable; but often the planning requires information that can only be found by playing the level then losing, then playing the level again. This is kind of missing the point of the planning parts of the game. It's not really "planning" when all your doing is playing then finding out what doesn't work.

3) You can't save in the middle of a level. This is annoying enough, but it's really annoying when you're in the middle of a level then the game crashes.