Hitman: Silent Assassin [Updated]
Codename 47 returns to the gaming community with scores of new features to look forward to. Come see our newly updated preview of Eidos's upcoming thriller.
Published: May 1, 2002
For those of you who have never played Hitman: Codename 47 - of which I'm sure there are many - and the ones that have - and loved it - don't be too concerned with its demise. Io Interactive's first official player has returned for an encore, and what looks to be like a promising one at that. The original was only released for the PC and, as you might have gathered from the title, was one of the most violent games I have ever played. Codename 47 had the potential, in my opinion, to be one of the greatest PC games ever created, but an unheard amount of flaws hindered this option. With the surprising sequel being made, however, Io has the will power to take this game to its deserved glory, and best of all its coming to the PlayStation 2. Recently, Eidos Interactive released specifics on its newest thriller, Hitman: Silent Assassin. Cool name, huh?
For those of you who are not fans of PC gaming or if you have never played the first Hitman, here's a little run down on what the game is all about. (As if the title doesn't explain it all.) You take the role of an emotionless, faceless man whose main purpose in life is to become a tool for various nations' armies. You, Codename 47, become the first working prototype ever created, though with one single flaw: you are uncontrollable. You escape an insane asylum and find a job as a hitman working for an unknown government, known to you only as "The Agency." Throughout the game you're tasked with taking out many important characters threatening to compromise the nations you work for.
The cool name isn't the only thing to look forward to, though, as everything from the ground up has been revamped, in what amounts to a completely different game from the original. Silent Assasin features a third person view because it is the easiest to incorporate with a game pad. Two moves that were left out of the original game were jumping and crawling, which makes you wonder how it even survived; fortunately for the sequel, this has changed. Another limitation to Codename 47 was the inability to save the game, as if the game wasn't hard enough! Were they mad? (No save feature? They must have been high.) Believe it or not, the game never had the choice to save, and Io never developed a patch. Fear not, however, returning players; they have added the common feature to save, but with a limited number of them.
Missions will be spread across locales all over the world, including; Sicily, St. Petersburg, Japan, Malaysia, India, and you guessed it, Afghanistan. The game will have no "Blast the Living Hell"-style missions; rather everything will have a stealth-focused slant. Hitman 2 will, on every level, have the option to complete the objectives without being noticed and if you choose this option you will be rewarded with goodies.
The list of upgrades from the first game is significant. Bullet penetration is probably the coolest new feature added to the sequel. Each gun has a set level of force as normal, but for example if you see a guard through a key hole on the opposite site of a door, depending on the type of gun you can actually shoot through the door to kill him in a more discrete way. More advanced inventory selection has also been added, so each mission has a set amount and type of weapons to be used in the planned hit. Trying to bring a mini-gun into an office building? Sorry, not going to happen. Say you're new to a weapon and are unfamiliar on how to use it? Not to worry, Io has got you covered. Between each mission is a short training mode to help you test out your new weaponry. After all, there's nothing better than shooting at dummies to get used to the feel of a new assassination tool.
A great feature that hasn't been lost is the many different ways to take out your target. For instance, in a hospital mission, it is your job to eliminate a mafia boss. You can silence each bodyguard and kill the patient while they're unconscious, or when the patient undergoes surgery have him die on the operating table, while you are disguised as a surgeon. It's obvious that with the second game, a serious effort has been made to approach each mission as a real hitman would, rather than just firing bullet after bullet into different targets.
While most of the weapon selection from the first game remains, new, more silent offerings include surgeon's knives and poison. As in the original, the game will focus on several black market weapons. The Crossbow and the 50 caliber Barrett have been added and a very cool feature is the .22mm fiber gun, if you need to sneak through a metal detector. If you don't feel like spending money on advanced weapons and ammo to off a target, knock them out using chloroform or hit them in the back of the head with a billy club, which is always a good option if you want to keep your killing spree on the down low. Io has also promised us a new and revamped AI system as well as flexible controls, as well as "sneaky elements" that have been readjusted.
If you enjoyed the music from Codename 47, (and it wasn't bad) Silent Assassin promises music even better than the original. Eidos has hired the same people, Jesper Kyd Productions (JKP), to compose the game's soundtrack. They have also hired an amazing 110-piece symphony orchestra to help convey the music. JKP has already begun recording the soundtrack at Nano Studios in New York City.
A rating system will also be placed to judge you on how accurate you are, your choice of weapons used, how money efficient you were, and many more undisclosed "judgings" to look forward to. Your rewards for this include a better and longer briefing for a hit and new weapons. Codename 47 lacked a multiplayer mode and unfortunately Silent Assassin will as well, since Io interactive says they are spending all their time on a perfect single player game, and rightly so. Most would agree that it's far better to have a solid, engaging single player experience at the expense of multiplayer than both in lackluster form.
Overall, Hitman: Silent Assassin is being set up as a ground-breaking game, and is definitely something to look forward to. Right now, Eidos is planning to show of its new game at E3 later on this month, but they are not sure whether they will display the PS2, PC or Xbox version. (Let's hope for the PS2.) The PlayStation 2 has been running at a sleek 60fps, but it is said that they may tone it down to 30fps to allow for more effects. For now, look for Hitman's second outing to hit stores in the fall of 2002, and keep checking back for more updates as the game nears completion.
For those of you who are not fans of PC gaming or if you have never played the first Hitman, here's a little run down on what the game is all about. (As if the title doesn't explain it all.) You take the role of an emotionless, faceless man whose main purpose in life is to become a tool for various nations' armies. You, Codename 47, become the first working prototype ever created, though with one single flaw: you are uncontrollable. You escape an insane asylum and find a job as a hitman working for an unknown government, known to you only as "The Agency." Throughout the game you're tasked with taking out many important characters threatening to compromise the nations you work for.
The cool name isn't the only thing to look forward to, though, as everything from the ground up has been revamped, in what amounts to a completely different game from the original. Silent Assasin features a third person view because it is the easiest to incorporate with a game pad. Two moves that were left out of the original game were jumping and crawling, which makes you wonder how it even survived; fortunately for the sequel, this has changed. Another limitation to Codename 47 was the inability to save the game, as if the game wasn't hard enough! Were they mad? (No save feature? They must have been high.) Believe it or not, the game never had the choice to save, and Io never developed a patch. Fear not, however, returning players; they have added the common feature to save, but with a limited number of them.
Missions will be spread across locales all over the world, including; Sicily, St. Petersburg, Japan, Malaysia, India, and you guessed it, Afghanistan. The game will have no "Blast the Living Hell"-style missions; rather everything will have a stealth-focused slant. Hitman 2 will, on every level, have the option to complete the objectives without being noticed and if you choose this option you will be rewarded with goodies.
The list of upgrades from the first game is significant. Bullet penetration is probably the coolest new feature added to the sequel. Each gun has a set level of force as normal, but for example if you see a guard through a key hole on the opposite site of a door, depending on the type of gun you can actually shoot through the door to kill him in a more discrete way. More advanced inventory selection has also been added, so each mission has a set amount and type of weapons to be used in the planned hit. Trying to bring a mini-gun into an office building? Sorry, not going to happen. Say you're new to a weapon and are unfamiliar on how to use it? Not to worry, Io has got you covered. Between each mission is a short training mode to help you test out your new weaponry. After all, there's nothing better than shooting at dummies to get used to the feel of a new assassination tool.
A great feature that hasn't been lost is the many different ways to take out your target. For instance, in a hospital mission, it is your job to eliminate a mafia boss. You can silence each bodyguard and kill the patient while they're unconscious, or when the patient undergoes surgery have him die on the operating table, while you are disguised as a surgeon. It's obvious that with the second game, a serious effort has been made to approach each mission as a real hitman would, rather than just firing bullet after bullet into different targets.
While most of the weapon selection from the first game remains, new, more silent offerings include surgeon's knives and poison. As in the original, the game will focus on several black market weapons. The Crossbow and the 50 caliber Barrett have been added and a very cool feature is the .22mm fiber gun, if you need to sneak through a metal detector. If you don't feel like spending money on advanced weapons and ammo to off a target, knock them out using chloroform or hit them in the back of the head with a billy club, which is always a good option if you want to keep your killing spree on the down low. Io has also promised us a new and revamped AI system as well as flexible controls, as well as "sneaky elements" that have been readjusted.
If you enjoyed the music from Codename 47, (and it wasn't bad) Silent Assassin promises music even better than the original. Eidos has hired the same people, Jesper Kyd Productions (JKP), to compose the game's soundtrack. They have also hired an amazing 110-piece symphony orchestra to help convey the music. JKP has already begun recording the soundtrack at Nano Studios in New York City.
A rating system will also be placed to judge you on how accurate you are, your choice of weapons used, how money efficient you were, and many more undisclosed "judgings" to look forward to. Your rewards for this include a better and longer briefing for a hit and new weapons. Codename 47 lacked a multiplayer mode and unfortunately Silent Assassin will as well, since Io interactive says they are spending all their time on a perfect single player game, and rightly so. Most would agree that it's far better to have a solid, engaging single player experience at the expense of multiplayer than both in lackluster form.
Overall, Hitman: Silent Assassin is being set up as a ground-breaking game, and is definitely something to look forward to. Right now, Eidos is planning to show of its new game at E3 later on this month, but they are not sure whether they will display the PS2, PC or Xbox version. (Let's hope for the PS2.) The PlayStation 2 has been running at a sleek 60fps, but it is said that they may tone it down to 30fps to allow for more effects. For now, look for Hitman's second outing to hit stores in the fall of 2002, and keep checking back for more updates as the game nears completion.