This particular Hitman game I always had a soft spot for, it's what got many to finally embrace Hitman as a concept. It was one of the first games I recall getting when I used to collect for the PS2 back in 2012. Blood Money was also one of the first games I played when I started to learn more about the design aspect of video games.
There is a "modern" port of it on Nintendo Switch with the Reprisal version and I decided to get that when revisiting it. Reprisal is mostly the same except for some UI and button layout changes and the inclusion of instinct mode from later Hitman titles. It also crashes from time to time but that seems to be universal among all versions even if I mainly experienced them in Reprisal. Instinct is also useless since the mini map and menu map are still objectively better for guard and assassination target tracking.That out of the way, one interesting thing that puts Blood Money above many if not all of the other Hitman games is the story. It's surprisingly easy to follow and well presented. The cutscenes are decently composed and don't go on for too long. The idea of a framing story for this kind of game works hand in hand with the premise of the series. The mystery of how Agent 47 even gets caught despite all of these assassinations that are happening is enough to keep to keep the player glued when there isn't gameplay going on. Where Absolution has a lot of questionable writing and World of Assassination gets a little too hard to follow with it's overarching plot, Blood Money hits the sweet spot. There is some rather silly plot points especially with the idea of "legalizing" cloning but at the same time, these cutscenes are never long enough that you start pondering and questioning such bizarre concepts as the one I mentioned.
Apart of me also felt bad for a certain part at the end where the player by extension 47 has to kill a character due to unfortunate circumstances than because he was geniunely bad.
Gameplay is starts off on a bad foot. The tutorial level despite having one good line from 47, having a decent atmosphere and in some ways having the most sympathetic target in the game is awful in how it hand holds the player and how overly scripted it can be. If you want to talk about bad tutorials, this is a good contender since by the end of it, the player might not even have a good grasp on how the game even plays since distractions, disguises, traversal, human shield, and the controls are taught very well due to this, it can give a first time player a bad impression. I always get one every time I play this level.
The following mission after is where things let up and this is where the game's biggest asset shines: the level design. If there is one thing, Blood Money excels at is how the levels feel decently open but not feeling way too big to the point there is a lot of filler and needless amounts of empty space. Every level in BM is essentially one big square and there are multiple buldings and interiors withing that gigantic sqaure to look to find points of interest and guards to takedown and steal their disguises to get into restricted rooms much easier.
Hitman is said to be a "stealth game" when really the hardest parts of every game is when actual stealth of not being seen and not having potential witnesses where much of the challenge comes from. The challenge raises when trying to avoid witnesses and then it goes back down when obtaining a disguise to get into restricted zones. Blood Money also adds traversal options like climbing up pipes and jumping accross balconies to access restricted areas easier.
Add to the more accomadating enemy AI the series ever had up until that point where the guards aren't as twitchy as before and the sheer variety of locales and scenarios and it's easy to see BM despite it's flaws, won me over. You will be going to Opera Houses, to a party disguised as a drug lab in Chile to a Cruise Ship, to a Casino in Vegas all the way to the White House.
The save system on normal is also accomdating for first time players since the levels and missions by extension are short enough that 7 saves is all you need, it creates tension on when to save and when not to. So no save scumming willy nilly. Milage may vary on how well you know the levels however.
This does lead to 3 issues that work in tandem. The notriety and upgrad system as well as the final two levels. As the title implies you get money after each hit and depending on how money witnesses and kills you get, your notriety will increase. On normal difficulty especially the more you play it just minimizing casualities, you will rack up enough money to pay off the notriety AND be able to pay for all stealth and even upgrade one or two weapons by the time you reach the White House level. You get too much money to maxmize 47's stealth skills before reaching the end of the game.
By that point, 47 will be able to have some painkillers, take more damage and even fully upgrade a weapon which makes what is supposed to be a challenging mission of infiltrating the White House too easy even with a lot of witnesses and kills you can STILL clear your notriety at the end of the level.
The epilogue level "Requiem" requires you to shoot everyone in the level to end the game so you might as well get used to the shooting mechanics in the White House mission.
Overall, solid game, if you can get past the lack of modernized mechanics and controls.
No comments:
Post a Comment