Hitman: Codename 47
Hitman: Codename 47 is the game that started a whole franchise and presented one of games' most recognizable characters: Agent 47. This game has great ideas impaired by technical limitations, both from the technology of the time and the budget, but counters it by having fun gameplay and a flawless story.
It is amazing how intelligent games were back then, detailing storylines and interesting characters displayed with an easy-to-follow presentation. At the beginning of every mission you go to a briefing where you learn about your target and the details surrounding the hit you are going to perform. This is presented all in text and all you have to do is read it. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the video of the target filmed by an ICA agent - which gives us an idea of how organized the Agency is.
– Real player with 50.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Assassin Difficult Games.
Codename 47 is certainly an interesting nut to crack. I’m playing the Hitman series for the first time and doing it in order, so I can’t compare to later games in the series yet, but I think this game is an experience worth having, even if it’s not something I’d say everyone should rush out and buy.
The game’s best and worst feature is that you can’t save. In some levels, the more medium-sized ones that are more along the lines of “here’s the level, here’s your weapons, kill this target”, this can make for a very tense, suspenseful stealth experience and you can find yourself resorting to some interesting tactics to just try and survive a minute longer, but as the levels get longer and longer, and as you experience levels that have certain things to be done in a specific order, it becomes incredibly tedious and frustrating. It definitely comes from the 80’s school of game design that wants you to die over and over again until you get it exactly right, so think Cuphead if some of the levels took 3 times as long to master and you’re on the right track for this game’s difficulty. You do get two “lives” but the enemy’s suspicion of you doesn’t reset so you’re still in a bad spot if you died.
– Real player with 38.8 hrs in game
Hitman: Blood Money
Classic Hitman! There’s a reason people say this is the best Hitman game so far, and I totally agree.
I used to play this game in my early teens, and bought it again so I could have it on Steam (yeah, it is THAT good).
The missions are well thought-out, and take place on very unique locations. Each level is completely different from the other, and you never get the “I think I’ve done this before” feeling, because this game completely ditches the “Just go there and kill that guy” mechanic. The methods you choose to kill your target (or targets) really do feel unique, and the same thing will never work twice. You have to analyze your surroundings, the relationship between your targets and think about what will happen if you do X (this is one of the few games I ever played where the mission briefing REALLY is worth reading, because it gives you very important insight on the targets).
– Real player with 74.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Assassin Cult Classic Games.
To start off, this game is awesome, and surprisingly good considering its age. I’ve never played a Hitman game before this one, it was cheap and had higher reviews than the other older games in the series, and I would now definitely consider myself a fan of the series.
This game is a “social stealth” game, meaning that you hide in plain sight, utilizing disguises, subterfuge, and clever tricks of your environment to take down your targets, and walk away nonchalantly from either the chaos (if you like a more comedic high profile approach), everyone’s lack of awareness that any killing happened at all (if you want to be a ninja), or from everyone’s shock that a chandelier “accidentally” fell on the party host’s face RIGHT when his wife blew up from a faulty BBQ propane tank (the best, most difficult, and rewarding way to do things).
– Real player with 33.8 hrs in game
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the second game in the franchise and helped to establish many of the core aesthetics of the series. Addressing the biggest complaints about the first one, Silent Assassin is a solid and worthy sucessor. Controls are more solid and responsive, with better aiming, and wider options for the player to tackle the missions; and everything is bigger and better. The main new feature is the creation of the famous rating system, were the highest rank is Silent Assassin.
The briefing is now narrated by Diana, creating one of the most recognizable features in the Hitman series, which you can hear while watching the mission video (the first one, in St. Petersburg Stakeout, is glitched though, as it cannot transition to the second part of the video). Locations are more alive, more populated with NPCs and with more indirect approaches. The map is now more useful, showing real time positions of NPCs and critical elements like elevators and ICA caches. Albeit still mostly linear, Hitman 2: SA tries its best to give the player different options of approach and has more signature kills, with the most famous being the killing of Hayamoto Jr. with a badly prepared Fugu fish.
– Real player with 110.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Assassin Sandbox Games.
Codename 47 was a success, a success that needed a sequel. And what do the good sequels do? Fix what’s broken, evolve what’s working. And Silent Assassin does that…kinda. Unfortunately, not always right. The overall structure of the game remained the same - you have a map where you need to do something, preferably unnoticed, and then, usually, leave the area. But how you do it is slightly different. First of all, and that is important for more… kind, i guess, players like me, - you can knock out enemies with a chloroform instead of killing them. This also means, that now you can knock out innocent people in the area and use their clothes almost without any consequences. Almost, because knocked out people do regain consciousness (quicker on higher difficulty), and because there is a new meter. Yes, starting with this game there is a “suspicion” meter in play. And it’s rather stupid, unfortunately. When you are seen by enemy/guard-type characters, their “suspicion” goes up. It’s universal for the map and it can only be slightly changed by what you are wearing at the moment. But it didn’t work as well as in later installments, with lots of smaller “if"s in play, where enemy/guard character could truly be described as “suspicious” and not “crazy and paranoid” and willing to shoot a hotel visitor just because he made a wrong turn (and yes, this can happen). What’s also sad, is that the infamous jungle chapters from Codename 47, are here as well, only now you’re in snowy Japan. Why would developers want to leave this kind of section in the game is still something i don’t understand. But it’s a solid game. Not yet as refined as Contracts and Blood Money, but not as raw and hardcore-ish as Codename 47. Definitely worth the play. P.S. Jesper Kyd’s music is amazing as always. P.P.S. You can now save in the game, if that put you off in Codename 47. Amount of saves depends on the difficulty level. P.P.P.S. The game is ridiculous to play if you speak russian. Russian stereotypes in this game are amazingly funny. Game even starts with a very harsh russian profanity, it’s the first thing you hear when you start the game.
– Real player with 78.2 hrs in game
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts can be summed as “The Dark Hitman”. The ambience of this game is oppressive, with dark environments and terrifying music. This is presented with improved mechanics and a better game flow. Contracts is not as epic as the last one but it has an identity of its own, shuffling from slow, dark moments, to action pieces.
This game was rushed and it shows, with an underdevolped training section and weapons cache, weird graphics and glitched animations (especially the fiber wire ones). The game was also too short so Codename 47 missions were remade (not necessarily surpassing the originals). Contracts is noticiably easier than Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, as gameplay is more consistent, but the fun in this game is to try the many different approaches to missions.
– Real player with 45.0 hrs in game
Of all the games before the success of Blood Money, Hitman: Contracts may not only be the most approachable entry from the classic series, but it also may be the most straightforward in its convoluted mess of a plot. Considering how unbelievably botched was the first game and how questionably broken was its sequel, the state of Contracts as a playable game as well as a modern Hitman entry is an accomplishment in of itself. While this game may play very similar to Silent Assassin, there are enough fine touches to make the engine feel more distinguished from its predecessors, although you can certainly use the same exploits known to the Glacier engine from before.
– Real player with 33.6 hrs in game
Assassin’s Creed 2
Going through all the Assassin’s Creed games & have been loving this one!
– Real player with 63.8 hrs in game
A bloody trip to 14th century Renaissance Italy.
A hugely improved sequel compared to the series first entry. Fantastic character introduction paired with interesting story development and a charismatic protagonist makes this game an instant classic.
If you’re looking for an interesting action-adventure game and don’t mind it’s age and clunky controls, this is the game for you.
– Real player with 53.4 hrs in game
Counter-Strike
Great game. Today I have remembered what it’s like to play 16x16 and it’s really really fun. Shooting mechanics feel very smooth. Love it. I guess I understand why people still play this game.
– Real player with 263.4 hrs in game
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– Real player with 84.6 hrs in game
Assassin’s Creed™: Director’s Cut Edition
This is the first video game that I have ever played. Although there are no subtitles and it sometimes can be really hard to understand the conversations with accent, I persisted through the end, and I’m really glad that I did persist. This game brought me right into the world of the Middle East in the 11th-12th century and the hidden world of assassins by creating such a powerful and detailed construct of background story, character portraying, and environment rebuild etc. The feeling of immersion is hard to compare when so much details and information regarding one culture are well-compressed and distributed in the game. Although one may argue that the gameplay design is not very optimal (I admit that, the quests sometimes can be too repetitive), I personally still consider this game as one of the best since it is such a great introduction to the Assassin’s Creed series (probably the one with purest assassin element?).
– Real player with 76.6 hrs in game
TL;DR: Not without a couple rough corners of course, but the story overall is pretty nice, you can even see how they managed to set it up for a conveyor series from game 1!
Pacing
At times the game seems to tease the player with how much artificial slowdown there is. Occasional tip would say “Take your time”, “Moving slower will attract less suspicion”. An annoyance for some players, understandably so. Viewing the game as a sight seeing simulator with occasional fights, stealth and story it’s not that bad for couple weeks worth of chill evenings about 2-4 hours each. Climbing towers makes sense here, same as walking around a city trying to spot the collectables.
– Real player with 39.9 hrs in game