Hitman: Codename 47

The first of the Hitman franchise got elements from Thief, Metal Gear Solid and helped set the standard for Splinter Cell and the stealth genre. Graphics were outstanding for the year it was released. The downside were some bugs, no in-mission checkpoints and many occasions where the game just threw you into combat and ignored stealth completely, so it had a big arcade feel at times. Some of these missions were rebooted in Hitman Contracts because the original concepts and level design were very good but the game failed to deliver a truly polished and believable experience. In missions like the one in Colombia against the obvious Scarface character it's very likely that you'll have to wipe out every single enemy in the map apart from the mandatory boss fight against him. It's worth the sale price, but don't judge it too hard.

I used to defend this entry until I replayed it recently. Enemies having eyes in the back on their heads when changing items in your hands is broken. Also, some of the levels are simply too long without having mid-level saves unless you die and need to use another life. I decided to call it quits after the Lee Hong Assassination and then got dumped in Colombia, which is a run around an empty map simulator. The game playing more like a bad third person shooter instead of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and afterward also works against it for replays. It's enjoyable to see where the series started, but I simply can't recommend when it feels like a waste of time beyond seeing what it was like back in the year 2000. FWIW, I had good luck running on Linux with dgVoodoo drop-ins.

The gameplay was quite revolutionary at the time, but it is plagued by issues. The game has bugs, it is far too difficult in an annoying not satisfying way, the animations are old - nothing wrong with that, but they are inaccurate (try climbing a ladder), but the controls are the worst. Ladies and gentlemen there are 9 keys that control movement alone. NINE. The awesome missions are not fun anymore when I don't know how to walk.

In my opinon, the first Hitman is much better than the four sequels and the very best one here on GOG. From the second game onwards, the series had the mini-map, which kind of ruined the gameplay, because you always knew where your target was. The first one is more realistic and has a perfect balance between dark humor and seriousness. The hotel level is my favorite, it's a huge sandbox where you can just do funny stuff and kidding around. Forget Hitman Contracts, which is just a bad console remake of the first game.

The game is hard, but for the time of it's release it is really good. The real issue is no saving mid contract, so you need to start over if you fail, especially on longer missions it's frustrating. With a decent guide you can make the game a lot easier.