Hitman: Codename 47

I remember liking the game when it first came out and recently purchased a combination of all the Hitman games including this one so I decided to try it out. The first problem came when I tried adjusting the graphics and immediately got a Direct3D error. After that, I opened the game and realized the game used the number pad as default control, so had to change that - not a problem, but it was a strange setting. Event he default WASD setting option that it could load up for you didn't use WASD for normal movement. But again, that's just a setting and easily adjusted, so no stars lost for it. The game itself is where the issues are. The right click menu, which you'll use often, is tiny unless you have your resolution set really low. The same for the captions for conversations. In addition, there are numerous graphical glitches. When I used the elevator in the starting tutorial area, I was suddenly falling through gray nothing forever and had to exit to the menu (no ability to save and would have to restart). I also ended up running around with a pistol stuck on its side against my body that I could see whenever I was next to a crate to pick up other weapons in the tutorial. I won't continue to play the game at this point as it just isn't worth it. There are newer games in the series to play and this game just did not age well at all. Graphics are mediocre, but I could forgive those if the rest of the game was worth playing. As I said, I do remember that I liked it 20-ish years ago, so the game itself is probably interesting if you can get past the graphics and UI issues. But you're better off just playing a newer game in the series instead.

So this is the first Hitman, and therefore the oldest and clunkiest. I think people are right to say this is the worst one out of the first 4 games, BUT it's still a 4 out of five stars for me and I really reckommend playing this sitle. There are some structural diffrences between this game and it's sequels, the biggest one for me is that this game doesn't have a fleshed out end of mission rating system. You just need to complete the missions, guns blazing or silently doesn't matter, the only penalties you get is for killing civilians. There is a suprising upside and a glaring downside to this design approach. The upside is that you won't be OCD'd into somekind of perfectionism you can sometimes have if the game has a rating system (restarting at any breakout of violence etc..). Just getting to the end of the level is your ony goal. Coming from the other Hitmans this might look like a negative, but it's suprisingly liberating and it's fun for atleast 1 hitman game to have this approach. I also reckommend playing this game on one of the hardest difficulties so that playing stealthily becomes more of a necessity then an optional playstyle. The negative is that this game's level design isn't as 'open' as the later titles are in the sense that there aren't a multitude of designed ways to complete your objectives/assassinate your targets. You are lucky if there is more than one. The designers clearly have much more of an intended 'path' for you to take and this is made worse by some heavily scripted things happening that force you to certain actions to tell a more 'cinematic' story. This gets in the way of player freedom and is forced. So that's a negative. The levels are pretty varied. There are few locales you go to broken up in different levels resulting in the final level where you assassinate the target you came for. The quality of the levels are a mixed bag, some good some less good, but if this game has one thing going for it it's the mood the soundtrack adds to the already atmospheric levels. This was, arguably, Jesper Kyd's first soundtrack for a somewhat bigger title and the soundtrack is superb. It adds a lot of class. All by all an interesting trip into the roots of Hitman. I reckommend it and even greatly reckommend it to Hitman fans.

I picked this game up on sale for $1 and got about 4 hours of gameplay before the frustration set in. As others have stated, its the first in the Hitman series and it's just not fully baked yet. A lot of great ideas that are executed poorly in this first attempt. Fortunately, the sequels do a much better job of delivering on those ideas but my advice to skip this one entirely.

I can't believe nobody made a hack for this game so it can save during a mission. The games is awesome and especially for the time it was released. I remember it blew me away, because it gives you a lot of freedom to do things in several ways and the stealth elements are a lot more than just 'avoid being seen'. Being able to switch outfits with your victims and taking their places was and still is a thrill. The first missions are quite short and it's great fun to play them without any sort of save feature, it brings a lot of tension and suspense. The thing is, after about five levels, missions become really long and unplayable without saving. I'd say get this game if you find it on a discount. But I'd rather start with any other of the 'good' Hitman games (pre reboot: Silent Assassin, Contracts or Blood Money).

I never understood the allure of this game. I found it rather clunky, and I was not drawn into the story/motivations for the character. Not my cup of tea, even though I generally like this kind of game.