I had to make my old review remove because of a problem and thankfully I should tell, because back then I said this was the second hardest game I've ever played (right after its predecessor HC47) and I was wrong. I've changed my mind recently since I've just replayed both the games. - Basically, HC47 is difficult because of its "rough" state: I mean, if you want to play that game as a typical Hitman game, you will suffer, because that game is a little less than a TPS; - Instead, Hitman 2 SA is difficult because is simply a difficult stealth game where you have to be a snail to make a silent kill and a second plus or less can make the difference and make you restart all from beginning. The problem with Hitman 2 SA is that yes, it's more refined than its predecessor, but it's still "rough". The fact is that it's not "rough" because of its time period as HC47. It's "rough" because of some bugs in some missions (the ones in the snow especially) that make almost impossible to achieve the SA rank. My advice is to ignore the rank in those missions or you will drive crazy. The game is still very fun and satisfying to play even if you have to shoot with the SPAS.
As I say in the title, this game is magnific but GOG works kinda _/("-")\_ so I had to write it here three times.
This time I've finally finished it... And it's been stratospheric! From the music to the gameplay, from the story to the missions, is all fantastic in this masterpiece. My favorite will always be Absolution but this is easily my second one. CONS (maybe just for me): - I've used dgVoodoo2 with the first three Hitman games and basically every other game I've bought here and it has always worked perfectly, but for Blood Money, I swear, if you turn off the dgVoodoo2 watermark it crashes EVERY DAMN TIME you open the map or access the guns upgrade menu. I had to run the game with the logo on, sadly; - There are artifacts on the borders, no matter if the antialiasing is off or which resolution you chose. Hitman 3 Contracts has the same problem and as I did for it I "resolved" the problem with a border effect by Reshade. CONS apart, it's for sure a Good Old Game for me and will always holds a special place in my heart.
The atmosphere is simply stunning, as with all Hitman games, but even more so here. The only thing I knew about Contracts was that it contained remaked missions of Codename 47, and I have to say that's my least favorite part: they're certainly well-made and fun but, let's just say that, for the purposes of the story, some of them make more sense to exist (RE-exist in this game) than others. The reason I consider this the best game out of the first three is mainly the yet mentioned atmosphere, but also the improved enemy AI and 47's movement speed, who, for all its good things, was a snail in Silent Assassin. IMPORTANT (for me): I've reinstalled the game several times, but the music from the end credits is still missing. Maybe an update will fix that. Anyway, a definite Good Old Game in my opinion.
Without a single doubt, I can say that this is the hardest game I've ever played. In my opinion, IO Interactive had no definitive idea about this game, because really, if it wasn't for 47, it wouldn't be a Hitman game. For those like me who had only played Blood Money (regarding Classic Hitman I mean), don't expect something like that. This is a REALLY DIRTY game, I don't know how else to describe it. The controls are terrible, especially for a NON PC gamer like me. However, it's really nice and satisfying to complete a mission in the best way possible, something that took me more than 30 hours of gameplay to do it. What else... For me it's a Good Old Game, but unfortunately it has aged like milk. Well, who cares! It will always have a great charm.
