The new hitman is coming!
Hitman: Blood Money: Hands-On
We explore the improved mechanics and dark contrasts of Blood Money. Screens and video included.
by Douglass C. Perry
March 10, 2006 - While raging hormone-teeming teenagers bitch about who sniped each other first in Halo 2, those of us who like a steadier, stealthier kill have discovered the sweet dark work of IO Interactive's Hitman series. Originally introduced on PC in November 2000, the Hitman series has gradually attracted fans for a mixture of reasons, not all of which revolve around pure violence.
Agent 47 is an iconographic character in his own right, silently doing his job with precision and skill and rarely uttering a word. Visually, he's all about the bald head, serious, cold stare, the scan lines on the back of his neck, and a fine suit and tie. Behind the stark graphics and lure of harsh kills, however, the game has grown a massive fan-base because IO has shown a mastery of open-level design, stealth, and replay value like few other stealth games on the market.
At first look, Hitman: Blood Money may not strike you as vastly improved over previous games in the series. In all honestly, this is easily the best looking game in the series, but that's because it's hard to see contact-sensitive mechanics and new moves at work. The screenshots and movies we captured were predominantly from an early Xbox version, which, as you can see, display un-optimized code. You'll see aliasing, some clippings issues, and a decent but not great framerate. But the build we have is far from done; it's not finished, bug-tested, nor optimized. So if you see these images and worry just a little bit, don't. IO's Hitman games have always shined graphically and this year's effort should prove to the best looking one to date.
Article:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/695/695216p1.htmlScreenshots:
http://media.pc.ign.com/media/706/706008/imgs_1.htmlVideos:
http://media.pc.ign.com/media/706/706008/vids_1.html
