So after all this time, after many, many, reviews, we are here with a review from HitmanWeb. So was it worth all the hype? Well yes and, no. This game is one of those that was hyped up so much that everyone expected a huge improvement over the first two games. However, this is not the case. Yes, Contracts has alot of new features that the first two didn't, and in some aspects it is a big improvement, but it just isnt't the improvement everyone was hoping for. Lets start with the downs of the game first. The graphics. I agree that graphics are not the most important part of any video game but, like The Sims, Hitman's graphics are starting to show there age. Some of the textures are still slightly blocky and there is still some slight errors regarding the way the guards move around, for example, like in Hitman 2, you might find a chair on one side of the room and a guard sitting on it on te other side of the room. Its little things like this that in some areas of the game, really let it down. There is also only 12 missions with quite a few of them being remakes of the old Hitman: Codename 47 missions, and with these 12 missions there is no way to choose which weapons to take with you until you replay the mission after completion of it. Also when you finish a mission with a melee weapon, despite the huge amounts of different ways you can kill people with them it will not be saved to your inventory, it appears at the time of this writing that the only way to bring melee weapons into other missions is via the All Weapons cheat. But now, onto the greatness of the game. As I said before there is a number of kills that can be carried out with the same weapon, for example there is the basic strangle and the 'overhead strangle' that can be carried out with the fiber wire, these are known as stealth kills, (full list in the works) to perform a stealth kill you must sneak up on an unsuspecting enemy and wait until 47 changes his stance, then while holding any direction press the fire button and it will perform a stealth kill, these range from ramming Chinese Swords into an enemys spine to tearing up a foe with a meat cleaver. These, along with the new ways of interacting with certain objects really add to the gameplay. Also the bullets are not visible while firing, which adds more sharpness to the shot and allows the player to really feel it. 

-Steve

Overall

I think Hitman: Contracts is a must buy even though it is not the improvement everyone was hoping it to be it is still a real classic, if you are new to the Hitman series however I suggest you try out the Hitman: Contracts demo before you consider buying. A great game.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 8.0

Gameplay: 8.0

Plot: 7.5

Replay Value: 9.5

OVERALL: 79%

    Here we are, yes its later than other websites and yes there isnt much time left till the 'big release'. But thats only because we have been trying our hardest to get all the latest Contracts info. So here we are, the Hitman: Contracts Preview from Hitmanweb.

   Ok, so this is ment to be the greatest Hitman game yet people are saying, well, is it? Things are actually starting to point in that direction yes, it seems that all the things that made Hitman so great have been improved. So lets start with the story line, the Silent Assasain storyline left alot to be desired and was one of the few downfalls in the game that prevented becoming a real gaming classic, due to the huge amounts of emails that lO interactive have got complaining about mainly HM:SA's storyline they have obviously spent a great deal of time developing the Contracts storyline till almost perfection. You start off stumbling into a a cheap hotel apartment following what appears to be a hit gone wrong. You begin having flashbacks about your most challenging and dangerous missions in your life as an assasain, including a few remade missions from Codename: 47 like our old favourite 'Traditions of The Trade', during these flashbacks little pieces of information start piecing together until eventually you can recall what exactly did happen to you that dreadful night. These exellently thought out missions are accompinied by a few more 'tweaks' to the gameplay making it all the more fun. For example, there is now a whole lot more ways that you can carry out the 'perfect hit' this time around, bassically anything that 47 can get his hands on can become a weapon, pillows, meat hooks, shovels and loads more. This adds more options to the gameplay and therefore gives it a better replay value which it certainley wasnt lacking in Codename 47 and Silent Assasain. Some aspects of the graphics have also been improved. For a start, the whole game seems alot darker and mysterious than the other two games, this has been done brilliantly by the phrase ''Gore is More'', blood trickles from dead body's and spews out of enemy soldiers as you pump your SP12 into their chest. But as some aspects was improved, others sadly werent. For example 47 still seems a bit blocky compared to his surrondings and some  graphical glitches, that unfortunatly cannot be helped.

    But once again, looking high, there is completely new weapons like the gold plated Deagles and the syringe (which replaces the anesthetic). All in all this game should be shaped out to be one of the greatest games of the year, and turn out to be a real classic

PREVIEW RATING -- 9.0

-Steve