Hitman: Contracts

Ben assumes the well-worn role of Io Interactive's mysterious Hitman...

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Have you ever come across the theory of the "total game"? It's a concept you occasionally hear bounded about on gaming forums or spoken about in reader's letters in gaming mags. It's kind of best described as the idea that one day there will be a single game that unites all games, that is all games. It's a game that gives you almost total freedom. In this game your character would wake in the morning and then be free to do whatever they want, or in this case, play whatever game they like. If you so chose, you could head down to your local football ground, join your local team and play your way to the top of the Premiership, all powered by the Pro Evolution Soccer engine. Alternatively you could step outside your front door, steal a car and run down some pensioners, much like Vice City. Maybe you could travel to America, join NASA and end up in some sort of intergalactic space war much like R Type Final. You could join the army for a bit of Medal Of Honor action, learn kung fu for a spot of Street Fighter 2, buy a Ferrari Enzo for some Project Gotham 2 style racing or get a walkie-talkie and engage in endless conversation with military commanders ala Metal Gear Solid (ouch!).

In many ways it's a majestic, if wholly unrealistic vision. Theoretically such a game may one day be possible but it would face one over-riding problem. Limitless possibilities are a utopian gaming ideal, but with limitless possibilities come limitless choices and therein lies the problem. Games are often criticised for being too linear but if a game is too open it can become bewildering. It's at this point that I bring Hitman Contracts to the table.

One of the undoubted strengths of Hitman Contracts is that it allows you to play the title in whatever way you choose, a strength exemplified by your choice of either first or third person viewpoints. If you like, you can switch to first person, equip your dual handguns and enjoy what is an adequate first person shooter. Alternatively you can play the stealth game and it's this choice that brings out both the best and worst of the game.

As a stealth action title Hitman Contracts is really like no other. For the patient player who's not afraid to replay sections of the game over and over again this game is a virtual feast of murderous possibilities. A successful hit requires the careful study of character behaviour, learning guard patrol patterns and identifying moments of possibility. For those who are dedicated enough to explore all avenues, and are capable of a spot of creative thought, multiple solutions to your assorted challenges present a genuine opportunity for fun and reward. The feeling of successfully completing what seemed an impossible hit is almost unmatched but to do so requires the piecing together of what can be a huge and baffling puzzle. Steal disguise A, speak to character B, follow character C, silently kill said character and steal disguise D. Then you're frisked for weapons and shot dead. Start again, but this time after you steal disguise D you hide your weapons in food E, steal the poison in room F, spike soup in location G, take that to character H and then do it all again in a different order in the next level.

Although this may seem bewildering the real beauty of it all is that for each level there are several possible combinations of actions that can lead to success. The downside of such freedom is the risk that players face being bemused when tacking a new level. There is a lack of focus and considering many of the levels are colossal the whole package will certainly be too much for many gamers. It's a shame because as a result many players will find themselves resorting to the direct approach. On the normal difficulty setting it's quite possible to blast your way through most levels without too much effort but in doing so the essence of the game is totally lost. Enemy AI is at it's weakest in such situations and it's quite possible that you'll eradicate every hostile in the level only to find that your target continues his normal activities unperturbed, seemingly oblivious to the massacre of his henchman.