By 2004, The Hitman game series had seen two releases, that being Hitman : Codename 47 (2000) and its sequel Hitman 2 : Silent Assassin (2002). Hitman : Codename 47 (2000) has aged, sadly rather badly in the gameplay department, even by 2004’s standards it wasn’t great. The jump between gaming in the 2000s was huge compared to today’s standards. For example, the new Hitman trilogy dubbed ‘Hitman World Of Assassination‘ had its first game of that line up drop in 2016. From that point on the game has had slight quality of life changes but if you was to play the original 2016 version, it could still be played at a steady rate, hence why the development team over at IOI have continued to update and play with the ‘World Of Assassination‘ trilogy.
The first two Hitman games when you play them still feel like they are trying to find the identity of the series, then they created the 2004 cult classic Hitman : Contracts (2004), which was the most moody out of the first three, with constant dark rainy levels, dark subjects and levels remade from Codename 47 (2000) to bring more quality of life to the best of that game.
Hitman Contracts (2004) starts at the end of Codename 47‘s(2000) story. We see the aftermath of agent 47 killing his creator Ort-Meyer. Each level when finished shows 47 in a drowsy almost dead like state as he has been shot, as he fades in and out of consciousness, we see these different levels begin, then we, the players, are tasked to take on these missions that 47 is almost dreaming/remembering. This is one of my favourite aspects of the game, which I like to relate to the cheesy term that’s used for near death experiences “Life flashing before my eyes”.
As 47 remembers these contracts he took on, its clear not all is true. Each level is raining or snowing heavily, which reflects to his real world around him, when he is dying in the hotel room within the cutscenes. Rain can be heard tapping on the windows as thunder crashes and flashes through the room. This same rain is present throughout the levels, IOI created beautiful details within the rain, such as smog being seen from outside lights, which would probably not catch your eye when just running around, taking disguises and killing targets but the fact that its there is beautiful. Similar to the smog, the wind effects which can be seen throughout the levels, making objects dance with rage. These details create a dark, cold mood along with Jesper Kyds haunting but stealthy music.
In Hitman 2 : Silent Assassin (2002) Kyds’ music was a lot more theatrical sounding; loud opera with cinematic hero tones along with the sounds of the music relating to the location 47 is in. This game does the same with the relation of locations, only the music is a lot more toned down and less theatrics and more on the dark side, it still has a cinematic feel but it just flows so well with the dark nature of the story. My favourite track from the game is “Hong Kong Underground“. Now back to 47’s memories not being 100 percent true, which I think is a interesting aspect of the game.
Almost half of the game is remade levels from Hitman : Codename 47 (2000) which of course was most likely mainly done due to Codename 47’s (2000) gameplay having aged and it was probably fun for the development team to play around and see how much their skills have improved on a technical level but more importantly they found what the identity of Hitman games are. However, this ties in with the story so well; As I stated earlier, a lot of this game is feels like it’s 47’s life flashing before his eyes, on top of that I mentioned how not all of his memories are true due to the rainy nature of each level. It’s not just the rain that captures this, its those original Codename 47 (2000) levels that capture this story aspect to a tee.
Sometimes with our own memories they are not even 100 percent how we remembered them, often they can be exaggerated when told or thought about. Thinking about this aspect when playing or reflecting on Contracts (2004) elevates the story so much more, especially when playing those Codename 47 (2000) levels. Those levels in that game whilst I appreciate them, were a lot more cooler and played more smoothly in Contracts (2004). This way of capturing a remake is a lot more interesting than simply just making a remake because “better graphics/gameplay”. Mixing it in with the plot is such a fun way to play around but also change up some of that core game you are taking from.
Whilst the Hitman series is deserving of a rest, as IOI have made an amazing trilogy with the “World Of Assassination” and now are working hard on a game adaptation of 007. I would love for them to experiment with a Hitman story like this again one day, with its dark aspects and this dystopian like game relating to a killers memory.
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