Whenever I hear people talk about how bad ass Splinter Cell is, I go,"Sam Fisher? 47 and the ICA would bugger him and superiors over and over every time." But enough comparisons there, ironically in Blood Money, the ICA, the agency that employs 47 is getting taken down left and right by a mysterious organization called the Franchise, and this time around 47 will have to face other assassins.
It's worth pointing out that a tie-in occurs here that connects the third mission,"Curtains Down" with the events seen in between missions and the last mission of Hit-man:Contracts,"Hunter and Hunted". Essentially, the events that occur in "Hunter and Hunted" are immediately after "Curtains Down" in Blood Money.
Moving on, Blood Money is an upgrade in every way from the earlier games. A new engine with better graphics, upgradable weapons, a notoriety system that assesses how easily you may be spotted in later missions,the ability to conceal bodies in containers or throw them over the rail into the river etc. A splendid addition is the ability to grab people as human shields before knocking them out, thereby saving you on anesthetics.
The game also plays on the mind, because as the you complete more missions, the game's menu screen changes. Initially it shows a funeral with lots of people attending. As you complete more missions, it becomes apparent that the guests are the targets in the missions,and they began to disappear after each mission. Ultimately as you approach the last missions, we see that it is 47's funeral that is shown in the background.
Plotwise, Blood Money has all the aspects of the earlier games. The targets in the missions all have their own background info, so you aren't just killing some random person without knowing why someone wanted him/her dead. Some missions don't relate to the main plot and personally I feel those missions could have been left out in exchange for more main plot-related ones. The game follows a somewhat similar path to Contracts, with the missions told as flashbacks during an interview between a reporter and a scared and wheelchair bound man.
Some new gimmicks mentioned earlier, namely concealing bodies in containers can actually become quite repetitive later in the game. It's almost as if there's a body-sized box in every corner waiting for you to use to hide a body. Another repetitive addition is the post-mission newspaper report. At first it is interesting to read about your exploits in the media, and how you played the mission can affect the wording of the report. Too many living witnesses or being caught on camera can result in a sketch in the report and mass murder gets you labeled a terrorist. Ultimately it becomes repetitive and you can see a pattern in the manner of the reporting that can be boring later on.
Another aspect that disappointed me about the Blood Money is that it mostly takes place in the US. Previous Hit-man titles saw 47 as a globe trotter performing missions in Hong Kong, India, Middle East, Russia, Romania, Malaysia etc. Those games had numerous indigenous dialog that really added to the games' atmosphere. In Blood Money, there's only two missions that don't take place in the US. While playing Blood Money, I felt like I was watching lots of Hollywood movies due to the varying American accents. Blood Money has everything from hood talk to southern redneck accents. Of course other gamers might not have a problem with this. It's obvious that IO Interactive may have been targeting a specific group with it's choice of mission settings.
On the upside, I did feel that that the voice acting was quite well done, especially Alexander's VA. On the downside when it comes to voice acting, it seems that they didn't make enough voice sets for the guards. They all sound the same. When I grabbed a Middle Eastern-looking bodyguard as a human shield in the "House of Cards" mission, I was surprised to hear him yell out with an American accent.
Moving on, the game's missions are a reflection of earlier titles, namely the multi-path solutions. And it goes further here with the ability to make hits look like accidents. Most can be achieved with a simple push over the rail or a mine blowing something up causing it to fall on the target. A few can be quite innovative, like sabotaging the stage pyrotechnics to burn the target during the performance. Too bad even if the target gets killed in an accident, the post-mission newspaper reports still report it as a hit.
All in all, a good game with some minor flaws. Fans of the series and stealth games will still love it.
It's worth pointing out that a tie-in occurs here that connects the third mission,"Curtains Down" with the events seen in between missions and the last mission of Hit-man:Contracts,"Hunter and Hunted". Essentially, the events that occur in "Hunter and Hunted" are immediately after "Curtains Down" in Blood Money.
Moving on, Blood Money is an upgrade in every way from the earlier games. A new engine with better graphics, upgradable weapons, a notoriety system that assesses how easily you may be spotted in later missions,the ability to conceal bodies in containers or throw them over the rail into the river etc. A splendid addition is the ability to grab people as human shields before knocking them out, thereby saving you on anesthetics.
The game also plays on the mind, because as the you complete more missions, the game's menu screen changes. Initially it shows a funeral with lots of people attending. As you complete more missions, it becomes apparent that the guests are the targets in the missions,and they began to disappear after each mission. Ultimately as you approach the last missions, we see that it is 47's funeral that is shown in the background.
Plotwise, Blood Money has all the aspects of the earlier games. The targets in the missions all have their own background info, so you aren't just killing some random person without knowing why someone wanted him/her dead. Some missions don't relate to the main plot and personally I feel those missions could have been left out in exchange for more main plot-related ones. The game follows a somewhat similar path to Contracts, with the missions told as flashbacks during an interview between a reporter and a scared and wheelchair bound man.
Some new gimmicks mentioned earlier, namely concealing bodies in containers can actually become quite repetitive later in the game. It's almost as if there's a body-sized box in every corner waiting for you to use to hide a body. Another repetitive addition is the post-mission newspaper report. At first it is interesting to read about your exploits in the media, and how you played the mission can affect the wording of the report. Too many living witnesses or being caught on camera can result in a sketch in the report and mass murder gets you labeled a terrorist. Ultimately it becomes repetitive and you can see a pattern in the manner of the reporting that can be boring later on.
Another aspect that disappointed me about the Blood Money is that it mostly takes place in the US. Previous Hit-man titles saw 47 as a globe trotter performing missions in Hong Kong, India, Middle East, Russia, Romania, Malaysia etc. Those games had numerous indigenous dialog that really added to the games' atmosphere. In Blood Money, there's only two missions that don't take place in the US. While playing Blood Money, I felt like I was watching lots of Hollywood movies due to the varying American accents. Blood Money has everything from hood talk to southern redneck accents. Of course other gamers might not have a problem with this. It's obvious that IO Interactive may have been targeting a specific group with it's choice of mission settings.
On the upside, I did feel that that the voice acting was quite well done, especially Alexander's VA. On the downside when it comes to voice acting, it seems that they didn't make enough voice sets for the guards. They all sound the same. When I grabbed a Middle Eastern-looking bodyguard as a human shield in the "House of Cards" mission, I was surprised to hear him yell out with an American accent.
Moving on, the game's missions are a reflection of earlier titles, namely the multi-path solutions. And it goes further here with the ability to make hits look like accidents. Most can be achieved with a simple push over the rail or a mine blowing something up causing it to fall on the target. A few can be quite innovative, like sabotaging the stage pyrotechnics to burn the target during the performance. Too bad even if the target gets killed in an accident, the post-mission newspaper reports still report it as a hit.
All in all, a good game with some minor flaws. Fans of the series and stealth games will still love it.