Hitman (computer game series)
Hitman is a very famous
video game franchise available on most modern formats. It revolves around a man known as
Agent 47 (usually simply referred to as 47), an
assassin for hire, whose skills place him in high demand for jobs. The games contain a considerable amount of violence and are rated Mature (17+) by the
Entertainment Software Rating Board.
The games were developed by
Danish developer IO Interactive, now a division of
Eidos Interactive. Four games have been released in the series:
Hitman: Codename 47 (
2000),
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (
2002),
Hitman: Contracts (
2004), and
Hitman: Blood Money (
2006).
A
film, starring
Vin Diesel as the lead character, is set to release in
2007. See
Hitman (2007 film) for more details.
The games have been noted for their impressive musical scores by
Jesper Kyd.
|
47 disguised as a Russian soldier in the "Tubeway Torpedo" mission of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. |
All games of the
Hitman series present players with choices in carrying out the game's missions. Players can perform precise assassinations or be incredibly brutal in their own approach to achieving mission goals; however, the game rewards the more subtle approach by giving special weapon rewards when players achieve the
Silent Assassin rank (usually achievable by eliminating only the mission's target, and without raising the alarm doing so). The Hitman games, although brutally violent at times, discourage bloodshed and the player is penalized with lower pay should innocent blood be spilt.
Level and mission design is generally non-linear, in that missions have an exploration element to them and generally do not proceed along a single fixed path.
The gameplay revolves heavily around
disguises, which the player uses to fool enemies and gain access to restricted areas. The focus of the Hitman series is not hiding in the shadows from the enemy, but rather blending in amongst them (although sneaking behind guards and avoiding patrols becomes more prevalent in the gameplay of later games).
The player's character, Agent 47, is not particularly maneuverable; he cannot jump at all, let alone scale walls or mantle up ledges (there are a couple of pre-scripted places where he can jump from one balcony to another, but these are rare); however more maneuverability is available in the latest game in the series,
Hitman: Blood Money. This generally limits the player to a single plane of movement, although he is often presented the opportunity to move to higher or lower areas through the use of ladders, stairs, elevators, or hills.
A major feature in the game is the "alert" meter, detailing how much attention the player is receiving from the public or guards and is dependent on many things. For example, walking around in a guard's uniform with the correct corresponding gun won't gather much notice, whereas running around in a waiter's uniform in a restricted area while carrying a giant rifle instead of an appetizer tray will generally result in a massive firefight.
In terms of action, the Hitman series runs a middle ground between shooters and stealth games. Unlike most stealth game protagonists, 47 can survive considerable damage before dying. There is no "weapons free" prompt required, as in
Splinter Cell. Combined with the game's impressive arsenal, this allows for some high-action firefights. At the same time, players were originally unable to heal 47's health in the middle of a level, which tends to encourage the player to avoid as much damage as possible. This is especially important in later levels, where enemies begin carrying high-powered weapons such as shotguns or sniper rifles that can kill 47 in one or two hits.
Hitman: Blood Money was the first game in the series to allow players to purchase health-boosting items such as adrenaline and painkillers.
Many levels in the Hitman games can be completed without firing a single shot; this style of gameplay became more prevalent in
Blood Money, where the focus was to make 47's hits look like accidents. Accidents can be caused remotely with RU-AP mines acting on some (usually heavy and suspended) object, directly by pushing someone over a railing, and by many other methods.
The
Hitman series currently includes:
The pivotal agency that employs Diana and 47. The ICA supplies the services of expert freelance assassins to all kinds of people including some very high profile and powerful clients. Little else is actually known about it, although Agent Smith has ties to the CIA and he works for them.
The agency logo has a pyramid with the following motto: "MERCES LETIFER". Merces can be translated as hire, pay, wages, fee or salary. Letifer can be translated as death-bringing or deadly. The motto essentially means Deadly Hire or Deadly Trade.
47: A genetically engineered assassin created from the recombinant DNA of five of the world's most dangerous criminal masterminds. His name comes from the last two digits of a bar code on the back of his head – 640509-040147. He is a tall, blue-eyed, bald, no-nonsense individual, who prefers to wear well-tailored Italian suits. Engineered from conception to be a ruthless killing machine, 47's strength, speed, and stamina are significantly above the human norm, and he possesses a single-minded, cunning intellect.
Raised in the sterile environment of the laboratory and trained in the fine arts of infiltration and execution, 47 naturally wanted to be a hitman upon his release into the real world. He eventually became the top assassin in the International Contract Agency. Yet, in spite of his creator's best efforts, 47 still possesses fierce individuality and the beginnings of a conscience.
Although he's usually cold and to the point in his dealings with others, 47 can at times be quite introspective, especially when he's contemplating his own existence. He has no qualms and will kill anyone for money; corrupt crime lords, unfortunate opera singers, and even the Vice President of the United States. He shows no mercy whatsoever towards said targets, and in desperate situations is even willing to kill innocents to ensure his own survival. Yet, 47 can also be almost kind at times, freeing a kidnapped prostitute in the original game, as well as taking pride in not creating any collateral damage during a hit. He has also demonstrated a degree of mercy towards those people not on his kill list (for example, in Hitman: Contracts, 47 knocks out a butcher with the blunt end of a meat hook, rather than cutting out his throat with the sharp tip).
After killing his creator, 47 disappeared, travelling to Italy where he became a gardener at a monastery, seeking guidance from the priest there to help him come to terms with his existence and his crimes. 47 only resurfaced after the priest is kidnapped by the Russian Mob, an event which was masterminded by the mob for the express purpose of luring 47 back into a life of crime so that they could purchase his services. After killing over a dozen more people, including the mob boss who orchestrated 47's coming out of retirement, 47 realized that he had gone too far to ever achieve forgiveness or peace and returned to the life of an assassin; he now lives in a dank, undisclosed location, apparently a basement of some sort, which serves as a strange contrast to his taste in expensive clothes and his six-figure paychecks.
Dr. Ortmeier's Journal on 47: http://www.hitman2.com/content/history.htm
47 is voiced by David Bateson.
; Diana Burnwood: 47's controller at the Agency. Diana gives 47 his assignments, briefs him on his missions, and occasionally serves as his guide over the radio. For the vast majority of the series 47 never sees Diana, recognising her only by voice. However they come face to face near the end of Hitman: Blood Money. She appears to have a serious, business-like demeanor, as well as an English accent. She is also a cunning and useful member of the Agency; single handedly saving 47's life, saving the Agency from liquidation, formulating a plan to kill those who'd been threatening 47's life throughout Hitman: Blood Money and dodging death herself several times (she, Agent Smith and 47 were the only members of Agency to survive Hitman: Blood Money). Diana is a major character in Hitman: Blood Money appearing in many cutscenes, although her face is never shown. She can be considered an unseen character.
; Dr. Ort-Meyer: 47's creator and the ultimate villain of Hitman: Codename 47. A brilliant and dangerous individual. Expelled from the scientific community for his radical theories on genetic manipulation, Ort-Meyer has spent almost half a century combining and manipulating DNA in an effort to create an army of perfect super-soldiers. He was responsible for raising and indoctrinating 47 at his asylum, where 47 was kept as a virtual prisoner for most of his life. Ort-Meyer eventually engineered 47's "escape" from the asylum in order to test his performance in the real world. The consummate megalomaniac, Ort-Meyer used his powerful hold over the Agency to manipulate 47 into killing the other 4 masterminds behind the Hitman Project, so that Ort-Meyer could have the fruits of his labor all to himself. Ort-Meyer then attempted to have 47 himself eliminated, having perfected "Mr. 48", an improved, mindlessly loyal series of clones. Ort-Meyer underestimated 47's abilities, and in the final showdown, 47 eliminated the Mr. 48s and Ort-Meyer himself.
; Agent Smith: A fairly inept American secret agent with ties to the CIA and the Agency. He has an unfortunate tendency to be captured and tortured by the very people he's assigned to spy on. As a result, the Agency has sent 47 to rescue him on a number of occasions. His torture experiences have caused him to take up drinking on the job, making him even more ineffective. Smith is about as close to a comic relief character as the Hitman series has.
Like 47, Agent Smith dons a variety of disguises, but most often he's seen beaten and stripped down to his American Flag boxer shorts. He seems to regard 47 as a friend, no doubt because 47 has rescued him so many times. Of course, the feeling is not mutual. 47 initially treats his relationship with Agent Smith as detached and professional, but as he is forced to rescue Smith again and again he increasingly sees Smith as an ineffective hindrance. In Hitman: Blood Money, 47 even puts a gun to Smith's head and appears ready to kill him, after Smith surprises 47 by hitching a ride in his car.
Despite his incompetence and his association with the shadowy Agency, Agent Smith seems to have some strong degree of patriotism. Even after the Agency is all but destroyed, Smith uses his own money to hire 47 to foil the Franchise's attempt to assassinate the President of the United States.
Smith's appearance changes somewhat in Hitman: Blood Money, so that his hairstyle and facial features now greatly resembles that of Agent Smith from the Matrix Trilogy.
; Mei-Ling: A young woman from the Chinese mainland, abducted and recruited into the brothel of Hong Kong crimelord Lee Hong. 47 rescues her in exchange for information about her employer in preparation for assassinating him. After escaping from Lee Hong, Mei-Ling somehow ends up hooking up with Hayamoto, yet another Asian crime lord, and 47 ends up rescuing her again (much to his consternation).
Mei-Ling is apparently the only woman 47 has ever kissed. 47 did not seem to enjoy the experience much, since he was conditioned to be as asexual as possible. His reaction is different in the original game and the remake. In the original Hitman, 47 reacts with significant revulsion. In the remake Hitman: Contracts, his reaction is one of detached bemusement. She was known as Lei Ling in the original Hitman: Codename 47. The reason for the later change remains unclear.
; Sergei Zavorotko: The central villain of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. An influential Russian mafia boss and arms dealer specializing in the transport of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons (NBC weapons). Sergei is the boss and older brother of Boris, one of 47's five "fathers", although he is much more powerful than Boris ever was.
Sergei brought 47 out of retirement by arranging for the kidnapping of 47's friend Father Vittorio, then anonymously arranged through the Agency for 47 to perform a series of hits on his business partners. The hits were merely a diversion, however, and in reality Sergei was using 47 to assemble the parts of a Nuclear Missile System capable of penetrating the American Missile Shield, a system Sergei planned to sell to a wealthy Sikh doomsday cult for a considerable sum of money. However, the nukes were intercepted by the UN, and Sergei attempted to cover up his involvement in the scheme by having 47 assassinated. 47 escaped the assassination attempt, however, and killed Sergei and his bodyguards in a bloody shootout at Gontranno Sanctuary.
Like 47, Sergei has incredible strength and durability, capable of smashing through wooden walls and surviving a few dozen bullets to the chest. He's no superhuman, though, and dies after a single headshot or 3–4 shotgun blasts. He's very temperamental and often peppers his speech with Russian profanities. He also always carries around a large SPAS-12 shotgun.
; Mystery Man: A mysterious man in a black suit. Little is known about his past other than the fact that he himself claims to have seen 47 while in Rotterdam, presumably during Hitman: Codename 47. He first appears in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin as an advisor to Sergei, he is the one who brings 47 to the attention of Sergei. Ultimately, he convinces Sergei to put out a hit on 47, leading to 47 learning about and killing Sergei. A couple of cutscenes towards the end of the game suggest he is really manipulating Sergei for a higher power. He may be related to the Franchise in Hitman: Blood Money. He is also been given the nickname G-Man by some fans because of his similarity to the Half-Life character.
; Jack Alexander: Jack Alexander is the narrator of Hitman: Blood Money, and in the final mission is also revealed to be the game's main antagonist. A former director of the FBI, Alexander is paralyzed from the waist down and most of his face is severely deformed by scars. In his time as director of the FBI, Alexander became aware of the truth behind the Ort-Meyer Project and the existence of Agent 47. Over the years, Alexander devoted the FBI's resources towards hunting down and destroying 47. Ostensibly, his goal was to destroy 47's genetic material to prevent rogue states from acquiring the DNA and producing their own cloned supersoldiers. The events of Hitman: Blood Money are recounted as flashbacks to 47's career being told by Alexander to a reporter, due to Alexander's desire to expose 47's existence to the world in order to prevent the legalization of human cloning.
As the game progresses and Alexander recounts his story, it becomes increasingly clear that he is an unreliable narrator, as the details he recites differ somewhat from what actually happens in 47's missions. At first it is unclear if he is lying or merely misinformed, but ultimately he is revealed to be the real leader of the Franchise, the arch-enemy of the Agency. His true intentions are to acquire 47's DNA to help the Franchise's own human cloning program, and his attempts to prevent the legalization of human cloning have nothing to do with moral objection to cloning, but rather are designed to ensure that the Franchise's cloning program has no rivals. In fact, he even sends his own clone assassin, Franchise director Mark Parchezzi III, to assassinate the President of the United States so that the Vice President, under the influence of Alpha Zerox, will rise to power, and ban human cloning.
At the very end of the game, Diana appears to betray Agent 47, injecting poison into him and delivering his corpse to Alexander, who gleefully arranges for a cremation and funeral for 47 at his private chapel. It was all a set-up, however, the poison turning out to be a "fake-death" serum, and during the funeral Diana gives 47 a "kiss of life" while administering an antidote to restart his heart. 47 revives and slays the attending priest as well as Alexander's bodyguards. Pursuing Alexander outside the chapel, 47 engages in a gunbattle with him and ultimately slays Alexander and the helpless reporter, thus preserving the secret of his existence.
; The Albino: 47's nemesis in Hitman: Blood Money. Mark Parchezzi III aka "The Albino" is an expert assassin and a master of disguises. Possessing many of the same abilities as Agent 47, he is able to blend into the background like a chameleon to carry out subversive operations. With a white suit over a black shirt and tie, his color scheme is the exact opposite of 47's (although like 47, he is fond of disguises and thus is often seen in other clothes as well). He is first seen in a cutscene at the beginning of the game, reading about one of 47's contract killings in the newspaper. He is mentioned in newspaper reports and radio broadcasts throughout the game, and various newspaper clippings note that he tops the FBI's most wanted list.
It is eventually revealed that his real name is simply "Mark III", and like 47 he is a genetically engineered clone, the strongest in a series of clones separate from 47's genetic line (A lesser clone in the line, Mark II, is seen earlier in the game as the leader of the assassin group "the Crows"). Ultimately, the Albino is revealed to be in the employ of the Franchise, the arch-enemy of the Agency, as well as having been hired to assassinate the President of the United States by the Vice President. Near the end of the game, Agent 47 foils the assassination and kills Mark III in a climactic shootout on the roof of the White House.The Hitman series permits the player to kill targets (or non-targets) in a variety of silent, innovative or even sadistic ways. In
Contracts, melée weapons such as knives can be used to kill in several different ways including forward stabs, horizontal throat slitting, frontal slashes, repeated stabs under the ribcage or a thrust to the side of the head. Along the course of some missions,
47 can also run a sword (or a pool cue) through the back of an unsuspecting person, tear through the back of skulls with a meathook, as well as electrocute, drown, boil, strangle, axe, bomb, suffocate, poison, crush or stab some of his adversaries. Wounded people can be quickly prevented from drawing attention to themselves by being beaten to death with pool cues or the butt of a gun.
To achieve the coveted
silent assassin rank,
47 must often sneak behind the mark and use his
fiber wire to strangle a (usually male) mark. The system for getting a "Silent Assassin" rating in
Contracts is generally more forgiving if shooting your target, provided it is done with one unheard bullet. A number of other targets require poison in milk, whiskey, soup, or tea. One hit can be accomplished by shooting the mark through a pillow or suffocating him. Another can be done by throwing a gas can down a chimney or stabbing him with a fire poker while his hopelessly inebriated friend sits close by. The
silent assassin approach to the Lee Hong hit culminates in removing Hong's food taster, either through poison (causing an alert) or laxative (temporarily causing him to leave). In the first game, and again in a remake in the third game, a player can even kill a mark, who's having problems with his heart, by increasing the steam pressure in a
sauna.
Contracts' arguably most elaborate hit involves disguising 47 as a SWAT team member, and then participating in a raid. It has been speculated that this mission was inspired by the finalé of the movie
Léon, in which the title character (a contract killer) uses similar methods in a similar scenario.
The method of execution will affect the notoriety of the player in Hitman: Blood Money. Whereas if the character goes on a rampage, but still leaves witnesses, he will be recognised in later missions. If the character performs his hits silently, he will have a low notoriety. In some missions, if all the hits can be made to look like accidents (using the new accident system introduced in Blood Money), some hits will not be counted as hits, but as accidents.
The tattoo on the back of protagonist's head 6-40509-04014-7 is actually
registered as a product of
May Audio Marketing Inc. It is unknown if there is actually any connection between the company and the game.
Also, the final number in the code (the check-number) is actually valid in respects to the rest of the code. The final number in UPC codes are determined by adding the odd-sequenced numbers, multiplying that by three, then adding that product to the sum of the even-sequenced numbers. Whatever number is needed to bring that total to a multiple of ten is the check-number. So in the case of Mr. 47's 6-40509-04014-7:
[3x(6+0+0+0+0+4)+(4+5+9+4+1)] = 53
53+7=60
Hence "7" is rightfully the final digit of the code.
The standard weapons for
47 include a non-metallic fibre wire with which to garrote, a pair of
Arcadia Hardballers and on occasion a
sniper rifle. In addition to these weapons, 47 can also take many weapons from guards, police, targets or cachés across the series. However, since Hitman 2 introduced the Silent Assassin rating system, the use of traditional projectile weaponry has been discouraged. In Hitman 2, excepting the final mission, the game can be completed using only one bullet. Hitman: Contracts can be completed using no bullets whatsoever. Hitman: Blood Money forces the use of bullets in more than one mission, although up-until the last mission it is possible to abstain from using them (on the lower difficulty settings, it is possible to complete the game without guns). However, the series still contains a large variety of guns and melée weapons, often appearing under different names, including:
Sniping Weapons
*
Accuracy International AWM*
Air gun*
Barrett M95*
Browning BAR Safari*
Blaser R93*
Crossbow*
Lee-Enfield *
PGM Mini-Hecate .338 (1)
*
SVD Dragunov*
Walther WA2000 (1)
Handguns
*
AMT Hardballer (1) (2) (3)
*
Beretta Model 92 (1)
*
Colt M1911A1*
Colt Python*
CZ-G2000 (2)
*
Derringer*
Desert Eagle (2)
*
GLOCK 17 (2)
*
Heckler & Koch USP (1)
*
Luger pistol*
Mauser C96*
PSM*
Ruger MK II (1)
*
Smith & Wesson Model 500 (2)
*
Smith & Wesson Model 3 Schofield*
SIG P220 (1) (3)
*
Taurus Raging BullShotguns
*
Double-barreled shotgun*
Franchi PA-3*
Franchi SPAS-12 *
Mossberg 500*
Remington 870*
Sawn-off shotgun (2)
Machine pistols and Submachine guns
*
Heckler & Koch MP5 (1)
*
Heckler & Koch MP7*
Micro Uzi (1) (2) (3)
*
Ruger MP9*
Steyr TMP*
FAMAE MT-40Military Rifles
*
AK-47 variants, particularly the
AK-103,
AK-74 and
AKS-74U (1)
*
Colt M16A2*
FN F2000*
M4 Carbine (1)
*
M14*
SIG 552 Commando*
Steyr AUGHeavy Weapons
*
M60 machine gun *
M134 MinigunMelée Weapons
*
Chloroform*
Captive bolt pistol*
Axe*
Katana*
Jian*
Golf club*
Meat hook*
Kitchen knife*
Fibre wire/
Garrotte*
Combat knife*
Scalpel*
Electroshock gun*
Meat cleaver*
Fireplace poker*
Shovel*
Baseball bat*
Hammer*
Nail gun*
Fire extinguisher*
Stun gun(Tazer)
*
SyringeExplosives
* Remote detonated carbomb
* Remote Undetectable anti-Personnel Mine
RU-AP mine*
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs)Notes: (1) indicates that this weapon can feature a
suppressor, (2) indicates that it is possible to wield two of these weapons at the same time, (3) indicates that it is possible to wield dual suppressed versions of these weapons.
*
Official Hitman: Codename 47 website*
Official Hitman 2: Silent Assassin website*
Official Hitman: Contracts website*
Official Hitman: Blood Money website*
Hitman fansite and forum*
DieselPower for Hitman 2
