IO Interactive's title is a vaguely named game for a reason. I'm not certain how good that reason ends up being, but thought was put behind it. When I first heard the name, I thought it was going to be a collection of random levels, like a "best of" game. It turns out that's not far from the truth. The story begins with Agent 47 limping into an apartment with a serious body wound and need of a doctor. During this period of pain and suffering, Agent 47 flashes back to missions he once completed, and you get to play them out. Some of them are indeed levels you have played before, or close to them, anyway, including the first level wherein our bald killer escapes from the hospital in which he's just murdered his maker. A little Biblical, perhaps. The level is from Hitman 1 and players must get out of the complex before getting caught. Seems like a well disguised repackaging of goods, no?
The answer is not all that simple. Agent 47's flashbacks, and his pain, grow more and more intense, and each one transforms into a former mission, predominantly ones you've never played before. The story is told in this scattered, hazy fashion with a concrete sense of pacing and logic, but also with a purposely hidden motive, which brings Agent 47 back into the present and progresses into the future. I'll spare you the story, but the story, it turns out, doesn't really play that big a role in this effort. I had figured IO would dig deeper with this Hitman, but that's not the case.
That's the distinct feeling I get from Hitman: Contracts. I figured after two years, Contracts would be this massive improvement in every manner, the way that Hitman 2: Silent Assassin made a distinct leap from the first Hitman. But I was wrong. IO Interactive has remained focused on what it does extremely well, which is to design fantastically elaborate levels, giving players countless ways to beat a level. And the rest is an all about enhancement. The developer has added new weapons (pillows, syringes, shovels, meat hooks, etc.), and new ways to kill, especially with regard to close combat attacks. It's also embalmed the whole game in this dark, disturbingly moody haze, giving gamers a distinct look at the seedier side of life, whether it's messed up biker gangs, genuinely sick meat-packing people, or deranged hunters looking for a more humanistic thrill.
