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Hitman: Blood Money

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Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money
Developer(s)IO Interactive
Publisher(s)Eidos Interactive
Platform(s)Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360
ReleaseMay 26, 2006 (EU)
May 30, 2006 (US)
Genre(s)Stealth
Mode(s)Single player

Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth game in the Hitman video game series. The PC demo was released on May 22, 2006. The game was released on May 26th, 2006 in Europe and on May 30th in the U.S.

Theme

Template:Spoiler Hitman: Blood Money centers around assassinations carried out by Agent 47, as narrated in cutscenes by the former director of the FBI to a journalist invited to his home as they discuss 47. The wheelchair-bound ex-director recounts how his organization tracked 47 by observing his operations, each of which is played when it is mentioned in his story.

Features

Many new features were introduced to Hitman: Blood Money. These include the capability to climb through more obstacles, improved character animations, a new game engine and the ability to upgrade weapons (as well as equipment), however only 5 of the featured weapons in the game, as well as assorted pieces of equipment such as bombs and armor, can be upgraded. Every level contains some sort of method to make your target's death look like an accident, that is, tampering with someone's grill to make it explode when they turn it on, or the target 'accidentally' falling off a balcony.

A brand new gameplay feature to the Hitman series was also added, the "Notoriety" system. If the player, during a mission, kills innocents or civilians, gets caught on CCTV or witnesses see a murder, Agent 47's notoriety will rise. Conversely, if the player executes the mission perfectly with none of the aforementioned events occurring, his notoriety will be minimal. The higher Agent 47's notoriety is, the easier it will be for NPCs to identify Agent 47. Unfortunately, bribing is possible to reduce the notoriety that the player has procured from missions at a price which to remove all gained notoriety is never more than half of what they pay you. The notoriety system is not enabled in "Rookie" mode, which also allow unlimited saves.

Health boosts are available in the game, such as Painkillers. Though the in-game store description claims they heal a "small amount of damage," they actually replenish about 2/3 of Agent 47's life bar.

When each mission has been completed, a newspaper article is displayed regarding the hit, in which the content varies depending on the investigation results and the player's notoriety. Sketch drawings are also sometimes visible of Agent 47's face, albeit very obscure if the notoriety level is minimal. The article's title relates to the player's mission rating, whether it is (not in any specific order) "The Eraser", "Gangster", "Terrorist", "Loose Cannon", "Murderer", "Mad Butcher", "Mass Murderer", "Hoodlum", "Hired Killer", "Contract Killer", "Specialist", "Professional", "Beef Eater", "The Cleaner", "Hitman", "The Ghost", "Deranged Slayer", "Silent Assassin", "Sushi Chef", "Insane Florist", "Needle Pumper", Slugger, "Psychopath" or "The Russian Hare".

Missions

Template:Spoiler

A father wants payback for his son's death in an amusement park accident. Agent 47 is sent to kill the manager Joseph Clarance, also known as "Swing King," and to make sure that the last thing he sees before his death is a photo of the dead son. The player learns the basics of the game here.
Agent 47 is ordered to assassinate a Chilean druglord posing as a vintner and his cocaine-addicted son.
Agent 47 is sent to an Opera house in which a play is being rehearsed to assassinate two targets that are associated with child prostitution rings. This is the mission that leads up to the previous game, Hitman: Contracts.
Agent 47 must fake the death of blundering CIA Agent Smith (who has appeared in every Hitman game to date) to rescue him, as well as assassinate a mob boss-turned-state's witness, and may additionally assassinate two optional targets for an extra $50,000 per head.
Agent 47 has to kill a criminal who is living under the witness protection program, and steal a microfilm, all under the watchful eyes of the FBI before a birthday party.
Agent 47 is sent to assassinate three assassins and protect a political candidate during the Mardi Gras parade, and (optionally) retrieve a suitcase containing the diamonds that would have been the assassins' pay for a $100,000 bonus.
An old porn-king is hosting a Christmas Eve party at his private estate in the Rocky Mountains, and a Senator's violent misogynist son is there as well. Agent 47 has to kill both, and retrieve an incriminating videotape of the son's misdeeds that may end the Senator's political career.
  • Death on the Mississippi (the steamboat Emily) - Mississippi
Agent 47 has to take out a drug boss, Skip Muldoon, and a six-member drug smuggling gang called the Gators who are operating from a riverboat.
Agent 47 has to take out the son of Skip Muldoon as well as his father in-law during a wedding ceremony, while protecting the life of the bride.
Agent 47 has to assassinate a Saudi Sheik, his top scientist, and a South African white supremacist during an exchange of DNA samples, and optionally retrieve the scientist's briefcase, which contains the payment for the DNA, for an extra $100,000.
Agent 47 has to kill a CIA operative and his arms smuggling lover, as well as retrieve information on who's targeting the ICA in two parties with Heaven and Hell themes.
In order to prevent the assassination of the President of the United States, Agent 47 must take out an albino assassin called Mark Parchezzi III and Vice President Daniel Morris.
As the credits appear the player sees Agent 47 lying on a funeral altar seemingly dead at a beautifully elaborate ceremony, surrounded by Franchise members in black suits. However, Diana revives Agent 47 from his hibernetic state, allowing a final mission to start. 47 must kill everyone at the funeral in order to initiate the game's final cutscene.

Weapons

File:Hitman Blood Money M4 Upgraded.jpg
A highly-upgraded M4.
Pistols
SMGs
Rifles
Shotguns
Sniper Rifles
Misc/Melee

Plot

Template:Spoiler The game begins with a flashback at a Baltimore amusement park, where dozens die in an accident. The father of one of the victims calls the Agency and orders a hit on the park owner, who was cleared of all charges. 47 is called into action and, after the hit, receives a string of contracts.

The bulk of the game takes place as flashback sequences that occur concordant to the present day, in which a reporter and the former FBI Director, Alexander Leland Cayne, discuss 47's recent hits and his involvement in the whole thing. It eventually becomes obvious that 47 is apparently dead and that they are heading to his funeral. As the story progresses, the Agency's hitmen are shown to be being eliminated by an albino clone named Mark Parchezzi III, leader of a rival agency called "The Franchise"; the situation degrades to the point where Diana informs 47 that they are the only ones left.

Diana closes down the agency with a final contract to kill the assassins coming after the two. After the assignment, 47 is approached by an old acquaintance, a CIA agent named Smith. He approaches 47 with a high-profile mission, paid for using several million dollars worth of diamonds. It is quickly revealed why the payout is so particularly generous; the targets are Parchezzi, and no less than the Vice President of the United States, Daniel Morris. They intend to have the President assassinated due to his pro-cloning stance, as The Franchise and its controlling parent, Alpha Zerox (A secretive shadow government/black-ops division), stand to lose their military edge; with human cloning legalized, their competitors would be more or less free to assemble their own clone forces, ramping up the competition.

As expected, 47 is successful. Later, he is visted by Diana at his hideout who says she knows how to shake off the rest of the Franchise. As 47 mulls over the mission folder, Diana appears to kill him using a poison syringe. 47's body is removed by SWAT members, and it seems Diana has joined The Franchise. The story at this point shifts to the present day; 47 will soon be cremated. This is crucial as it will prevent retrieval of his bone marrow, without which a top-grade clone is impossible to produce. Diana drapes 47's custom Silverballers over his chest and kisses him after applying lipstick. It becomes readily apparent that the "poison" was actually a serum used in an earlier mission that merely induces a death-like hibernative state, and that the lipstick had the antidote in it.

The antidote causes him to wake up and start slaughtering everyone, except Diana who is nowhere to be found. To ensure that absolutely no one knows he is still alive, even the innocent reporter and priest are not spared.

A while after the funeral massacre, Diana is shown to have reopened the Agency, which overlooks the Copenhagen harbor. She receives a call from someone referred to as "Your Majesty". The voice cannot be heard, but Diana replies that they can't find a trace of 47. Meanwhile, a briefcase-bearing 47 is at a seedy-looking place speaking with a traditionally-dressed Chinese man. He is led offscreen by the man after expressing interest about what he has heard is "in the back". Red curtains fall over the screen at this point, and the credits roll.

Something that many have not yet caught is that right after the curtains close and the credits start, there appear to be flashes coming from behind the curtain, suggesting 47 has returned to his roots and is performing another hit.

Targets

Template:Spoiler Joseph "The Swing King" Clarence - Once a recognised celebrity and owner of a popular amusement park. After the Ferris Wheel ride collapsed, killing several people, the Swing King was ruined for good. Now, he is broke, his wife is divorcing him, and he is at the mercy of drug pushers and gangbangers, who now run the park as their own. One grieving parent, who is unable to let go of the past, has asked that Clarance be taken out, ensuring that the photograph of his young son is the last thing Clarence ever sees.

The Delgados - Fernando Xalvador Delgado, a retired Colonel of Pinochet intelligence service, enjoys old age by running a Chile-based vineyard, fronting a cocaine laboratory, and playing the cello. His son, Manuel, spends much of his time testing his products in the cellar, both wine and cocaine. The reviews of Fernando's wine are, to say the least, mixed, but a pensioners club from Santiago is expected, making 47's penetration of the villa that much easier.

Alvaro D'Alvade and Richard Delahunt - D'Alvade is an Italian opera singer, currently performing at the Paris Opera House. D'Alvade, although a celebrated singer, has a blemished reputation, including accusations of sexual antics with minors, that has caused some singers to refuse to perform with him. Richard Delahunt is the United States Ambassador to the Vatican and has made many enemies. He is currently obsessed with watching his friend at the open rehersals. Delahunt works with D'Alvade on a despicable prostitution ring that traffics youths of both sexes from the south into Europe. These two characters featured in the overlapping final mission of Hitman: Contracts (Hunter and Hunted), when in the mission objectives it is shown that both of them have already been killed and the final target is the Parisian Chief of Police, who was somehow involved.

Lorenzo Lombardo, Rudy Menzana, and Carmine Desalvo - Three mobsters in rehab at a rehabilitation center in North California. One of them (It switches randomly between each person) is the main target. The target plans to become a federal witness once released from the institute. The other two are optional targets for $50,000 each. Each are easily seen by their robes, which are different from the usual white robes of the facility. Lombardo wears a blue robe, Menzana wears a pink robe, and Desalvo wears a green robe.

Vinnie "Slugger" Sinistra - A Cuban drug trafficking gangster turned federal witness of United States Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). He is somewhat jittery and keeps protection close by at all times, in the forms of both FBI agents and a loaded magnum. The client would rather keep some information Vinnie possesses, in the form of a microfilm, undisclosed, and for this purpose he must be taken out. The microfilm is concealed within his wife's necklace. Mrs. Sinistra appears bored with her anxious husband and sexless marriage and shows a considerable interest in the young poolboy. Preparations for his youngest child's birthday party should provide useful cover for 47. However, Vinnie's suburban home is crawling with FBI to ensure he makes it to court next week. Sinistra's character may be based on the fictional Cuban druglord Tony Montana/Scarface

The Crows - A group of assassins who have been assigned to take out a candidate for the upcoming presidential election. The leader, an albino clone named Mark Purayah II, is awaiting his payment in the form of a briefcase of diamonds. His subordinates, Angelina Mason and Raymond Kulinsky, are romantically attached and mentally unstable. They keep in close contact with one another via walkie-talkie. The three crows can be easily distinguished from their yellow costumed guards. However, the crowded streets of New Orleans during the Mardi Gras festival make them very difficult to single out for a killing.

Lorne de Havilland - A 71-year-old porn tycoon and born-again Christian. He founded the magazine "Popqurn," among other pornographic endeavours. He owns a handful of strip-joints, where he has fallen into the habit of recording the many sexual antics in the backrooms of the clubs. Blackmailing politicians and VIPs with these videotapes provide a sizable income. On Christmas Eve, he will be hosting a party at his Rocky Mountains estate, complete with beautiful girls, bachelors and a drunken Santa Claus. He prefers to retire to the studio floor of his mansion with his small, yet vicious, white dog, viewing a few secret recordings and checking up on the "actresses" on set. His character is apparently an amalgamation of Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt.

Chad Bingham Jr. - The youngest son of Senator Bingham and the unpleasant smudge on his father's pristine political reputation. With quite a potent sexual drive, Chad has been said to have assaulted a number of strippers and prostitutes. He managed to kill a girl in the back of one of de Havilland's clubs, with the entire thing caught on tape. Chad accepts an invitation to de Havilland's Christmas party, unaware that someone with a strong interest in his father's career has ordered his and Havilland's death. The retrieval of the illicit videotape is top priority.

Unknown Hitwoman - Found on the You'd Better Watch Out mission, a woman dressed as one of the waitresses prompts 47 into a small room offside. If the player follows her, she will promptly execute you. She may possibly be working for The Franchise. N.B. Killing her is not a core objective to the mission, but it is required of the player should 47 follow her.

Skip Muldoon - Skip is the Captain of The Emily, a Mississippi riverboat, which has been cruising up and down the Mississippi River for 20 years. He is also the head of a crime syndicate known as the Gators. Skip Muldoon enjoys showing off his shooting skills and has a weakness for fried food and cream-filled pastries. His appetite for fatty desserts is only matched by his appetite for his young and fit crew. The safe in his office aboard the boat contains homemade pornography depicting a (presumably) forceful encounter with his niece, Margeaux LeBlanc.

Buddy Muldoon - Buddy, the dim-witted son of Skip Muldoon, has become the successor of the now-extinct "Gators". He has recently, much to his childish glee, married into a family of descendants for the French Colonies of the US. The official ceremony has already taken place but Buddy and his new bride Margeaux LeBlanc are having a reception for their slack-jawed family and friends on an island on the Mississippi River. The client wishes the death of both Buddy Muldoon and his father-in-law, John "Pappy" LeBlanc, a prominent crimelord. The client stresses that Margeaux should be left alone. The client is most likely Margeaux herself, hence why the client stressed that Margeaux be unharmed. The newspaper following the mission claims she inherited hundreds of millions of dollars after her late father and husband passed away. Since then, she has been enjoying her inheritance as "the Bayou Beauty" in Las Vegas.

The Sheik - His full title is Sheik Muhammad Bin Faisal Al-Khalifa. He is the CEO of Arabian Pharmaceutical Exports (APEX), which has been rumored to be involved in illegal research, possibly cloning and biological weaponry. A deal has been struck with a South African white supremacist named Hendrik Schmutz who possesses certain DNA samples the Sheik is eager to get his hands on. The two will be meeting at the Arabian Knights-themed casino, The Shamal Hotel, in Las Vegas. In addition to his troop of armed bodyguards, the Sheik has invited his personal scientist, Tariq Abdul Lateef, to make the exchange of a briefcase of blood diamonds and to check the authenticity of the DNA samples. You must kill Al-Khalifa, Schmutz, and Lateef and escape with the payment case.

Agent Martinez - An undercover CIA agent who has gone rogue and joined the arms smugglers he was supposed to be spying on. He spends the entire mission, which occurs at a pair of costume parties, wearing a yellow demon mask. He is there to meet with Vaana Ketlyn, another target.

Vaana Ketlyn - The arms dealer whom Agent Martinez has aligned himself. Somewhat goth in appearance, she is the host of the Heaven and Hell parties where Martinez is organizing an arms deal, and acts as the master of ceremonies at the Hell party, presiding over the room from a steel railed stage suspended over a pit of sharks and giant flamethrowers. Can be eliminated by 47 either in her office when he's disguised as Agent Martinez or her pyrotechnic tubes can be turned around on her platform to engulf her in flames when she shows off for the crowd. She can also be killed by pushing her into a tank of great white sharks.

Eve - A young and sexy hitwoman for The Franchise. She has been killing 47's fellow hitmen. Along with fellow Franchise agent Maynard John, she has assigned to kill 47 himself at the Heaven and Hell parties near the end of the game, acting as the undercover operative at the Heaven party. She fancies herself a singer but is very poor at it. She appears to have a sexual, rather than purely financial, motive for killing. A cut-scene demonstrates her mounting a victim before killing him by repeatedly stabbing him with a switchblade knife. 47 eliminates her in order to find out who's been killing Agency personnel.

Maynard John - A hitman with a flair for the dramatic who is working for the Franchise who has been killing 47's fellow hitmen and is tasked, along with Eve, with killing 47 at the Heaven and Hell parties; he is the undercover operative in the Hell party. He spends the entire level dressed as a devil and pretending to be the bartender, though his drink concoctions cause those who consume them to become violently ill. Rather than attempt to assassinate 47, as he has been assigned to do, he engages in a duel in a soundproofed room, to try to prove that he is the superior assassin, and 47 is genetic garbage. He fails.

Daniel Morris- Interim Vice President of the U.S.A. after his predecessor was killed in a suspicious car accident, and Alpha Zerox's pawn for controlling the Oval Office. Before his post, he was noted for being a moderate in all issues, save for a near-obsessive opposition to cloning and a disdain of checks on executive power. He chafes at being without much real power and being forced to walk the presidential dog, among other things, by the First Lady. However, he stands to gain real control of the country, as he tasks an assassin to kill pro-cloning President Stewart as his superior arrives from Los Angeles. Despite his dark intents, his death is mourned as the worst tragedy since 9/11.

Mark Parchezzi lll- An albino clone (the best in a line that also included Mark Puryah II above) and 47's counterpart in the Franchise. In the newspapers' side articles, he is sometimes alluded to as a devious assassin and a "master of disguises" killing various targets; in other words, he is largely responsible for murdering most of the ICA's employees. Contacting Vice President Morris as "his niece", Parchezzi gains access to the Oval Office by disguising as a janitor, but is flushed out and killed by his rival on the roof.

Trivia

  • As was also the case with its prequels, Blood Money features a lot of in-jokes by the developer, IO Interactive, that will only make sense to a Dane. For example, a cutout of Dolph's eyes appear alongside a text in French, proclaiming that: "Blue hippopotami are invisible, and can be seen by no one. They sneak clandestinely, like a Japanese ninja. You are all 100% assholes!" [1]. The baseball bat featured in the game has "Dolph" written on it; Dolph's favourite weapon being a baseball bat [2]. There are also references to Danish C64 music band Press Play On Tape of which IOI developer Theo Engell-Nielsen is a member.
  • Jesper Kyd composed Blood Money's soundtrack, continuing his work with the franchise.
  • The car license plates in the game all bear words on them, such as "BADBLOD" and "MUNCH". "BADBLOD" may be either a deliberate misspelling of the words "bad blood", or reversed version of Danish "blodbad" (English: bloodbath).
  • The main theme, used in the menu sequences, is "Ellens dritter Gesang", or as it is commonly referred to as the "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert. It is a coincidence that this song was picked for the game, considering that the song was used in the blockbuster movie "Assasins" which is also centered around the theme of hired killers. The song is sung by a male priest during the funeral of the brother of the protagonist's (stallone) contracted hit.
  • Following the completion of the Delgado mission, the Chilean newspaper that is shown has a UPC which begins with the number zero. Following UPC guidelines, this zero would indicate that the newspaper originated in the United States. Additionally, the full UPC code matches that of the American newspaper The Washington Post. At the bottom of the same newspaper near the UPC code and copyright is written, "No tengo ninguna pista que estoy escribiendo", which translates to, "I have no clue what I am writing".
  • The newspapers which appear at the end of each mission also tell you about next targets or places where the next missions take place, and in some cases tell you what happens after certain targets have been eliminated as in the Wedding mission. What happens to the widow (Margeux LeBlanc) is mentioned in the newspaper of a later mission. She is mentioned as the Bayou beauty, a beautiful and talented high-roller, more than indicating that she ordered her husband-to-be's death.
  • The female singer (Eve, mentioned above) in "A Dance With The Devil" sings the song "Tomorrow Never Dies" by Danish Swan Lee, albeit rather poorly.
  • Also, the newspaper that is shown after "Amendment XXV" is dated September 23, 2005. This is the date on which the band Swan Lee, whose song "Tomorrow Never Dies" is used during the end credits, announced that they were breaking up.
  • During the Opera house Mission in Paris, there is a room in the basement that you find three rats in. If the player kills them a card will appear on a near by table called "Rat Club". Further upstairs, at the back of the opera house, the player can use this card to unlock a door, thereby gaining access to a room which houses boxing rats (complete with boxing gloves) and rats playing poker.
  • 47's has been remodelled slightly since Hitman 2 and Hitman Contracts. Also Agent Smith seems to be going bald in this game.
  • The face used for Agent 47 is that of David Bateson, the same man who provides the voice for Agent 47.
  • The waterfront in the final cutscene with Diana is that of Copenhagen harbor. Additionally, the posters on the walls of Diana's office display Copenhagen landmarks such as Christiansborg and Børsen.
  • According to the newspaper which appears at the end of the mission Death on the Mississippi, the mission took place in the month of "Smarch", a Simpsons reference. Another newspaper mentions a police chief named Wiggum.
  • The main menu of the game shows the funeral which is the last mission in the game. The attendees are each of 47's targets. As the player progresses through the game, they disappear one-by-one as they are eliminated by the player.
  • The small cutscene which occurs when the player strangles someone from above (for example, from an elevator shaft), may well be an homage to the opening assassination in Luc Besson's Léon.
  • In Amendment XXV mission the target's name is Daniel Morris, which is almost identical to the name of PC GAMER magazine ex-EIC Dan Morris. Dan Morris has acknowledged this, and also claims that his face is somewhat similar with that of the target's.
  • The game's second-to-last mission, Amendment XXV, in which 47 must kill the vice president to prevent him from having the president murdered, is a reference to the 25th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which stipulates that, in the event of the president's death, the vice president shall take office.
  • Many people have noticed tears in 47's eyes after he snaps the neck of his pet bird, that he sometimes pets in cutscenes, when he sees that that the intruder in his hideout is only his boss Diana. This supports the claim that 47 is becoming more and more human with every game.
  • In the Requiem mission, a small white recording device is being held by the reporter, which can lead to the assumption that this will be used as a plot point in the next game in the series.
  • Agent 47 cares for a canary throughout the game, an obvious allusion to the film Le Samourai, about an assassin who lives and works alone, his only companion being a canary.
  • Agent 47 has a new tie. In previous games, he wore a plain red tie, but now wears a red-and-white striped tie.
  • In the cut scene before Amendment XXV, there stand on the airplane "IOI Airwaves".
  • After the wedding mission, on the newspaper a reference to ioi's game Freedom Fighters can be found as an advert saying "Join the Red Army" along with a picture of a Soviet soldier.
  • The "Heaven Guest" disguise found behind a prop van in "Dance with the Devil" looks very much like the uniform of "Elite", a minor Vigilante in the Punisher series. Elite would kill local "Undesirables" from his upper class neighborhood, ranging from drug dealers to hot dog vendors. Picture of Elite

Controversy

Despite the varying levels of violence found in the game itself, the most controversy was stirred up by a number of ads for the game distributed to various magazines. The one that drew the attention and protests was one of a woman lying on the bed in lingerie, seemingly asleep but with a bullet hole in her forehead. The caption above the picture reads: "Beautifully Executed" a pun regarding the woman's appearance and her fate. Other ads were "Classically Executed", featuring a cellist with a slit throat; "Coldly Executed", showing a body in a freezer; and "Shockingly Executed", depicting a naked woman in a bath who was killed when someone plugged in an electric toaster and threw it into the water.

Complaints were raised on the "Beautifully Executed" ad, claiming that the ad condoned sexual violence against women. Others, however, appreciated the ad campaign, praising both artistic quality and the dark beauty of the spread.

Reviews

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