Hitman: Blood Money Demo

The graphics in this game are fucking amazing. And somehow it all runs really well on my 9800 pro

The controls are too unintuitive and convoluted. Any FPS fan would be lost trying to figure out the controls if it were not for the constant control cues in the upper left hand corner. I deleted GRAW even though I enjoyed the night levels. I am pretty sure I am going to delete HITMAN BM.

way late night impressions from a long-time Hitman fan

* If you are unfamiliar with the Hitman series, this is an awful demo to check out. It's a tutorial level and 100% linear. The entire strength of the series comes from how open ended the missions are, and none of that can be seen here (if you've never played a Hitman game, go download the demos for 1, 2, or 3 just to see why the series is so great). It's kind of odd that they would build such an elaborate level just for a tutorial, seems like a waste.

* They took out leaning... This earns a rather significant "WTF". Leaning has been in the series since the original, there's no reason to remove it.

* Bullets don't seem to penetrate doors anymore (bullet penetration was introduced in Hitman 2). I'm going to check into this some more, it's possible that this is just a graphics bug (e.g. the decals may just not be rendering when they pass through a door).

* The new graphics engine looks and runs great (I'm using a 6800 coupled with a more-than-modest Athlon 2100+).

* The new moves (disarms/shoves/human-shield) are all very nice additions. The disarms really help 47 seem like the fucking badass he is.

* Throwing knives :D (There is a knife stuck in the closet door in the room with the scientist, equip it and use the throw key).

* The new looking-through-a-peephole effect is handled very nicely. You no longer feel like you have a cardboard keyhole attached to your eye.


Anyway, negatives aside (no leaning = booo), I'm still 100% set on buying this game on release day. It remains my 2nd most anticipated game of the year (after Oblivion).

Interesting.. I can play it at 1600x1200 with aa and 16xaf with everything on max with my 6600GT a64 3000..
looks amazing!

ugh... I just installed the demo and tried to run it, and the intro video/my mouse is so lagged that it's almost impossible to click on anything
I'm running a 3ghz 1gb ram with a 9800 pro 128,
anyone getting anything similar? I'd really like to fix this and play the demo

quick Impressions.

good stuff:
- great great music. Jesper Kyd delivers once again.
- good graphics. Lots of nice stuff like soft shadowing and self-shadowing if your system can handle it.
- cool game if you like hitman, I guess (which I do)
- some nice moves. As someone else mentioned, the disarming move is pretty cool.

bad stuff:
- awful dialogue. No lip syncing. After HL2, I'm really expecting the second one to be in order with every game I play.
- runs like shit on my system :(

Hitmenz:

So far I've only played through 2 all the way. Less than 1/4 though the first one, and skipped the 3rd one completely (sucky demo).

Someone please get me up to speed as far as story goes. I know 47 is some sort of clone I guess, but that's all.


Oh and for the demo: well, better than hitman 3's demo. Can't say I'm too impressed though. I know it's the tutorial level, but if the rest of the game isn't supposed to be all Splinter Cell in it's level of mindnumbing linearness, they should've included a second level to demonstrate it.

ah! finally played it. awesome stuff. ran great on my machine with all the options on high, 2x AA and 2x AF. sounds like its a real crap shoot getting it to run smoothly. you guys got latest drivers and what-not?

can't wait for the full game

With this game, the system requirements are a joke. I meet and exceed all of them, yet I run this game like a slideshow. Lowest settings everything, most shadows turned off, no AA, no AF, lowest res.

oh gees, i can't wait to get home and give this a try. sounds like a great demo. i may even install Hitman 2 and play through that.

Awesome game. Must buy.

Video Love:
http://rapidshare.de/files/21130044/hitman.wmv.html

(30MB WMV)
Note that I recorded it at full frame 1280x720. I played it first at 1280x1024 but felt the 16:9 AR would make for a nice gameplay recording. The encoding shrunk it a little, but I think it looks okay.

Here's a frame grab from the source video:
http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20060522162528bmp7wo.jpg

why rapidshare? because I don't have shackspace and its the most efficient way to share the file. just click FREE, wait, enter the code, download, and enjoy.

My demo review:

It is important to note that the demo is the first level in the game and holds your hand a lot in what to do. The mission isn't as open ended as the rest of the game because it is a tutorial level. Its a good thing for new gamers to the series but annoying for us veterans.

The graphics are outstanding. I ran everything maxed with both AA and AF at 2x and the resolution at 1024x768. Ran perfectly. My system is an Athlon 3200, 1GB Ram and a Geforce 6800GT 256MB. I love the soft shadows and the very detailed environments. The character models look a bit plastic-y in bright light, but better indoors.

There are a lot of moves that 47 can pull off now. You can throw people off balconys, hide bodies in freezers and boxes, take enemies as human shields, disarm opponents, knock them down, etc. The tutorial really showed off everything you can do and all the tools you can use in the game. A headshot is a headshot in this game so its good to see them go down in one shot. Stealth is easy to master and gunplay is as well. There are a lot of weapons to be used.

The demo level isn't very open so there is only one true route through it, but given this is a Hitman game the rest of the levels are for sure open just like the rest of the games. I just hope the full game does not turn into a trial and error approach.

Overall if you liked the demo, give the full game a try. The sound was excellent with the soundtrack being great as usual and the controls are much better now, not sluggish at all like before. A+ demo, and the PC version only will cost $39.99. Its a steal.

I don't know guys... it doesn't really click. Granted, it's the demo; but what did they really add to the game? Throwing weapons, disarming, pushing, human shield?

The graphics aren't THAT much better than 3... and I still think Hitman 1 and 2 have a much more open feel to them. The physics are pragmatic at best, we're on the verge of having Ageia (sp?) bless the world with an edge on physics engines, and we're stuck with basic ragdoll? Even Max Payne allowed some environmental interaction.

Unless the full version allows the game to open up much more; I don't know if I'll spend any time with this. I was planning on the 360 version the day of release... but, I might as well load up Contracts. Or... better yet, Hitman 2.

Deeply saddened, someone say something to change my mind!

Demo was fun. Does the full game have MP of any kind? I'm in no rush if its only SP, I'll just wait til its in the bin, or GoGamer has a super duper special ;)

This game is totally sweet! Though I have to turn off the post processing filters on my x800 to get good performance. Definetly getting this game!!

Are there any fps games where you can watch replays of your missions? That would be cool, especially for hitman like games.

Just remember the missions after this first one have NO tutorials, easily interpreted objectives etc.

That's part of the appeal of hitman :) You need to spend a good time scoping the place.. figuring out shift patterns and other things happening in the level. This is exactly what I love about Hitman games, and many people don't get.

I think a lot of people just expect to do well and progress at a steady rate - This is definetely not applicable to the Hitman. Part of the whole appeal is taking it slow, trying different tactics and checking out the tons and tons of different methods at your disposal.

10/10 :D

The screenshots look like shite. That's certainly not next gen.

hmm... that was fun! Even for a stealth game n00b like me... the tutorial wasn't annoying and actually helpful! I disarmed a guy and shot him with his own gun in one smooth motion...

does the pc version have the next gen graphics of the pc version?

Man sounds like everyone is enjoying the game so far. Now all I have to do is try it out at home. This makes me wanna fire up Contracts tonight and do some sniping.

This is great. Loving the new melee moves.. anyone else find the kitchen knife? You can throw that shit now!

The graphics / filters are great in motion.. performance is pretty bad on my X800 pro for some reason though, and I have an fx 55 (dips to 15-20 fps at times while I get consistent 120+ fps in Condemned and FEAR).

Just played through the demo, which is the training level pretty much. That explains why its so much more linear and obvious what to do than most levels. Still a fun time and shows off a wide range of play mechanics. Also shows off that I can't run it as high res as Contracts. (duh). My 6600 and a64 3000 run it pretty nice at 1024x768, and it looks very good. Can't wait for the full version. For reference, I've enjoyed all the Hitman games, one of my favorite series.

It's Hitman: Contracts with better graphics. This is a good thing. Also, the death physics are great, just the right amount of over-the-top-ness to make it look awesome when you blow a guy away. Speaking of blowing people away, the sound effects, namely the gun sounds, are HUGE and bassy, very nice and satisfying.

As for it having "next-gen" graphics like 360, I would venture a guess and say "yes". The lighting effects and dynamic shadows are fantastic, and while it does not feature HDR, it still looks really good. I can;t see the 360 version looking much better than the PC version at 1280x1024 with 4xAA, 16xAF, and everything maxed.

The first mission doesn't say much at all... it's a cool game though, but for all this sneaking around and pretending to be someone else, why can't 47 actually say something when spoken to?

what's everyone think? i'm at work and not able to play it for another 8 hours.

i'm asking fans of the previous Hitman games, not people that don't like it because you can't run and gun your way through it.

Stealth, blending in, striking when least expected, and leaving no witnesses are all halmarks of a good hitman.

http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/hitman4/Hitman:+Blood+Money/1/thumbs/030606_hitmanbm_11.jpg

Sweet. Take that work bandwidth. This is an exception.

Is he looking at that guys ass? I bet he's looking at that guys ass. Sicko.

http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/hitman4/Hitman:+Blood+Money/1/thumbs/030606_hitmanbm_12.jpg

This going to 360 at all? Demo-wise too? That would be fun...

Now lets see how it really is RE: http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=12167655

MERCURY dont fail me now!

Impressions please shackers!! :D I'm thinking of swaping my Burnout Revenge for this on friday.