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Hitman: Blood Money Interview Continued..
-- February 14, 2006 by: David Craddock
Shack: Are all objectives mandatory? If not, are there bonuses that players receive for completing most or all of them?
Rasmus: In most levels all objectives are mandatory, but there are a few occasions, where you can choose what you want to go for.
Shack: How do I keep track of my mission objectives, where targets are, etc.?
Rasmus: You use the map to keep track of your Points-of-Interest, your targets, your item pickups and your NPC's in general. The briefing have detailed info about which objectives have been completed, and which haven't.
When you're on the level a picture-in-picture feature will feed back to you what is going on on the level and you will have a little sound notification if information which is important has been stored in your info list in your mission briefing.
Shack: Tell us about all the weapons that 47 has at his disposal to get the job done.
Rasmus: The major difference between this game and earlier ones is that [Agent 47] can upgrade his 5 trademark weapons. [These are] the W2000 sniper, the Hardballers, the Spas-12, the MP5 and the M4A1. Each of these weapons have between 10 to 20 upgrades that will drastically change performance in regards to sound level, damage, precision, stability and capacity. You can basically make your weapon suit your playing style. To do this, you need to use money you get paid for doing the missions.
Besides these 5 weapons there are about 50 other ballistic and close combat weapons at your disposal.
Shack: Besides guns, knives and all that, can 47 use his environment to kill targets? Details, please!
Rasmus: Yes he can - but it's not obvious, and it requires research to figure out how to do it. It's rewarding though, and will keep your notoriety on the low-side and your money on the high-side.
Shack: What is the Notoriety system, and how does it work?
Rasmus: When you perform your deeds on the mission, and people and cameras see you do this, you will be reported etc. to the papers. This will make NPC's know you, so when you play the next missions, there's a higher risk you might be recognized even before you do anything.
So a good thing is to remove witnesses, destroy security cameras and the tapes to not get too notorious.
If it happens though, and the going gets too tough, you can use bribe or even purchase a new identity to make your life easier again. This is not cheap though!
Shack: How do players keep track of their Notoriety (or lack thereof)?
Rasmus: When you finish a mission a graph in the debriefing will show you your current notoriety level, and when you play a new level it's noted in the mission briefing what your notoriety level is (also if you jump backwards and replay a previous mission).
Shack: Let's say I choose to go absolutely gun crazy during a certain level. How can I prevent dozens of citizens (and targets) from recognizing me in successive missions?
Rasmus: By killing them! The more violent you play, the more you would probably need to take care of business. Violence breeds violence in Blood Money.
Shack: Are there certain pros/cons to foregoing trigger happy killing sprees in favor of stealth? Vice versa?
Rasmus: Well, money wise, you will spend your finances on all the cool gadgets instead of bribing, cleaning up etc. if you take the stealthy approach.
The game will get increasingly challenging in terms of AI if you take the violent approach, so if that's what you're after, then you will get that.
But it will be interesting to try out both approaches because the game will feel and react differently depending on your style of play.
Shack: How does the monetary system in HBM work?
Rasmus: You get paid after a successful mission. Expenses are subtracted and you have an available amount. You can use this to buy upgrades, purchase extra intel, lowering your notoriety, or just saving up.
At certain milestone amounts, you will unlock the next Tier of weapon and equipment upgrades.
Shack: How can I get as much money as possible to buy lots of stuff?
Rasmus: Keep it cool and stealthy. Take out only the necessary people. Don't leave a mess. Stay in the shadows.
Shack: Is the monetary system the only way for Agent 47 to procure weapons?
Rasmus: In terms of upgrades, yes. All the other ballistic weapons, you find on the levels, and put in certain "smuggle boxes" that are then retrieved afterwards by the agency. The weapons are then stored in your hideout, and you can choose to use those on the levels as well.
Melee weapons are only available on the missions where they belong and cannot be collected.
Shack: Weapons are bound to attract a bit of negative attention. What sorts of new tricks does Agent 47 have up his sleeve in order to aid his escape, prevent bystanders from noticing his violent intentions, etc.?
Rasmus: As I mentioned before, he will try and hide the weapon behind his back, and in front of him depending on how his facing, in order to create too much attention. This is not fool proof though! Many of the weapons are of course concealable, with the exception of rifles and assault weapons.
Shack: What happens if there are witnesses to any of 47's assassination attempts? Are there ways to "deal" with witnesses? And what if there are too many witnesses to track down individually?
Rasmus: Well it all comes down to notoriety. If you leave a witness behind, then he will stay that - a witness, and he will add to your notoriety. So the best thing is to take care of as many witnesses as possible to not have to buy down your notoriety. Clean up will be cheaper (but will of course give you a worse and more violent ranking). So it's all a balance and a result of what kind of goals you've set - good rankings, low notoriety, low violence, low noise etc. etc.
Shack: Anything extra that you would like to add?
Rasmus: What can I say....it's a kick ass game. The best looking and best playing Hitman game to date.
Hitman: Blood Money is due out soon on PC, Xbox and Playstation 2.
