It’s taken me a long time to write anything about Ninja Gaiden 2, primarily because (spoiler warning) it is worse than the first Xbox incarnation. Beyond all the visual pomp, crimson splatterings and outright noise that NG2 manages to throw at you, the core fighting system has been tweaked into something nearly unrecognisable. This is without mentioning the infuriatingly obtuse camera and absurdist difficulty settings.

I am a great fan of the first Xbox outing of Hayabusa; playing the original when it came out and on both Hard and Very Hard difficulty levels after that, and before 2 came out playing through Black on the Xbox Classics feature for 360. The first game is so much better than the second because the balance it struck between skill and preternatural ability was borderline genius; it fostered that “one more play” ethos because any failure was a failure of yourself rather than the game. Two corrupts this and makes the game your enemy by including cheap, and most tellingly, unfair enemies.

The first thing one notices about NG2 after playing NG is the minute timing differences in attacks. These take a minute or so to adjust to as one settles into familiar ebb and flow of crowd control. The second is the much lauded extremity removal. It is at first exhilarating seeing limbs and vermilion being scattered to the wind but within half an hour of play, tactical play and knowledge of which attacks eviscerate are subsumed into normal play. The final major change to the fighting system concerns the obliteration attacks, sudden-death moves in common parlance. These arrive after a foe has been suitably hacked up and a single, well-placed button press later dispatches them with suitable aplomb.

If these were all the changes to the core mechanics then this would be a very different diatribe, unfortunately the great detractor, as mentioned before, are the enemies. The maxim religiously adhered to in the first was that any enemy could kill you outright through cunning and viciousness if you didn’t keep your wits about you; the second doesn’t discard this but softens up the enemies so that only groups of them pose any particular problem. So groups is what it throws at you. In the bloody fury of the first hours of play, this doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, but as the game wears on it becomes tiresome and each wave of malefactors becomes a speed bump rather than a challenge.

Ninja Gaiden 2 truly condemns itself however by introducing enemies who consider themselves above the laws of the game. Enemies which fire cluster missiles which can track beyond their forward firing range, ejecting from the side or even the back of their rocket launcher. Enemies which stalwartly continue on their animation cycle despite a brutally heavy scythe impacting their torso. Enemies which repeatedly throw exploding shurikens far quicker and with more accuracy than anything the protagonist can muster. This is without even mentioning the boss fights which range from the invigorating to the lacklustre.

This all contributes to a game that, camera aside, is technically marvellous but destroys the mentality that made the first so engaging. Combat, especially on the harder difficulty levels, is conquered through persistance and luck than skill and planning and as cathartic as the carnage is, there are too many self-imposed barriers to make Ninja Gaiden 2 anything other than a game for the most ardent and self-flagellating of fans.

There is little one can really say about Braid that hasn’t already been said by either the erudite or the overanalytical but one thing is certain, they’re all going to start with the above screenshot because I’m quite certain it is due for “iconic” status some time soon.

I can’t say what Braid is, why Braid is excellent or why it’s hyperbolic and overblown without retreading a lot of ground already covered.

The main quibble I read levelled at it over and over again is the nature of the puzzles and their “one way only” solution; this strikes me as disingenuous and like criticising Crysis for giving you a gun. Decrying the game for its lack of replayability is cheapening the elation of managing to beat the clockwork labyrinths it presents. Beside the quiddities of the game, the other most common complaint revolves around its story, lack thereof or nebulousness of. Cunningly enough the game has bred itself a bullet proof alibi for most narrative criticisms: it was meant to be like that. Jonathan Blow, now a household name in indie developers and outspoken designers, baked in just enough to make Braid seem like a criticism, a celebration and an advancement of video games all rolled into one.

I am an unabashed fan of the game, having completed it without the aid of GameFAQs and punched in all the necessary times (42:32 and 512th for the full game at last check) to earn me the all of the available Achievements and the elusive stars shall be revealed soon. To me the gameplay struck the right balance between trial and error and brain-burning logic, engrossing enough to ebb a weekend away.

So what more is there to say of Braid? When you can deconstruct the story to include alcoholism and nautical flags it’s self evident that it’s doing something right. For me, it filled a niché of being small and perfectly formed without cruft or inbuilt pretense. Despite the hype from newly vocal beard-strokers, that it has accumulated such a learned following is testament to the quality of Braid.

Okami (PS2)
The release of Okami so close to the release of FF12 was always going to be an issue, but passing up such a gorgeous looking and critically acclaimed game was out of the question. Unknown to me was just how vast and enthralling Okami’s world was; from the rolling fields and cheery village of the opening to the snowy tundra of the final zone, abilities and powers are drip-fed through just in time to save a player from repetition while the story twists and turns in an unpredictable but never chaotic way. While the unique visuals and adventure gameplay make Okami great, it’s the characters which transform it to wonderful. The silent wolf protagonist morphs from sleek beast to clutzy cub without so much as blinking and everyone from secondary characters to the glowing dot on Amaterasu’s nose is wonderfully animate, made all the more endearing by the cutesy, nonsensical voices reminiscent of Banjo Kazooie on the N64. Indeed, gameplay would be familiar to fans of the Zelda series, and while the Celestial Brush and assortment of accessories may be wonderfully off-beat, the progression and exploration aspects remain as firm as they ever were with Link. Okami is an undeniable work of art in both technical, gameplay and story terms and there is no aspect that detracts from such an awe-inspiring game.

Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Almost a full year after the Japanese release and four months after the US release, FF12 was finally released in Europe late February with a completely unnecessary advertising campaign on television and splashed across magazines. To call FF12 anything other than a triumph would be an understatement, it raises the bar in just about every category from art direction to the superlative script to an innovative and, most importantly, fresh combat system. If it weren’t for the overwrought plot and effeminate male lead, it could almost be mistaken as one of those other, lesser JRPGs. Its greatest weakness is the characterisation, eschewing love stories and overbearing personal tragedies for a more subtle, adult, and all round political take on the Ivalice of Final Fantasy Tactics days. The main plotline takes precedence over random side-quests and it’s not hard to see most of what the game has to offer on your first play through; lacking the instant exposure of the world obtaining an airship does in previous Final Fantasies, FF12 is measured, methodical and utterly engrossing.

Bullet Witch (360)
Once again released almost a full year after the Japanese release, Bullet Witch is a guilty pleasure, foolishly drawn in by promise of magic-tinted action with a female goth lead; in actuality the game is flat, frustrating and unimaginative. The setting is intriguing, the protagonist nonchalant enough but like Blood Rayne before it, the spindle, doll legs of Alicia make her feel untethered to the world, not helped by the outright lack of feedback from her gargantuan “broom” she totes around. Enemies are as thick as a bunch of rocks and death comes from poor, unalterable sensitivity and outright glitches than any measure of skill or luck. The game is thankfully short and dependent on levels of boredom of watching the grim debacle of entertainment unfold before you. There is little to recommend beyond the tantalising costume switching available from the outset; if your fantasy was ever to run around a badly rendered mine-complex as a busty office worker or heavy-metal school girl then Bullet Witch should be high on your list of purchases.

Command and Conquer 3 (PC)
HAIL KANE. After the lackluster Tiberium Sun, I was apprehensive as to how C&C3 would turn out, especially after the fun but off-the-wall Generals (and expansion packs). Moving back into the Tiberium universe gave the game a breadth of knowledge to draw upon but could easily raise ire given ham-handling of the material. Thankfully C&C3 turned our to be a blast in all respects; excellent graphics built on the tried and tested Generals engine, knowingly campy cut-scenes from such darlings as Jennifer Morrison and all around fun gameplay. The strategies may have been new, but C&C3 brought nothing to the table that hadn’t been done before and sometimes better in other games, franchise or not. Tank rushes and other dark-side play were quickly squashed with swift patching and a surprisingly balanced and familiar play style was settled on. Multiplayer once again provided the bulk of the enjoyment with swift free-for-alls and team play only hampered by the notoriously delicate lag associated with the Generals engine. EA continue to support the game with monthly “Battlecasts”, more tongue-in-cheek, mostly-marketing hyperbole from the C&C universe including the upcoming expansion pack, Kane’s Wrath. Certainly worthwhile with friends who are equally nerdy over GDI and NOD but otherwise a pretty, well-produced but overall mediocre RTS.

Bioshock (PC)
My thoughts on Bioshock have changed little since my initial scathing review. I may have mellowed out somewhat to see into the lovely artwork and attention to detail, but the overall lack of character interaction, end-game strategy or worthwhile storyline still make this an aesthetic wonder but ultimately wonderless FPS. Its benefit will be in the games it spawns, ones that make a concerted effort to stir emotion and tingle the senses and probe the mind; whether they can be more successful than Bioshock is a matter for the future.

Stranglehold (360)
Stranglehold still remains a superb shooter, as unpretentious and overblown as Max Payne was before, it represents the pinnacle of placing things beneath a targeting reticule and pressing a button. It remains true to its source material and produces room after room of deliciously destructible paraphernalia with only ammunition and meat shields in the way. Pleasantly challenging on hard, refreshingly straightforward on normal and relaxingly cathartic on easy, whether you want Stranglehold to be a balls-to-the-wall shooter or a gritty tale of revenge is up to the player but it is without a doubt the best version of Space Invaders I’ve played.

Half-Life Episode 2 / Portal / Team Fortress 2 (PC)
Creating a crazy “Orange Box” scheme whereby early adopters would be able to gift their copies of Half Life 2 to some poor individual was a bit of a bizarre move but the introduction of three new entires into Valve’s canon was too much to pass up. Episode 2 is familiar and more of what was offered in Episode 1: a straight-up, awesome romp through the world of Half Life. The locales may have switched and physics beefed up but that sense of wonder and assuredness is still present only this time bolstered by some superb character writing and set-pieces. Obviously play-tested to death, Episode 2 is relentlessly entertaining and only suffers because of the long wait after Episode 1 and the even longer wait to Episode 3. Team Fortress 2 is my least played part of this triumvirate and while humourous, slick and dripping with style, TF2 is just another class based shooter. Better balanced and swifter paced than others of its ilk it speaks to those of clans and private servers rather than casual throw-arounds with the random public. Portal is indeed the darling of the pack, the tale of Narbacular Drop and the Digipen team now common video game lore, the result is a brief but perfect example of humour and puzzles. Simple concepts tirelessly reinforced, the portal gun is as familiar and instantaneous as the gravity gun and each puzzle represents a perfect extension to that simplicity. The real measure of Portal comes not from the ending song, but the sheer volume of memes it has spawned, for one cannot disagree, the cake is a lie.

Assassin’s Creed (360)
Despite Jade Raymond’s tireless efforts to convince every male with eyes that this was indeed a game she wanted us to purchase, I bought Assassin’s Creed on its merits as a new franchise and one that was not afraid to try new things. Both of these were satisfied and despite my initial confusion with the underexplained back story, the free-running of Altair comes into its own once one is allowed to roam one of the cities. Each city differed more in tone than in layout and with the added benefit of rooftop conveyance, navigating them became a question of checking the map rather than the slow burn learning of roads and buildings ala Grand Theft Auto. Altair’s animation and abilities are unmatched and much joy can be had by simply bounding through the cities with little to achieve other than fun; this activity is of course made all the more entertaining when doggedly pursued by lawmen of various denominations. While the mission structure may be repetitive, it serves the purpose of introducing the sector of the city you’re exploring, the assassinations are far less planned and benefit from ad-libbing than careful planning. Soliloquising by the targets aside, Assassin’s Creed manages to be a most intelligent and deft game, unobtrusively weaving a story of duplicity and morals without being preachy or overly dense; the philosophical underpinnings of the plot are sound and while the script suffers from overly long monologues, it is otherwise tight and polished. The combat is the biggest divider, at first being cumbersome and tricky but slowly becomes fluid and second nature, parries, thrusts and counters all reveal the brutality and lethality of Altair when faced with supposedly insurmountable odds. Despite the flaccid ending Assassin’s Creed remains excellent throughout and only the lack of closure on the part of the backstory is any big detraction.

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare (360)
Beguiled by the graphics and lured by the modern setting, I was not a fan of the Call of Duty series until this installment. Initially ignoring the single player campaign for the utterly absorbing online multiplayer, CoD4 is unsurpassed in terms of reward and play-styles. Offering up a variety of styles from free-for-all to team deathmatch, the multiplayer is just at home with the public as it is amongst friends and the desire for “just one more round” is immense. Doing away with meaningless multiplayer achievements for in-game achievements is a bold move but one I’m sure will be copied by developers to come; the customisation potential is endless and despite the possibility for abuse, the customisation balances itself out according to overall skill level and situation, favouring each in equal measure. The single player is noisy, sometimes confusing but often exhilarating and drives home the horrors of modern war without any axe to grind or soapbox in sight. CoD4 is simply the most perfect example of a first person shooter possible, it may be unimaginative in setting and plot but it makes up for this a hundred times over in content and possibility.

Mass Effect (360)
What can one really say about the latest Bioware epic? While some had been looking forward to this since Jade Empire wrapped up, I was slightly more wary given the subject matter and my predilections towards previous Bioware sci-fi forays. Mass Effect is at once endlessly ambitious and surprisingly limited. To say the universe it inhabits is well realised would be a gross understatement, the encyclopaedia of information available is enough to fill several books and the desire to read everything is soon overridden by the burning desire to get on with the game. The dialogue trees and writing is as sharp as ever but lacks punch in some areas and is earth-shatteringly excellent in others, Bioware made an odd decision for their antagonist, obviously leaving the more malevolent evil doers for another entry in this trilogy. While the real time combat can sometimes feel scrappy, it enforces a tactical and strategic approach that is initially unnerving given the ability to just hold down the trigger. While the main plot is only a scrap of the game available for exploration, the rest comes through a slow and repetitive trickle: the glee first felt at exploring a new planet, Mars Rover style, is soon replace by annoyance at the arse-backward vehicle you are forced to drive in with no hope for a sleeker upgrade further down the line. These are of course all tertiary points to the overall playthrough of the story which is superbly voice acted, well written and well paced, it is up to the player to pace themselves as they see fit; frequent sojourns to other planets are available for those wishing to extend their stay in ME’s universe. The ending is an especial highlight, and while repeated playthroughs are encouraged there is little to replay unless one wishes to see the flip side of the moral coin.

Others
Other games I’ve played this year but not yet released in the UK include Persona 3 (PS2) and Odin Sphere (PS2) as well as other games not released this year including Neverwinter Nights 2 and of course replaying the Hitman games.

Future
2008 is going to start with a bang with two first quarter games: Devil May Cry 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2, both for the 360. Longer term things look a little more uncertain however with plenty of PS2 and now Wii and DS games to catch up on, spare time will be blissfully absent.

• 
  Mission 1: Asylum Aftermath
• 
  Mission 2: The Meat King’s Party
• 
  Mission 3: The Bjarkhov Bomb
• 
  Mission 4: Beldingford Manor
• 
  Mission 5: Rendezvous in Rotterdam
• 
  Mission 6: Deadly Cargo
• 
  Mission 7: Traditions of the Trade
• 
  Mission 8: Slaying a Dragon
• 
  Mission 9: The Wang Fou Incident
• 
  Mission 10: The Seafood Massacre
• 
  Mission 11: Lee Hong Assassination
• 
  Mission 12: Hunter and Hunted

Details
My runthrough is recorded on the last version of Hitman Contractions, version 1.74 UK edition. Videos are recorded at 800x600 resolution and then downsized to 512x384 for the Flash video and 640x480 for the high quality version; Contracts does have a 640x480 choice however I found the quality of the Flash video suffered when shrinking. The high-quality version also has a sharpen filter applied to it to keep the sharpness of the original.

Subtitles are provided where possible and are enabled with the Flash media player; they are downloadable in ASS and are exported to SRT for the online version. If you are downloading the high-quality version and wish for subtitles, you can follow a tutorial or if you use Media Player Classic then it may be as simple as placing the .ass file in the same directory as the .avi file.

Disclaimer
After putting what I write in perspective I guess my website could now be on all sorts of government watch-lists for some of the topics I’m covering. It should go without saying that I unequivocally do not endorse or condone killing, professional or otherwise, of any sort and everything written is done so within the context of the game. Those who know me will know I have a strong separation between reality and fiction (apart from with squirrels who are omnipotent!) so this writing and narration should not be used as a character reference.

Retrospective
When I was wrapping up my Blood Money runthrough, one of my friends had started an unnarrated runthrough of Contracts attempting to do a Professional/Silent Assassin challenge; that unfortunately fell by the wayside and it wasn’t until a couple of months later that I started on my Contracts runthrough with his blessing. I decided to “store up” videos rather than doing one each night so the sequence wasn’t broken by me taking a night off or going and doing something else for a spell; however this meant once I got into the game, I lacked impetus to continue and feel out of the practice/record/commentate routine I had built up. A few weeks later I continued where I left off and started posting the results, this meant I had entires queued up for a week ahead of where I actually was in the game.

My decision to subtitle the runthrough was a late decision but definitely one I’m pleased with. I’m a big proponent of web accessibility and any alternate method I can provide for people is good with me, plus it gave me experience with the superb Aegisub which I had been itching to use on a proper project. The subtitles aren’t perfect and it was a learning curve of best practices and exploring the application, the narration style isn’t ideally suited to subtitles as I tend not to package my sentences neatly which is what subtitles like. As such there are times when a “sentence” in subtitle terms can last for over a minute of monologue.

One of the main reasons I wanted to continue my runthrough included the release of the Hitman movie which, without launching into a full blown review, was mediocre to pants and I needed to remind myself why I played and loved the games in the first place.

Future
This runthrough represents just about the top level of play for Contracts, the only way forward would be to do all-zero speed runs which are, in one respect, awesome and in another, game breakers. A lot of the speed-runs use glitches in the game to speed things up which is obviously just part and parcel of speed-running, however I like to settle within the game rather than to try and break it. This is why when / if I do a Hitman 2 runthrough, it will be the familiar Silent Assassin approach rather than an all-zero run. The AZ run in Hitman 2 requires some byzantine methods to achieve (such as swinging a sword through a car, or getting a counter-assassin hit by a bus).

It has been confirmed that a fifth Hitman game is on the way so whether IO Interactive are going to change the formula or stick with what the fans (myself included) love is the big question. The lure of more high-quality Hitman fun is far too much to pass up on.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

Get Flash to see this player.

Download the higher quality version (34MB, XviD video, VBR MP3 audio)

Notes
This was always going to be a tight mission to narrate given that it needs to extol how it lies in both Contracts and Blood Money’s chronology as well as detailing the possible ways to go about achieving the mission. I do use “mission” at the beginning of the narration quite a number of times, primarily because I was trying to get through a lot of content in a short amount of time but it does come off as a little dense. There is an awkward pause towards the end when I was going to describe why I headed towards a different exit before settling on the one I used but time constraints once again had snuck up on me.

Details
Play time: 3:14
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

There is nothing complex about this mission and only the first section needs to be done with any speed; as mentioned, if you don’t want to circle around using the roof and balcony hopping method then you can drop down the lift shaft however your timing needs to be impeccable from the get-go to do that. If you use the roof then killing the lights is the only neat way to get off the third floor and means that you can run past the SWAT team without worrying about them noticing you; if you have a shoddy monitor then you may want to slip the night-vision goggles on until you reach the floor below.

The police officer on the second floor is shouting for a drug-user to come out of his room; if you keep your distance from him it’s possible for the officer to ignore you and ask you to leave the hotel, get any closer however and he’ll recognise you and start shooting you. He does have quite good hearing so don’t run or walk too closely to him. If you pick the lock of the door, there is a gun and an extra syringe in that room and the drug user is either dead or comatose so don’t worry about him.

Once in the police officer disguise, just make sure not to get in anyone’s face and you should be fine. You can navigate using the sewers if you really want to avoid second glances but the overland isn’t very expansive and is easy to avoid getting spotted. One of the three exits, the ambulance, requires you to have the car keys from a wandering paramedic before escaping which is where the second syringe comes in handy. You can use the paramedic’s disguise if you choose but there is no golden disguise for this level, everyone is on edge; apparently using the paramedic’s disguise nets you a different ending than if you simply drive away in the ambulance.

The detective will open fire on you if you sneak too closely too him which I almost did and is what made him drop the megaphone and catch the attention of the SWAT member I was trying to turn away. It is possible to shoot your car (the fortysevenmobile) and start a car-alarm to distract the SWAT team however on an all-zero run that’s a bullet too many. Turning the SWAT’s attention isn’t precise and you can do it any number of ways, just remember not to get too close and not to pull out any weapons. Also remember to sneak away so as not to cause the SWAT’s attention to return and see the body of the detective.

My escape route was incorrect as it took me past too many police officer to be viable which is why I then switched to the remaining exit with lighter police presence around it; the only other choice would have been to go find the paramedic which I knew wasn’t necessary.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

Get Flash to see this player.

Download the higher quality version (78MB, XviD video, VBR MP3 audio)

Notes
I tried a different tactic with my narration of this mission and sketched out some notes that I wanted to cover and had it open next to me while talking it through; this has the positive benefit of making the narration a lot better and a lot more focused, however it also highlights just how much I can’t say in the time given which is why (like in Mission 10) I realise at the end that I’m running out of time and have to wrap things up. I make a minor few mistakes here and there, the most noteworthy being when I talk about one of the guards and mention that I can’t “underestimate” walking that room, I actually mean “overstate” (under versus over). In retrospect I also seem to use the word “mission” a lot at the beginning but when listening, the usage doesn’t seem so bad.

Details
Play time: 8:09
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

I made a promise when doing this mission that whatever safe location the CIA agent relinquished I would attempt to do it; thankfully he gave me one of the three safe locations that I know how to do. I mention in the narration but it’s worth mentioning that I’ve never been able to retrieve the Jade figurine when it’s located in Lee Hong’s office safe, I have either tried and been shot (a lot) or just restarted. The weapons depot safe is the closes, then the brothel’s, then the guard quarters; the brothel involves using the balconies to get into a room which has a locked inner door but an open outer door.

One thing I did want to mention but didn’t get the chance is about the prostitute’s path-finding during the “escape”. While you can more or less forget about her, sometimes she has the bright idea of using the door to her left when 47 is jumping from balcony to balcony; this is a good thing as it means there’s no chance of her falling and escaping with the code however I’m unsure as to the criteria which causes her to do this as it only happened a couple of times during my practice runthroughs. The route I take around the balconies is the only way to let her escape as if you take the shorter route (turning right outside the door versus left) then when trying to cross the bridge one of the guards will spot you.

I hide behind some boxes for the wandering Red Dragon guard, however sometimes the timing will be tricky and it is possible to hide near the steps near the outer door, or even just stand still. Like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, he doesn’t seem to see you if you stay put although this may only be when he exits during the cut-scene.

It is possible to omit rescuing the prostitute and simply get the safe combination from Lee Hong once you’ve killed him. In that vein, it is also possible to not free the CIA agent and to take a guess as to where the correct safe is; if playing on easy or normal then saving before opening a safe may be in order. The safe location is chose upon entrance to the level (rather than when you speak to the agent) so saving before speaking to the agent will not choose a different safe location. When running for the kitchen, I take a wrong turn and almost run face first into some Red Dragon guards, but thankfully my reflexes aren’t completely dead yet.

When killing Hong, 47 seems to miss with his first fibre wire attempt which is why you see me ineffectually doing a second one, it seemed to be an animation glitch and Lee Hong was in fact dead, he just didn’t know it (Fist of the North Star style). I drag the body of Hong around the table which isn’t strictly necessary, but I don’t like there to be any nasty surprises as I’m sure you’re aware of by now. I do mention it but it’s worth repeating: Zun takes a shed-load of ammo to kill if you decide to shoot him, even with the M60 it will take a good three or four head shots to take him down.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

Get Flash to see this player.

Download the higher quality version (63MB, XviD video, VBR MP3 audio)
Download the video subtitles in ASS format

Notes
The narration that I do for this mission has been edited slightly to remove some slight pauses in my speech; the reason for this is that the video that I narrated to wasn’t the final version, I had forgotten to chop out a cut scene with the Police Chief which had the knock on effect of mis-timing my narration after that. This was compounded by the shortness of the mission and having more to say that I didn’t get to which is why I tend to gloss over the details as the mission comes to a close.

A few slip ups here and there, the most prominent one calling the rat poison “rat point” which sounds like a new Logitech haptic device. There aren’t any major slip-ups but its certainly not one of my best narrations.

Details
Play time: 4:28
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

When I go to drag the Red Dragon negotiators body into the sewer, I spend a good few seconds messing about as the ladder logic keeps taking hold and pushing me to move down the ladder which happens twice before I reposition 47 for an arm drag.

I mention that it is possible to pick the outer kitchen door lock; this is shown better in a later mission but it’s possible to cause guards to look to where you want them to by catching their attention and focusing it behind them, then moving to the front out of their attention which means they will remain obliviously looking behind them. It’s quick and easy to do for the two police guards facing the kitchen door however it’s not necessary if you can pick the lock with impunity before they show up.

The waiter is worth mentioning as he has two states: the first is wiping the bar down and the second is talking to the police guard positioned on the first floor. You can sneak by him in either state however the latter state is better for sneaking back into the kitchen as it means you’re not skirting his visual range. One of the problems with sneaking is it maintains the police guard’s interest which isn’t so much a problem but worth noting.

When placing the drinks on the table, be absolutely certain you’re placing the drinks and not the amulet as the menu options are directly next to each other; placing the amulet will cause the two at the table to start shooting you without pause.

If you decide to put on the Red Dragon negotiator clothing you’ll get the conversation about Hitman being European which I mention in Mission 9, The Wang Fou Incident. As the negotiator you get little freedom, the only benefit is getting the upstairs bathroom key from the waiter; pretty much everything else is off limits so it’s probably easier to spec out this mission as a chef than anybody else.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

Get Flash to see this player.

Download the higher quality version (63MB, XviD video, VBR MP3 audio)
Download the video subtitles in ASS format

Notes
In all a fairly shoddy narration with a number of idioms and not completing trains of thought on more than on occasion. The most notable being at the end when I say there are many ways to achieve the mission and list precisely none; I also contradict myself by saying assassinating one of the final Blue Lotus targets “isn’t difficult” but then say no matter which guard you “get, it’s difficult”. What I’m trying to elucidate is the leading is not difficult however the positioning with the guards is as if you’ve caught the attention of the other two guards, it becomes nearly impossible.

I also mention that I have chopped out about a minute and a half (from an eight minute run) which is true, however the implication is the minute and a half was cut from further in the mission when in fact less than a minute was cut from there and in total I cut a minute and a half.

Details
Play time: 8:00
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

The targets are in the restaurant for a limited time however planting the car bomb hurries them along I believe; the car bomb is about the only way to achieve Silent Assassin on this mission without being a savant with the fibre wire. If you mis-time the car bomb explosion and don’t manage to take out the two guards either side, you can garrote them if you’re swift, however they’ve more than likely “found” the charred remains of who was in the car, precluding a Silent Assassin rating. I’m unsure of the “official” canonical way to take out the two members who remain in the restaurant although the leading method seems to be the only way to obtain Silent Assassin as otherwise assassinating one alerts the other.

If this were Blood Money then a remote mine in the restaurant area would probably be the most expedient way of taking out all the targets, however with the absence of those, shooting is about the only other option available to you. I believe this is a hang over from the first game which had a similar Blood Money rating system but more impenetrable and with far, far twitchier guards.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

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Notes
At just over two minutes I went through many different iterations of the narration, trying to cram in as much pertinent information in the time available which is why there is only a single “um” and no extended vowels or garden-path sentences. I use the term “cadaver” in an odd way which is grammatically correct but not the most common way of using the term.

Details
Play time: 1:59
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

“As difficult as you want to make it” is the mantra for this level. A streamlined reprise of the very first Hitman level, the route to the single target is open and varied; whether you take a disguise or simply camp out on one of the many towers overlooking the park is up to you, you can even go the whole hog and try to plant a car bomb but the gardener route is swift and relatively painless.

The second gardener who I mention may cause you trouble starts the level only a few feet from the park entrance which means there’s no chance of catching him before he enters the park, not without alerting some of the guards at least. His routine is to tend a patch of soggy ground, stand up and then work on another patch close by; I can only assume during the standing phase he sometimes manages to catch me spiking the tea.

Hitman Contracts contains mature content and is wholly unsuitable for minors, some of these videos also contain flashing lights; fairly warned be thee.

Get Flash to see this player.

Download the higher quality version (71MB, XviD video, VBR MP3 audio)
Download the video subtitles in ASS format

Notes
It’s telling what a month in between runthrough attempts will do to the quality of narration: a lot of “sort of”s, “actually”s and “um”s in this one but overall a decent enough monologue. I trip over my words a couple of times, the most notable being when I try and describe how little the security guards care about 47 wandering around in a bodyguard disguise.

Details
Play time: 8:20
Rating: Silent Assassin
Difficulty: Professional
Shots fired: 0
Alerts: 0

There is a section in the first few minutes of my runthrough where I’m waiting for a security guard to exit an area before I pick the lock to get into the “murder” area. I try and close the door on the security guard before he walks through it, the reason for this is if you time the action right, the security guard will blit through the door without opening it which can shave a second or so off the overall time and while the trick worked in practice sessions, performance anxiety evidently made me miss the timing.

The route that I take is the canonical one for obtaining a Silent Assassin rating, while each assassination can be done in isolation you need items from both targets before you can obtain the chemical bomb. It is possible to sneak into the first Fuchs’s room without sedating the bodyguard although it does make it more taxing, however it’s worth doing to get the disguise which allows you to walk about the x-ray area unhindered. In a security guard disguise you will be shooed out of the x-ray area rather promptly.

My short quest to get a master key could equally be done on the second floor or ignored completely as with the proper timing you can pick the lock of the door without arousing suspicion. The reason I choose the third floor is the security guard on that floor circles away from the route I take to get the key, while on the second floor the security guard gets in the way somewhat. Picking is an option but I like to have a backup in case I need to think on the fly.

There is a way to get your sniper rifle into the building without gunning the security guards down and that is to place it on the ground immediately before you go through the outer metal detector then walk through and pick it up on the other side; with any luck you’ll have got it by without triggering an alarm. Moving it about within the hotel will be dependent on what disguise you’re in, bodyguards and security guards need not worry about the inner metal detectors.