Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Agent 47 is forced out of retirement and takes up contracts again in order to find the whereabouts of his captured friend.

PlayStation 2

Xbox 360

GameCube

Xbox

PlayStation Network (PS3)

Overview

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the second game in the Hitman franchise, in which players take the role of Agent 47 - a genetically engineered killing machine gone rogue. This game kicks off a while after the final showdown in Hitman: Codename 47. Agent 47 has quit the assassin trade to work as a gardener in a Sicilian church. However, it doesn't take long until troublemakers stir things up and kidnap Agent 47's priest and mentor, Father Vittorio, which forces Agent 47 to return to his past.

Gameplay

Gameplay-wise, there are many refinements in this sequel to the original game. The first obvious change is the control scheme, which has been fine-tuned for the third-person shooter perspective.

IO Interactive also added an optional first-person perspective and a visual meter in order to give the player a basic outlook on the enemies' suspicion level, a feature that was further enhanced in later releases of the Hitman franchise.

Another major addition in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the new rating system. In the first game, there weren't any real incentives to get players to take a stealthy approach during the missions, which basically went against the design philosophy. In Silent Assassin, players are rated after each mission according to how they've performed - the lesser kills and detections, the higher the rating. The challenge comes in approaching the main target without having any hoodlums seeing Agent 47 come in or out. Players who mastered this were given the honorable title "Silent Assassin", unlocking hidden weapons and tools to take on future missions. Players who just go on a mad gun-crazed frenzy are often branded as "Mass Murderer".

Missions

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin features twenty-one missions, including the prologue/tutorial, making this the franchise entry with the most missions total.

Sicily

Agent 47's mentor and friend, Father Vittorio, has been kidnapped by the Sicilian Mafia, and they demand 500,000 in ransom. Unfortunately, Agent 47 is all out of cash, so he'll have to take some other approach to free the Father.

St. Petersburg

In return for information as to Father Vittorio's whereabouts, 47 must complete a small assignment for his former employers. This small assignment quickly evolves into four assassinations and a rather hairy run-in with a Spetznaz agent.

Japan

Agent 47 goes to Japan to eliminate an arms dealer and to recover a missile guidance system from his castle.

Malaysia

This time, the Agency calls in 47 to eliminate a powerful hacker who has his hands on an important piece of missile defense software.

Nuristan

Agent 47 goes to the Middle East to retrieve some important piece of cargo for his Agency.

India

A mysterious Indian cult has gotten their hands on some nukes.

Weapons

Melee

Anaesthetic
Fiber Wire
Kitchen Knife
Combat Knife
Scalpel
Golf Club
Katana Sword
Fire Axe

Pistols

Silverballer .45
Silverballer .45 Suppressed
9mm Pistol
9mm Pistol Suppressed
Deagle
Stub-Nosed Revolver
.54 Pistol
.22 Suppressed

Sub-Machine Guns

Uzi
SMG
SMG-SD6

Assault Rifles

AK-74
M4

Shotguns

Double-Barreled Shotgun
Sawn-Off Shotgun
SP12 Shotgun

Sniper Rifles

Crossbow
R93 Sniper
Dragunov SVD Sniper
MI95 Sniper
W2000 Sniper
W2000 Custom Sniper Rifle

Heavy Weapons

M60 LMG

HD Re-release

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was re-released with high definition graphics as part of the Hitman: HD Trilogy on January 29, 2013. It was also made available as a standalone 1.1 GB download on the PlayStation Network for $16.99.

PC System Requirements

Minimum

Microsoft Windows 98/ME/XP.
Pentium 3 450 MHz or equivalent.
100% DirectX 8.1 compatible video card with at least 16 megabytes of video memory.
128 MB system RAM.
100% DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card.
800 MB uncompressed free hard drive space.
100% Windows 98/ME/XP compatible mouse and keyboard.