The recent World of Assassination series has thrust Agent 47 and Hitman back into the mainstream again. After a short hiatus, and the perhaps-better-forgotten Hitman Absolution, the contract-killing clone is once again at the top of the stealth game mountain, right where he belongs. But despite its exotic locations, stylish violence, and slick sneaking systems, IO Interactive’s reboot trilogy is not the series’ highpoint. For that, you need to go back to 2006, and one of the greatest games ever made, available now for $2.
Hitman Blood Money is not just one of the best stealth games, but one of the best PC games ever. It looks fantastic. The soundtrack represents a career best for Jesper Kyd. And each mission is filled with more style, imagination, intelligence, and humor than most other games manage across 20 or more hours.
The prop gun execution at the opera. The hedonistic Heaven and Hell masquerade ball. Eliminating a team of rival assassins during Mardi Gras. Hitman Blood Money is one creative set piece after another, combined with some of the smartest stealth and shooting mechanics IO has ever created.
More than any game in the entire series, Blood Money makes you think and feel like 47. The people around you – whether they’re your targets or just innocent bystanders – are all grotesque caricatures of human excess, designed to reflect just how the eponymous Hitman sees the world.
He’s an outsider. He’s a killer. He’s brutally, unfailingly cold. And so the world of Blood Money becomes this cartoonish exaggeration of greed, corruption, and indulgence. Not to mention, Blood Money has one of the greatest endings in any videogame ever, equal parts gratifying and tragic. If you haven’t played it, this is the perfect way to fill the Holiday season.
And it’s all yours for just $2.35 / £1.89. Just click the buttons below, and you can pick up Hitman Blood Money right now for less than the price of a coffee.
Alternatively, try some of the other best action-adventure games, or maybe the best single-player games ever made.
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