Hitman: Contracts PC
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 44
  3. Negative: 1 out of 44

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  1. KevinS.
    Apr 19, 2004
    10
    Superb game what more can i say?
  2. PaulB.
    Apr 26, 2004
    10
    I know you have all been waiting for my review but I had to think about this one. First of all most professional reviewers gave it a lower score then it deserves. Their reasoning is that it is pretty much the same game as the previous one. The Graphics have not changed much, this is true. The game play has not changed much either. But! (And yes I have a nice butt) How come a game like Splinter Cell which has not changed much at all, except its multiplayer which is very good I might add, got such high scores. In the single player of Splinter Cell you feel as though most of the time someone is leading you by the hand through it. In this game the playing field is wide open. You can play each level many different ways. It is very nicely open ended. If you want to achieve Silent Assassin you have to work for it. Sweat, hide and think. The limited amount of saves adds to the tension .The end is always the same but it is a real involvement to achieve it. It is a console game like Splinter Cell but it is a good well thought out one. An absolute joy to play. For this and other reasons I give it a 10.You can give me more Bells and Whistles. I will take that, but a good involving game is hard to come by. A special note to the makers of Thief 3 AKA Deadly Shadows. If you muck up my favorite game of all time like you did in Deus Ex my pen will be waiting.… Expand
  3. c0l0r
    Jul 21, 2004
    10
    Hitman is just one of the best games for shoot and! stealth + all the different ways a player can go through the missions.
  4. AndyL.
    May 4, 2004
    9
    Really though its just more of the same-old excellent game that was hitman 2 for those stealth shooter fans. Keep in mind that not everyone is one. The freedom factor found in this is a rare privilege in modern day shooter/action games though.
  5. sinadoom
    Jan 29, 2013
    7
    Aside from the fact that a few of the missions are just remakes of Codename 47, there is still some variety in the level design. Nothing new is added here- it's more like an expansion pack, whereas Hitman 2 is a full game. Definitely worth playing if you're a fan of the series or stealth games in general. In terms of evolution, it's hard to find the significance of Contracts within the series as a whole. The only thing that's new is the ability to sedate enemies. Graphics are (slightly) improved over Hitman 2, but what makes Contracts different to the other games in the series is independence. You start the level in your suit, and you literally go and do the objective. There's no complications. Here's the map, here's the guy you need to kill, here's your exit. No money, no expenses. It's all very straightforward. You don't interact with the level or other NPCs, you merely navigate through them. Soundtrack is a bit more dark and gloomy but suits the style of the game. There's no story (unless you classify someone sat in a room daydreaming as a story), and there's no overall aim. You get around 13 levels which, although mostly copied from Codename 47, are much more straightforward and refined. No long adventures or secrets. There are a lot of weapons to collect, including ones awarded only for Silent Assassin rating, but the overall difficulty of the game with respect to the levels themselves is spot on. On the whole, Contracts doesn't do anything original or improve upon its predecessors or evolve the series, but it does make for a good stand-alone game for those who haven't really paid much interest to the series. It's a "filler" game - only existing to bridge the time gap between Hitman 2 and Blood Money. With that in mind, it's still a good game which won't dissapoint anyone.… Expand
  6. missfatalissima
    Nov 22, 2012
    7
    I am a longtime fan of stealth games and I always though Hitman was the best series of the genre. But this was a major step back. It feels like I'm playing Splinter Cell Chaos Theory on expert without quicksave. Which means you have to repeat things over and over until you do it right, and most of the time you are waiting behind cover for something to play out. The strong points of Hitman were: fluidity, flexibility, exploration. Now it's about going through linear levels, with a LOT of repetition because of the lack of quicksaves (sure, saves were limited in higher difficulties on the old game, but I could choose when I wanted it). Today I was playing a level, and I repeated like 15 time the same easy, but long segment because I had a checkpoint before it. If I could choose, I would save it just before I started the hard part. But instead, I gor so bored I turned on the TV to watch while I waited for the same scenes to play out over and over again. And that kills exploration. It kills the spirit of the game, which was to blend in, walk around like a boss, like a predator, only analyzing how to catch the prey and then act on your plan. Also, stop making 47 be hunted. It breaks the game. Another thing: I like the realism of the fact that people recognize you in disguises, but covering my face should not waste instinct. It also breaks the game. That does not mean covering your face should solve all problems, but rather make it take longer for someone to be really suspicious of you. Also, I don't like the point system discouraging me to kill non-targets. I'm a hitman. I should be able to kill scumbags without losing points. You have a lot of different objects and kills, but lose points for doing it? I mean, if they were innocent, that's ok. But losing points for killing bad guys? Really? Also, not having a silenced pistol is a real pain for a game where you have to sneak all the time. Anyway... Hitman is about being set loose in a "playground" where you have to figure out how to infiltrate and kill targets without anyone seeing. Sneaking is something to be done only a fraction of the time, usually just before a kill: NOT all of the time. They took that away and took a lot of the fun with it. That said, I did give it a 7, so it's a respectable game. It's got a few improvements: the fact that taking out all witnesses means other people don't know what you did; the new objects/weapons and attacks; the graphics; the awesome throwing knife kill, the instinct targeting system. I hope the contracts mode is decent, I bet it's much better than the story mode. But frankly, I'm pretty disappointed. This was a major step back in the key aspects.… Expand
  7. OriginallyNamed
    Nov 5, 2012
    5
    As much as I loved the other games of the series, this one is too unoriginal for my tastes. A few of the levels are very well done, such as the "Meat King" one, but most of them are remodeled and retextured maps of levels from the first two games.
  8. Speed4Runs
    Dec 5, 2012
    5
    Quite good game, but it doesn't have anything innovative from the previous one.
    Graphics are OK, performance not so much and gameplay is good. The game is, probably, too much "dark" and "sad" for many gamers and many old-school Hitman players, since this is like a remake of the first Hitman, but it's a part of the plot...

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. GamerFeed
    70
    Missions are short, but the trial-and-error of finding out how to accomplish each one compensates for it.
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  2. Total Video Games
    80
    From the story angle alone Hitman: Contracts is a worthy addition to the series, and will particularly entertain fans of the franchise who’ve played both the predecessors. That said it’s certainly time for some innovation.
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  3. PC Gamer
    72
    The intricate level construction and enhanced AI are appreciated, but I still felt like I was playing nothing more than a glorified expansion pack. [July 2004, p.66]
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