Being a hitman in real-life is more than likely one of the hardest jobs in all the world, but believe it or not, Agent 47's trek through the virtual land of hits and contracts is no duckwalk either. It’s not that 47 is incapable; in fact I’d say he can put you on ice just as quick as Seymour "Blue Jaw" Magoon, but when part of your job is overcoming poor collision detection, limited object interaction, and scripted level designs; it’s tough to get the job done.

Thankfully, Io-Interactive has taken most of the complaints to heart this time around with Blood Money, and has worked hard to correct past nuisances. And while Hitman still isn’t the perfect “Murder Simulator,” the ride this time around is much cleaner, more enjoyable, and far less scripted than we are used to.

The main reason that Blood Money helps resurge the Hitman series is with the notoriety system. This system measures your appearance and notoriety through the eyes of the public and the authorities, and viewed via newspaper articles each morning following a successful contract fulfillment. It is through these articles that you can judge how well you did on your last mission, and see if people are starting to notice your trail or not. Each action you perform affects your notoriety rating; acting with stealth and caution will leave very little trace, but being seen on camera, leaving witnesses, or failing to clean up your messes can result in an accurate sketches or detailed information about you. Do not worry, though, if your notoriety rating gets too out of control, you can always convince the police and public to look the other way via some blood money, but no self-respecting hitman wants to resort to those measures.

Another feature that not only helps push the envelope, not to mention cover traces, is the new accidental deaths scenario. Therefore, instead of using conventional weapons like guns, knives, and fiber wire to pull off executions, you can now use everyday items to do the bidding for you. You can’t quite use anything in the environment yet, as useable items are still scripted and case sensitive, but there are enough of them lying around each map to add variety and make you think. For example, one of your targets has a necklace with a jewel hidden inside around her neck, and it’s up to you to retrieve it. You can go the conventional way and ice her in a secluded area, or you can take a more clever approach using a combination of lighter fluid and a gas grill. The game is filled with an astonishingly high amount of ways too perform each task, and it’s only after multiple attempts that you finally figure them out. This not only leads to greater replay values, but it will ultimately show you how little you actually need weapons to complete each level.

Blood Money isn’t without its problems, however; the inventory system isn’t quite perfected, and the context sensitive buttons can really cause problems in the heat of battle. Sometimes you have only a few seconds to safely eliminate your target and hide the body, so a lot of times you will end up changing outfits or taking items from the body when all you really wanted to do was drag your victim to a safer location. So when you see three of the four face buttons represented onscreen with functions flashing, it’s sometimes difficult to make the correct decision when the pressures on.

The problems also carry over into the audio and visual departments, unfortunately. The soundtrack is mostly fitting and sports level-appropriate audio pieces, but the voiceover can be horrendous at times, not to mention being guilty of laughably bad stereotyping. The visuals are mostly improved and some of the bigger levels sport numbers of citizens not yet seen in a Hitman game to date. The Mardi Gras level alone has several hundred people on the map, and really gives you the feeling that pulling off a hit in a place like this would be obtainable. Some of the annoying collision detection problems still exist, as you constantly see Agent 47's arms and legs pass through walls and objects as if they didn’t exist. And, considering that Blood Money was developed for three different consoles, don’t expect it to be on par with 360 exclusive titles. The lighting and particle effects are improved, but most of the character models and environments mimic the PS2 and Xbox versions closely.

Ultimately, Blood Money is a vast improvement over where the series seemed to be headed, and is a 'must play' for any fan of Hitman. Sure, there are still issues of whether some of the scenarios are believable, and the game does in fact still feel scripted and hokey at times, but in many regards, Blood Money is the frontrunner of the series.

Gameplay: 8.3
Agent 47 has a slew of new moves at his disposal this time around. Combine that with the notoriety system and accidental death feature and you have a solid experience. Some issues still exist with scripting and level design, but it is much improved over previous titles in the genre.

Graphics: 8.3
Blood Money looks good, but not nearly as good as an exclusive 360 title could’ve. The character models and environments are upgraded slightly, but still look very close to the PS2 and Xbox versions. Some glitches and collision detection problems also come up frequently, but overall Blood Money looks appropriate enough.

Sound: 7.9
A few beautiful tracks are somewhat tarnished by some laughable voice acting, with the lone exception going to agent 47 himself. Most of the weapons sound very good, thankfully, but the audio during the cutscenes seemed lower in volume and wasn’t consistent with the rest of the game.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty can range from very easy to ridiculous tough, especially on the more difficult settings. Enemies have received a boost in A.I. and are much better at tracking 47 down when it counts.

Concept: 8.5
The new accidental death and notoriety systems are welcomed additions, and really help move the franchise forward. Still, some stages seem corny and slightly scripted, but nonetheless, Blood Money has the right ideas.

Overall: 8.2
Hitman: Blood Money is a nice advancement in the series and should provide both fans and newcomers hours of fun.