Hitman: Blood Money
Encyclopedia
Hitman: Blood Money is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive
and published by Eidos Interactive
. It is the fourth entry in the Hitman game series
.
The story follows the life of professional hitman
, Agent 47
, as narrated in cutscenes by a former director of the FBI to a journalist who is interviewing him. The wheelchair-using ex-director recounts how his agency tracked 47 over a two-year period. The game also marks 47's arrival to the United States, and differs from the original three in that several contracts are carried out in civilian areas, as opposed to the "covert ops" settings of Codename 47
, Silent Assassin
, and Contracts
. The game was a commercial success, selling more than 2.1 million units, and a sequel has been confirmed to be in the works by IO Interactive
.
(Agent 47
) must accomplish. Standing between him and success are armed guards, security checkpoints, possible witnesses and other obstacles. The player guides 47 through the game's levels with the help of a satellite
map which can be accessed at any time. The map indicates the layout of each topographical area of the level, the whereabouts of 47's main targets, and other CPU-controlled characters. In order to carry out his mission, 47 may use any method at his disposal to eliminate his targets, regardless of witnesses or excessive violence done to bystanders. Beyond rewarding stealth over bloodshed as is traditional in the series, Blood Money includes features that directly penalize the player for making too much 'noise'.
Many new features were introduced to Hitman: Blood Money. These include the capability to climb through more obstacles, improved unarmed combat, the ability to use an NPC as a human shield, improved character animations (face, eyes, etc.), a new game engine and the ability to upgrade weapons and equipment. However, only five of the featured weapons in the game, as well as assorted pieces of equipment such as bombs and armor, can be upgraded. Every level contains some sort of method to make the target's death look like an accident; for example, tampering with someone's grill to make it explode when it is turned on, rigging a chandelier to fall on a target, or simply pushing the target off a balcony ledge. There are also improvised weapons, such as nail-guns, a child's air rifle, kitchen knives, screwdrivers, stilettos, cane swords, fire extinguishers, and a pair of hedge clippers.
A gameplay feature new to the Hitman series was also added, the "Notoriety" system. If the player, during a mission, gets caught on CCTV
or is witnessed committing murder, Agent 47's notoriety will rise. Conversely, if the player executes the mission perfectly with none of the aforementioned events occurring, 47's notoriety will be minimal. The higher Agent 47's notoriety is, the easier it will be for NPCs to identify him. Players may use the bribery
system to negate accumulated notoriety. Notoriety gained in early missions will affect later missions. Earlier missions in which 47 has gained notoriety in can be replayed in order to attempt to reduce notoriety in later missions. The notoriety system is not enabled on "Rookie" mode, the easiest difficulty setting.
At the end of each mission, a newspaper article
is displayed regarding the hit, in which the content varies depending on the investigation results and the player's notoriety. It will detail the weapon most frequently used, how accurately it was used, the number of police, security, and civilians killed or injured, and if there were any witnesses. Any injured people will be counted as witnesses, who affect your notoriety. Sketch drawings are also sometimes visible of Agent 47's face, which grow progressively more accurate as 47's notoriety grows. The newspaper itself rebukes the player for making too much noise by announcing on the headline how many people were killed in total, whereas executing your target without any problems will simply have you as 'wanted by police'. The article's title relates to the player's mission rating. "Silent Assassin", in which you assassinate the targets as cleanly and quietly as possible, and draw no unnecessary attention to yourself (blow your cover, leave no extra bodies, etc.), is the best rating possible on all missions. As you advance further into the game more and more newspapers containing the headline from your last mission will be scattered around levels.
Blood Money also improved the melee weapons system, allowing the player to lethally throw certain weapons at NPCs (i.e. kitchen knives, stilettos, etc.) Once thrown into anybody, however, the weapon cannot be retrieved. There is an exception for the hammer, which can be retrieved even though thrown into a victim. Also note that unlike previous games, melee weapons cannot be transferred to the player's armoury.
Blood Money introduced the concept of rival assassins to the storyline. The developers created the Mark Parchezzi character as a sort of foil to Agent 47, for he is "everything Parchezzi is not." The other "lesser" assassins were there to prove more able adversaries than "drug dealers or similar adversaries."
The bulk of the game takes place as flashback sequences that occur concordant to the present day (2006), in which a journalist and the former FBI
Director, "Jack" Alexander Leland Cayne, discuss 47's hits over the past two years (2004–2005) and his involvement in them. The reporter, Rick Henderson, arranged to interview Cayne concerning a recent attack on the White House. It quickly becomes clear that Cayne's real intent is to discuss 47. Cayne lies about many details, such as stating that 47 stole cloning data from Ort-Meyer to sell to the highest bidder. As the story progresses, it is implied that the Agency's employees are being systematically eliminated by two albino
clones
, Mark Puriyah II and Mark Parchezzi III dispatched by a western counterpart to the Agency called "The Franchise". The situation degrades to the point where 47's controller Diana Burnwood informs him that they are the only ones left. An attempt is even made on 47's life in Paris, almost killing him (prompting the events of Hitman: Contracts
). In 2004, at Mardi Gras
in New Orleans, Louisiana
, 47 is able to kill Mark II and two other Franchise assassins.
Diana closes down the Agency with a final contract to kill the assassins coming after them and splits the remaining funds between them. After the assignment, 47 is approached by an old acquaintance, a CIA agent named Smith, who 47 had rescued from a rehabilitation clinic earlier in the game via a serum that imitates the symptoms of death. He approaches 47 with a high-profile mission, paid for using several million dollars worth of diamond
s, to prevent an assassination on the President of the United States
, Tom Stewart. The assassins are "The Franchise's" clone assassin, Mark Parchezzi III, and the Vice President
, Daniel Morris, both working for Alpha Xerox, the shadowy political organization which owns The Franchise and is dedicated to monopolizing the cloning technology that spawned 47. They intend to assassinate the President before the elections so he may not be re-elected and forward his pro-cloning stance, thereby disabling their ability to monopolize it; "The Franchise" and its controlling parent stand to lose their military edge.
47 successfully eliminates Morris then Parchezzi in the White House
. A newspaper article at the end of the level shows that Parchezzi is believed to be Morris' assassin. Hunted by both enemy operatives and the police, 47 flees to his hideout. Without warning, he is visited by Diana, immediately arousing his suspicion. Diana proposes a plan to 47 to help them both escape danger from "The Franchise". As 47 mulls over the briefing she hands him, expressing his misgivings as to the likelihood of its success, Diana injects him with what seems to be a poison syringe. 47's body is surrounded by SWAT
officers, and Diana, announcing that killing 47 was "surprisingly pleasant", is formally inducted into "The Franchise" by Alexander Leland Cayne, its founder.
The story at this point shifts to the present day; 47 is scheduled for cremation
so his bone marrow cannot be harnessed by cloning rivals, forever destroying anyone else's chance of producing a non-defective clone. Diana drapes 47's custom Silverballers over his chest during his hasty funeral and kisses him after applying lipstick. It becomes apparent that the "poison" she injected was actually the fake-death serum 47 had used in an earlier mission. Diana's lipstick contains the antidote
in it, implying she was actually 'killing' 47 for their survival. The funeral begins and the story then concludes in one of two different ways. In the first, it is presumed the antidote fails to work, and 47 descends into the crematorium. In the second, canonical ending the antidote is successful and 47 awakens. 47 kills everyone, including Cayne's personal guards, the priest, Rick Henderson and Cayne himself (Diana had already fled), leaving no witnesses and ultimately securing 47's identity from the public.
Sometime after the funeral bloodbath, Diana uses The Franchise's assets to reopen the International Contract Agency, which overlooks the Copenhagen harbor. She receives a call from a client referred to as "Your Majesty". The voice cannot be heard, but Diana replies that the Agency has lost track of 47. Meanwhile, 47 is seen at a business engaging in conversation with a traditionally-dressed Chinese
man. They discuss a service that can be found 'in the back'. The story ends on the curtain literally closing on the two.
, was released on May 20, 2006 by Sumthing Else and Eidos
. The score was performed jointly with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and the Hungarian Radio Choir. It features Kyd's trademark ambience
and dark, foreboding arrangements with the choral
parts in deep brooding Latin
.
In the composer
's own words:
The score was nominated for the "Best Video Game Score" award in the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, but lost out to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, it did receive the "Xbox Game of the Year - Best Original Score" award from IGN
.
Additional music includes a rendition of Franz Schubert
's "Ave Maria
" (which has become the series' unofficial theme music
) over the main menu, a rendition of "Tomorrow Never Dies" by Swan Lee
over the end credits, the song "White Noise" by The Vacation in a club in the New Orleans level, as well as "Slasher" by Institute For The Criminally Insane in the 'Hell' nightclub.
with a slit throat, "Coldly Executed", showing a man in a freezer, and "Shockingly Executed", depicting a woman in a bath who has been electrocuted by a toaster.
and PlayStation 2
versions and 82% for the Xbox
and PC at Game Rankings
.
Many critics felt the game was an improvement over the previous Hitman titles, with Official PlayStation Magazine UK calling it "without question the best Hitman yet". Other critics shared this thought, despite feeling that the basic gameplay elements were similar, if not unchanged from the previous installments, with GameSpot
stating that "the underlying stealth action is mostly unchanged" while "a diverse sequence of imaginative scenarios gives Blood Money its own fair share of violent thrills." GameSpy
praised the expanded scope and options in each level, such as making kills appear as accidents, that "the game features enough choices and entertaining kills to have you playing some missions more than once, striving for that exclusive Silent Assassin rating."
The soundtrack was also considered one of the game's strong points, with IGN
noted the "impressive orchestral compositions", while Game Trailers felt it "drives your emotions throughout each evolving mission" and was even nominated for Best Original Music in GameSpot's Best and Worst Awards 2006.
While new features and additions to the series were praised, some critics felt the Notoriety system was "underutilized" and "half-baked" while others pointed issues from the previous Hitman games still being present, notably with the AI. Game Trailers found that "some enemies behave erratically in specific situations taking you out of the experience". TeamXbox
said they couldn't "really see any more alertness or cleverness on the part of the CPU than in Hitman: Contracts
".
IO Interactive
IO Interactive is a Danish video game development company currently owned by Square Enix. The company was founded in September 1998 by the Reto-Moto development group. To date their most popular franchise is the critically acclaimed Hitman series...
and published by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. It is the fourth entry in the Hitman game series
Hitman (series)
Hitman is a stealth game series developed by the Danish company IO Interactive. The series is available on PC as well as several video game consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. The game series has since expanded into a novel, Hitman: Enemy Within written by...
.
The story follows the life of professional hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
, Agent 47
Agent 47
Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
, as narrated in cutscenes by a former director of the FBI to a journalist who is interviewing him. The wheelchair-using ex-director recounts how his agency tracked 47 over a two-year period. The game also marks 47's arrival to the United States, and differs from the original three in that several contracts are carried out in civilian areas, as opposed to the "covert ops" settings of Codename 47
Hitman: Codename 47
Hitman: Codename 47 is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the first entry in the Hitman series, followed by Hitman 2: Silent Assassin....
, Silent Assassin
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. Released for the Xbox game console on September 30, 2002, it is the second entry in the Hitman series and the sequel to Hitman: Codename 47...
, and Contracts
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third entry in the Hitman series, followed by Hitman: Blood Money....
. The game was a commercial success, selling more than 2.1 million units, and a sequel has been confirmed to be in the works by IO Interactive
IO Interactive
IO Interactive is a Danish video game development company currently owned by Square Enix. The company was founded in September 1998 by the Reto-Moto development group. To date their most popular franchise is the critically acclaimed Hitman series...
.
Gameplay
The basics of Blood Money are similar to past entries in the series; each mission is framed around the killings of one or more individuals, which the main protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
(Agent 47
Agent 47
Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
) must accomplish. Standing between him and success are armed guards, security checkpoints, possible witnesses and other obstacles. The player guides 47 through the game's levels with the help of a satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
map which can be accessed at any time. The map indicates the layout of each topographical area of the level, the whereabouts of 47's main targets, and other CPU-controlled characters. In order to carry out his mission, 47 may use any method at his disposal to eliminate his targets, regardless of witnesses or excessive violence done to bystanders. Beyond rewarding stealth over bloodshed as is traditional in the series, Blood Money includes features that directly penalize the player for making too much 'noise'.
Many new features were introduced to Hitman: Blood Money. These include the capability to climb through more obstacles, improved unarmed combat, the ability to use an NPC as a human shield, improved character animations (face, eyes, etc.), a new game engine and the ability to upgrade weapons and equipment. However, only five of the featured weapons in the game, as well as assorted pieces of equipment such as bombs and armor, can be upgraded. Every level contains some sort of method to make the target's death look like an accident; for example, tampering with someone's grill to make it explode when it is turned on, rigging a chandelier to fall on a target, or simply pushing the target off a balcony ledge. There are also improvised weapons, such as nail-guns, a child's air rifle, kitchen knives, screwdrivers, stilettos, cane swords, fire extinguishers, and a pair of hedge clippers.
A gameplay feature new to the Hitman series was also added, the "Notoriety" system. If the player, during a mission, gets caught on CCTV
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
or is witnessed committing murder, Agent 47's notoriety will rise. Conversely, if the player executes the mission perfectly with none of the aforementioned events occurring, 47's notoriety will be minimal. The higher Agent 47's notoriety is, the easier it will be for NPCs to identify him. Players may use the bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
system to negate accumulated notoriety. Notoriety gained in early missions will affect later missions. Earlier missions in which 47 has gained notoriety in can be replayed in order to attempt to reduce notoriety in later missions. The notoriety system is not enabled on "Rookie" mode, the easiest difficulty setting.
At the end of each mission, a newspaper article
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
is displayed regarding the hit, in which the content varies depending on the investigation results and the player's notoriety. It will detail the weapon most frequently used, how accurately it was used, the number of police, security, and civilians killed or injured, and if there were any witnesses. Any injured people will be counted as witnesses, who affect your notoriety. Sketch drawings are also sometimes visible of Agent 47's face, which grow progressively more accurate as 47's notoriety grows. The newspaper itself rebukes the player for making too much noise by announcing on the headline how many people were killed in total, whereas executing your target without any problems will simply have you as 'wanted by police'. The article's title relates to the player's mission rating. "Silent Assassin", in which you assassinate the targets as cleanly and quietly as possible, and draw no unnecessary attention to yourself (blow your cover, leave no extra bodies, etc.), is the best rating possible on all missions. As you advance further into the game more and more newspapers containing the headline from your last mission will be scattered around levels.
Blood Money also improved the melee weapons system, allowing the player to lethally throw certain weapons at NPCs (i.e. kitchen knives, stilettos, etc.) Once thrown into anybody, however, the weapon cannot be retrieved. There is an exception for the hammer, which can be retrieved even though thrown into a victim. Also note that unlike previous games, melee weapons cannot be transferred to the player's armoury.
Blood Money introduced the concept of rival assassins to the storyline. The developers created the Mark Parchezzi character as a sort of foil to Agent 47, for he is "everything Parchezzi is not." The other "lesser" assassins were there to prove more able adversaries than "drug dealers or similar adversaries."
Plot
The game begins with a flashback at an abandoned Baltimore, Maryland amusement park, where many people were killed in an accident caused by negligent maintenance of a Ferris wheel. The father of one of the victims calls the Agency and orders a hit on the park owner, Joseph Clarence, who was cleared of all charges. 47 carries out the hit; following that assignment, he receives a string of contracts from American clients eager to hire the legendary hitman.The bulk of the game takes place as flashback sequences that occur concordant to the present day (2006), in which a journalist and the former FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
Director, "Jack" Alexander Leland Cayne, discuss 47's hits over the past two years (2004–2005) and his involvement in them. The reporter, Rick Henderson, arranged to interview Cayne concerning a recent attack on the White House. It quickly becomes clear that Cayne's real intent is to discuss 47. Cayne lies about many details, such as stating that 47 stole cloning data from Ort-Meyer to sell to the highest bidder. As the story progresses, it is implied that the Agency's employees are being systematically eliminated by two albino
Albinism
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
clones
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, Mark Puriyah II and Mark Parchezzi III dispatched by a western counterpart to the Agency called "The Franchise". The situation degrades to the point where 47's controller Diana Burnwood informs him that they are the only ones left. An attempt is even made on 47's life in Paris, almost killing him (prompting the events of Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third entry in the Hitman series, followed by Hitman: Blood Money....
). In 2004, at Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, 47 is able to kill Mark II and two other Franchise assassins.
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, to prevent an assassination on the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Tom Stewart. The assassins are "The Franchise's" clone assassin, Mark Parchezzi III, and the Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, Daniel Morris, both working for Alpha Xerox, the shadowy political organization which owns The Franchise and is dedicated to monopolizing the cloning technology that spawned 47. They intend to assassinate the President before the elections so he may not be re-elected and forward his pro-cloning stance, thereby disabling their ability to monopolize it; "The Franchise" and its controlling parent stand to lose their military edge.
47 successfully eliminates Morris then Parchezzi in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. A newspaper article at the end of the level shows that Parchezzi is believed to be Morris' assassin. Hunted by both enemy operatives and the police, 47 flees to his hideout. Without warning, he is visited by Diana, immediately arousing his suspicion. Diana proposes a plan to 47 to help them both escape danger from "The Franchise". As 47 mulls over the briefing she hands him, expressing his misgivings as to the likelihood of its success, Diana injects him with what seems to be a poison syringe. 47's body is surrounded by SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
officers, and Diana, announcing that killing 47 was "surprisingly pleasant", is formally inducted into "The Franchise" by Alexander Leland Cayne, its founder.
The story at this point shifts to the present day; 47 is scheduled for cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
so his bone marrow cannot be harnessed by cloning rivals, forever destroying anyone else's chance of producing a non-defective clone. Diana drapes 47's custom Silverballers over his chest during his hasty funeral and kisses him after applying lipstick. It becomes apparent that the "poison" she injected was actually the fake-death serum 47 had used in an earlier mission. Diana's lipstick contains the antidote
Antidote
An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against"....
in it, implying she was actually 'killing' 47 for their survival. The funeral begins and the story then concludes in one of two different ways. In the first, it is presumed the antidote fails to work, and 47 descends into the crematorium. In the second, canonical ending the antidote is successful and 47 awakens. 47 kills everyone, including Cayne's personal guards, the priest, Rick Henderson and Cayne himself (Diana had already fled), leaving no witnesses and ultimately securing 47's identity from the public.
Sometime after the funeral bloodbath, Diana uses The Franchise's assets to reopen the International Contract Agency, which overlooks the Copenhagen harbor. She receives a call from a client referred to as "Your Majesty". The voice cannot be heard, but Diana replies that the Agency has lost track of 47. Meanwhile, 47 is seen at a business engaging in conversation with a traditionally-dressed Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
man. They discuss a service that can be found 'in the back'. The story ends on the curtain literally closing on the two.
Soundtrack
The Hitman: Blood Money Original Soundtrack, composed by Jesper KydJesper Kyd
Jesper Jakobson Kyd is a Danish video game and film score composer.Kyd combines sounds of dark ambient, electronic and symphonic music and has won many awards. He is also notable for his early work in the Amiga demoscene, where he composed a large amount of music in his teenage years, in...
, was released on May 20, 2006 by Sumthing Else and Eidos
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. The score was performed jointly with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and the Hungarian Radio Choir. It features Kyd's trademark ambience
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
and dark, foreboding arrangements with the choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
parts in deep brooding Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
.
In the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
's own words:
The score was nominated for the "Best Video Game Score" award in the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, but lost out to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, it did receive the "Xbox Game of the Year - Best Original Score" award from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
Additional music includes a rendition of Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's "Ave Maria
Ellens dritter Gesang
Ellens dritter Gesang , in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.It has become one of Schubert's most popular works under the...
" (which has become the series' unofficial theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
) over the main menu, a rendition of "Tomorrow Never Dies" by Swan Lee
Swan Lee
Swan Lee was a Danish band featuring Pernille Rosendahl on vocals. The name was taken from a Syd Barrett song.In 1996 Pernille Rosendahl formed a band with guitarist Jonas Struck, drummer Emil Jorgensen and her boyfriend Tim Christensen. After Christensen left in 1999, the remaining trio continued...
over the end credits, the song "White Noise" by The Vacation in a club in the New Orleans level, as well as "Slasher" by Institute For The Criminally Insane in the 'Hell' nightclub.
Advertisement controversy
Despite the fact Blood Money has been said to be the most violent game of the series yet, the magazine ads for the game generated more controversy than the title which spawned them. The ad that drew the most attention and protest depicted a woman lying on a bed in lingerie, seemingly asleep but with a bullet hole in her forehead. The caption above the picture read: "Beautifully Executed", a pun regarding the woman's appearance and her fate. Other ads were "Classically Executed", featuring a cellistCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
with a slit throat, "Coldly Executed", showing a man in a freezer, and "Shockingly Executed", depicting a woman in a bath who has been electrocuted by a toaster.
Reception
Blood Money received generally favorable reviews upon release, with an average critic score of 83% for the Xbox 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
versions and 82% for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and PC at Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
Many critics felt the game was an improvement over the previous Hitman titles, with Official PlayStation Magazine UK calling it "without question the best Hitman yet". Other critics shared this thought, despite feeling that the basic gameplay elements were similar, if not unchanged from the previous installments, with GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stating that "the underlying stealth action is mostly unchanged" while "a diverse sequence of imaginative scenarios gives Blood Money its own fair share of violent thrills." GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
praised the expanded scope and options in each level, such as making kills appear as accidents, that "the game features enough choices and entertaining kills to have you playing some missions more than once, striving for that exclusive Silent Assassin rating."
The soundtrack was also considered one of the game's strong points, with IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
noted the "impressive orchestral compositions", while Game Trailers felt it "drives your emotions throughout each evolving mission" and was even nominated for Best Original Music in GameSpot's Best and Worst Awards 2006.
While new features and additions to the series were praised, some critics felt the Notoriety system was "underutilized" and "half-baked" while others pointed issues from the previous Hitman games still being present, notably with the AI. Game Trailers found that "some enemies behave erratically in specific situations taking you out of the experience". TeamXbox
TeamXbox
TeamXbox is a gaming media web site dedicated to Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms. While the majority of content is Xbox and Xbox 360 related, the site occasionally covers general technology and other video game news....
said they couldn't "really see any more alertness or cleverness on the part of the CPU than in Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third entry in the Hitman series, followed by Hitman: Blood Money....
".