HITMAN: CODENAME 47 IN SOUTH AFRICA

Hitman: Codename 47 Platform: Windows 95, Windows 98 Condition: New Other versions of this game available from us: Platform: Pre-Owned/Used: Very Good Condition copies available Product Information 3rd-person action-adventure game that combines stealth, strategy, and shooting More than 20 levels separated into 5 chapters Comprehensive weapons and agility training session 3-D engine offers full object physics, deformations, weapons modeling, and animations Over 80 individually modeled characters Product Description In this stealth shooting game you are a mysterious assassin without an identity. Use stealth and tactical problem solving to carry out "hits" on a number of high-powered criminal adversaries. Plan each assignment carefully, and learn how to be a more proficient computer hitman through a weapons and agility training session. You will have access to black-market weapons, decoys, traps and personnel through a currency reward programme, but how you use them will determine if you retire as a millionaire or get permanently retired. Review The title of this game alone should give you an idea of what to expect. Your bald main character known only as "47", wakes up in a padded cell, a mysterious voice guides you out of the maze and this introduction serves as a training mission for the entire game. The opening mission isn't exactly a complete walkover, but by then you've learned the ropes necessary to actually play--though a wheel mouse is essential for easiest navigation through the menus. There are 12 levels to garrotte, sneak, disguise, shoot and bomb your way through, and these take you through various cities world-wide with a stop-off in the jungle for good measure. The control method is mastered after a while, and though you can redefine your own keys the default number pad block of a PC keyboard is hard to fault. The programmers' attention to detail is captured by the graphics--it's hard not to be impressed the first few times 47 pushes his way past a hanging drape and it flutters for real--and the excellent in-game music adds to the atmosphere. Stop to admire the scenery at the wrong time, however, and you will witness the Chinese action-style fade to white deathscene once too often. The title reveals the inevitable 15 rating--though the blood's not heavy enough to warrant a real BBFC 15, just the ELSPA recommendation. Hitman is not a first-person 3-D shooter, nor a totally stealth-oriented sneaker like the Thief series, and it's as if the control method was made complex enough to distinguish it from both genres. With no in-game save, it's hard work but makes the game longer than 12 levels sound, with a real sense of achievement when you finally succeed. So if you want a heavy challenge, it's the one to go for. -- Kenneth Henry