Hitman: Contracts is the third game of the Hitman video game series, released April 20, 2004. It portrays events that occur all throughout the series.
Theme:
Hitman: Contracts centers on a series of flashbacks Agent 47 experiences as a result of both his injuries and drugs he administers to counteract them. As he takes shelter in his hotel
room, he slips in and out of consciousness, experiencing memories of previous contracts he has been hired for. Each mission
is segued to be an action taken by 47 in his room, or by some element of his surroundings. For example, removing a painkiller
needle from his thigh induces a flashback that opens with him removing a syringe from a man's neck
Plot:
47 is seriously wounded by one of his own targets, who seems to have been expecting him. Bleeding to death and taking refuge
in a hotel room somewhere in Paris, France, 47 drifts in and out of consciousness as an army of heavily armed National Police
units (GIGN) converge around the hotel. The story centers on 47's flashbacks to earlier assignments. Many
of the game's missions are re-imaginings of previous ones found in Codename 47. Almost all of the major missions from the original Hitman have been re-made and included
in Contracts; the exceptions being the Colombia levels, which were scheduled to be included but were dropped, and the final two levels (the climactic shootout in the asylum
where 47 was 'made'). The prologue picks up from the conclusion of the first game, although the later three are all original
missions. The game's locations include Romania, Siberia, the United Kingdom, Rotterdam, Budapest, Hong Kong, and finally Paris.
While 47 lies unconscious, an elderly doctor stumbles upon his limp body and performs crude surgery to remove the bullet
from his stomach. Once he hears sirens, the doctor panics and runs off. At the end of the game, 47 awakens in the hotel room
with an expired mission briefing (most levels begin with a screen that lists objectives, but this one lists two of 47's targets
as already dead). It is revealed that 47 was hired to kill a U.S. Ambassador, and a famous Tenor at an opera house. 47 managed to kill both but is now tasked with killing the police inspector who has
sent innumerable GIGN team members after him. In the sequel to follow, Blood Money, the ill-fated mission is revisited in "Curtains Down", although it is slightly retconned.
47 awakens in time to hear a GIGN team swarming the hotel. Avoiding the authorities, 47 makes his way back to the Paris streets to find his last victim: the
Inspector. 47 finishes his assignment and flees the country. His operator, Diana, locates him on the plane; Her dialog suggests that 47's target was tipped off.
Reviews:
Weapons & Gadgets:
