Hitman: Codename 47

aka: Hitman: Pagato per Uccidere, Hitman: Tueur à gages
Moby ID: 2797
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Description official descriptions

A third-person shooter that emphasizes stealth and tactical thinking, Hitman: Codename 47 is a mixture of action and puzzle gaming.

You play the mysterious, nameless Hitman, whose perfectly lean body and UPC-stamped head indicate a somewhat unnatural childhood. Waking up one day in a cell, you escape your imprisonment and are shortly contacted by the Agency, an organization as mysterious as yourself. Offering a job in what you do best (delivering death), you embark on a career as an assassin. But the shadow of your past creeps up on you...and the last thing an assassin needs is something creeping on him.

A 3D game done nearly entirely from the third person (first person is used for aiming certain weapons), Hitman may initially draw comparisons to the Tomb Raider series. Although you can play in such a mode, there is also another mode where the mouse is more free to roam. Reflections, muzzle flashes, bodies that obey physics and slump and fall when necessary, and impressive shadows attempt to make the world feel realistic.

A wide array of weaponry are available, from knives and piano wire to silenced pistols to sub-machine guns and even heavy machine guns. Although such weapons are available, stealth will be your friend. The A.I. reacts to shouts, gunfire, and other odd occurrences, sometimes even getting suspicious if you're running around and so silence and sneakiness are your two best allies. Take down lone guards, hide their bodies and steal their uniforms. Then move in closer to your kill. Multiple methods of completing most of the levels are available, although one or two are the most efficient and therefore earn you the most money.

Spellings

  • Hitman: Агент 47 - Russian spelling
  • 终极刺客: 代号47 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

110 People (98 developers, 12 thanks) · View all

Product Marketing Lead
Product Manager
Creative Manager
PR
Localisation Manager
QA-Manager
Tester
Translation
Special Thanks
  • Aloha Hermann! Thanks for your support!
Programming
Additional Programming
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 47 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 108 ratings with 10 reviews)

Please, sir, may I have some more?

The Good
Graphics: They are outstanding. Despite some walkthrough (bodies' going through walls and/or floors) they are great. The Hitman looks good, and with high enough graphics settings, you can actually see the numbers of the barcode imprinted on his head. The smoke effects from fire are good, and the world the Hitman operates in looks like a real world. Stuff flows with the wind, mirrors cast accurate reflections, water reacts realistically to your walking, walls look good with no sign of jaggies (usually on edges of objects which look like stairs), and overall good quality.

Presentation: The game is presented great. It has a fairly easy learning curve, lots of missions that aren't repetitive, a good selection of real-world weapons (no alien shrinkray here), stealth and action combined in a seamless transition.

Controls: Excellent. Hitman responds accurately to your input and without delay. Moving is as simple as pressing a key and using your mouse. Inventory, binoculars, sniper scope...everything is easily reached from the regular "WASD" setup.

Atmosphere: Creepy, yet real. Walk too close to a person and they will track your movements with their head, giving you a sense of being watched. This actually has some value, because if you kill someone or pull out a gun, they will always recognize you, even if you change your clothes. Speaking of clothes, when you kill someone, you have the opportunity to change into their clothes, thereby allowing you to blend it, which lets you walk around with more freedom.

Physics: Hitman has a great physics engine. Kill a guy sitting on a chair, and his body will slump over in the chair, just like you'd expect it to. Kill someone on top of a staircase and they will tumble down the stairs, laying correctly on top of the bottom steps and floor. In most games, you'd expect the body to just lay flat; well, not here. Here's another great example. You're dragging a body to a sewer grate to dispose of it. Let the body sit on the side of the grate with one leg hanging over the opening. The physics engine, combined with the weight engine, will let the body gradually seep into the opening until most of it's mass (depending on the bodyfat of the victim) gives and drops the body into the grate. It is amazing and must be seen to fully understand it's addition to the game.

The Bad
Almost nothing. The camera is awful, and tracks you in a over-the-top, third-person perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with that camera position (Tomb Raider anyone?), but it just doesn't suit the game.

The Bottom Line
The first game in the so-called "murder simulation" genre, Hitman: Codename 47 is an excellent game well worth your cash. It'll satisfy all your needs.

Windows · by JPaterson (9502) · 2001

Challenging, yet replayable

The Good
Some good points about this game is the variety of weapons you can choose for this game. Also, if you have already beaten the game you can just go in to levels and have a shootout just for fun.

The Bad
Some of the levels were too narrow. You had to do things a certain way. And some of the levels toward the end were almost too challenging, taking the fun out of the game.

The Bottom Line
A fun, yet challenging game with the ability to do many things.

Windows · by Madrox (1) · 2002

Impossible and frustrating

The Good
The Hitman game series succeeds on the simple truth that there is nothing quite like a the prospect of killing in cold blood to get the blood pumping. On that front at-least, this game delivers.

The Bad
I am sure you have all heard of the Hit-Man series? Unfortunately, not many people know that the early games in the series are rather unimpressive. So what is it that makes it such a poor game? It's not the graphics, they are acceptable and it's not the physics they are good. It's not even the A.I. because that more than suffices. The sad fact is that the game is impossibly hard, even on the lowest level of difficulty. I never got past the first two levels! The game does have a tutorial, unfortunately this only tells you how to fire a gun and the basics of the movement. For the first mission you are sent to a unknown city block and told to assassinate a gang leader in the Buddhist park there. What you are not told, is how to evade the 30 or so guards, how to avoid the chain gun wielding helicopter and then how to leave without being spotted. The guards are paranoid of anything that moves and the moment you pull out a gun they shoot you to oblivion. Turns-out (I read a walk-through) that you have to climb a unknown elevator somewhere in the area and get to the roof, assassinate the gang leader and then hide before the manic copter sees you.

To be fair to the game, I am sure it appeals to some people, if you are a fan of the genre or just like impossible problems you may enjoy this. Still If you get anything out of this game you have done very well.

The Bottom Line
It's Not: very understandable, fun

It's: Very twisted

Windows · by Lance droy (4) · 2007

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Guards' room in "Traditions of the Trade"? Daniel Saner (3503) Feb 15, 2013
Music in Windows Vista Daniel Saner (3503) Oct 2, 2008

Trivia

BPjS/BPjM index

On April 28, 2001, Hitman: Codename 47 was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

Trivia originally contributed by Xoleras on 18.12.2005.

References

  • Pablo's line "Say hello to my little friend" is an obvious reference to the movie Scarface.
  • The entire setup of the third mission, "The Massacre at Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant", is extremely similar to a scene of The Godfather, with both the setup (negotiation in a restaurant with gangsters and police), as well as the execution (hiding a gun in the bathroom).

Trivia originally contributed by EboMike on 18.12.2003 and 08.06.2004.

Naked strippers

An earlier beta of the game featured the strippers found in the game with no clothes.

Trivia originally contributed by Zovni on 13.02.2001.

Real-world locations

In an interview with fansite HitmanHQ, lead animator Jens Peter Kurup of Io Interactive stated: "The different locations were either constructed with picture reference or by actually visiting the different places to get the atmosphere right. [...] The Hotel in Budapest actually exists [...], and some of the guys checked it out in details. Then it's modified to fit the gameplay."

The game's Thermal Bath Hotel Gallàrd in Budapest mentioned in the interview, as visited in the mission Traditions of the Trade, is inspired by real-world Danubius Hotel Gellért, also in Budapest.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Ray Soderlund.

Additional contributors: Zovni, Daniel Saner, tarmo888, Sciere, Stratege, CaesarZX.

Game added December 15, 2000. Last modified March 14, 2024.