Hitman: Codename 47, right out of the gate is a wonderful little game! In concept, it is much the same as the Thief series, wherein you play a medieval thief, sneaking around and trying to accomplish certain objectives. Hitman starts you out in a hospital of some kind, and the escape from the hospital serves as the tutorial for the actual game. Many questions are raised through this opening sequence, and it is only through playing the rest of the game that these questions are answered.

The story line is broken up into separate scenarios or chapters, each with their own specific weapons, equipment and objectives, and most of these objectives deal with killing one person or another (something for you non-violent types out there to be aware of: this one is bloody).

The graphics in this game are astounding, as long as your machine can handle the requirements. For instance, in one scenario, you are walking around a Chinese restaurant, with long flowing banners hanging down from the ceiling. As you pass by these banners, they waft with the air current that you create as you move by it! This kind of attention to detail makes this game one of the most visually impressive outings in a long time!

There are a lot of weapons and objects in the game to be manipulated. Careful and thoughtful manipulation are crucial to a successful mission.

Now, before this turns into a long winded applause session, there are some serious game flaws, the most glaring of which is that the game cannot be saved in mid-scenario. Once the scenario begins, either you complete it successfully, or you start over again once you fail. This can be very frustrating, and thankfully most of the scenarios are short enough that this is not a fatal problem, but it is a gigantic pain. The game took about 15-20 hours to complete, but with a save feature, that time would have been easily cut in half. Maybe this is why they did not include a save feature, though I would hate to think that they are willing to go to those lengths just to make the game longer.

Also, control of the character can be a little erratic. They included a camera angle preference, which in my humble opinion simply confused the game play and made controlling the action a little awkward at times.

Still, while these flaws in the game do detract from the overall effect, they cannot seriously slow down what is a very well done and enjoyable game.

As with Thief, if you like hack and slash and open gunfights, this one isn’t for you. If you are a fan of brains over brawn, where a little strategy goes a long way, then this one maybe the sleeper hit you have been looking for.