History YMMV / HitmanBloodMoney

** A common complaint about the later games is that they're apparently too easy, something that hardcore fans find annoying. However, this game is also ''much'' easier than its predecessors, as you can run to your heart's content and disguises are much more effective now. Knockouts now last for the entire time you're in a level, bodies can be hidden in containers, you now have a PiP view that shows events taking place, and hiding bodies is no longer completely necessary thanks to accident kills. The main things the sequels have added since then are HUD elements tell you which areas are allowed or forbidden (which makes things easier to work out and plan ahead of time), less irritating disguise mechanics (Adding a dot to people's heads to denote if they're an enforcer for a given disguise, making it feel much more consistent to use than a warning meter), more realism in the A.I improvements (you no longer get shot when you accidentally enter a forbidden area!), and generally adding in more quality of life features this game simply couldn't do (such as melee lock-on, hiding two bodies instead of one in a container and so on).

* EvenBetterSequel: [[VideoGame/HitmanContracts The previous game]] was a semi-remake of the first game with [[MissionPackSequel the gameplay improvements of its sequel]], and [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks was considered bland because of it by some players]]. This game, on the other hand, improved the series on almost every aspect. Better graphics and gameplay, the addition of customizable weapons, the improved accident system, and the post-mission stat-based newspaper clips were only some of the most well-received additions. Even 15 years later, and 2 HD re-releases on (for the Xbox 360/ [=PS3=] in 2008, and ''much'' later for the Xbox One and [=PS4=] in 2019), this game is considered by many to be one of the best games in the series, only being usurped by the much later entry into the franchise: ''Hitman 2'', which builds upon the previous three games' mechanics.

** The aforementioned tutorial is very linear, something ''[[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'' would later be criticized for. It also gives you constant instructions of how to kill your target, something ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' was criticized for. (Although the majority of hints in 2016's game can be turned off.)
** A common complaint about the later games is that they're apparently too easy, something that hardcore fans find annoying. However, this game is also ''much'' easier than its predecessors, as you can run to your heart's content and disguises are much more effective, knockouts now last for the entire level, bodies can be hidden in containers, and hiding bodies is no longer completely necessary thanks to accidents. The main things the sequels have added are that HUD elements tell you which areas are allowed or forbidden, and a bit of realism and A.I improvements (you no longer get shot when you accidentally enter a forbidden area).

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: For years, this game was the definitive ''Hitman'' game, with interesting, large levels with various ways to kill your targets. However, nowadays its various mechanics can come off as pretty limiting. For a few examples, you can't take clothes from hidden bodies, all melee weapons are lethal, the detection meter is less clear in how it works, and you need to use either syringes or a gun to take out targets non-lethally. The levels also feel quite small when compared to those of the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy''.

* TheWoobie: Joseph Clarence. While he's a penny-pinching buffoon whose incompetence let to a disastrous accident, guilt from the accident has left him a complete mental wreck, his beloved theme park is overrun by a street gang, his wife's divorcing him and he is bullied and disrespected by everyone. His assassination seems more of a MercyKill than anything.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: For years, this game was the definitive ''Hitman'' game, with interesting, large levels with various ways to kill your targets. However, nowadays its various mechanics can come off as pretty limiting [[note]]For a few examples, you can't take clothes from hidden bodies, all melee weapons are lethal and you need either syringes or a gun to take out folk non-lethally[[/note]] and the levels feel small when compared to those of the "''World of assassination''" trilogy, for example.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: "Death of a Showman." The game not only holds your hand throughout the mission, it also doesn't notify you that killing non-targets incurs a penalty. Instead, it makes you slaughter several gang members, then tells you to poison an unarmed civilian. The weird part is that it was also the game's demo; a demo which not only tells you to be reckless when it comes to casualties, but conditions to you to expect hint boxes in later levels.

* AscendedGlitch: The infamous phrase, "''Allan please add details''", comes from this game. The HD collection changed the line to "''Any details yet, Allan?''"

** The funeral is what people think of when they remember ''Blood Money''. The Christmas level got the most hype from reviewers.

** Security guards almost always have unrestricted access in a level; in the few instances where they don't, disguising yourself as one can still carry you through a significant portion of the level, so long as you don't get caught killing anyone. (Of course, if you're going for Silent Assassin, you'll at least need to figure out how to ''sedate'' them rather than killing them.)

* DifficultySpike: The riverboat. It can be quite the nasty level. You have to assassinate 7 different people, most of whom reside on their own private deck which has a steady traffic of civilians.
* DisappointingLastLevel: The White House. Just check out the SkippableBoss entry on the main page to see how embarrassingly easy it is to avoid the boss fight and get the Silent Assassin rating. It comes after two previous missions which were much more difficult.

** The aforementioned tutorial is very linear, something ''[[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'' would later be criticized for. It also gives you constant instructions of how to kill your target, something the 2016 game was criticized for. (Although the majority of hints in 2016's game can be turned off.)

* TheWoobie: Joseph Clearance. Sure, he's a penny-pinching buffoon whose incompetence let to a disastrous accident, but by the time we meet him, guilt from the accident has left him a complete mental wreck, his beloved theme park is overrun by a street gang, his wife's divorcing him and he is bullied and disrespected by everyone. His assassination seems more of a MercyKill than anything.

* TheWoobie: Joseph Clearance. Sure, he's a penny-pinching buffoon whose incompetence let to a disastrous accident, but by the time we meet him, his beloved theme park is overrun by a street gang, his wife's divorcing him and he is bullied and disrespected by everyone. His assassination seems more of a MercyKill than anything.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Put a bullet in Rick Hendersen's dome to end the game. If you're ''really'' unlucky, 47 will tangle with... a paraplegic who trips and dies if you lure him to the stairs.

** Turning off lights. Remember the hospital mission from ''Silent Assassin'' where turning out the lights caused panic and gave you the perfect opportunity to strike? Well, here [=NPC=]s can still see in the dark (granted, their field of vision is ''slightly'' shortened), and the most it'll do is cause someone to walk over to the switch and turn them back on - which can happen even when an [=NPC=] who never enters the room otherwise notices the light's gone, potentially resulting in someone stumbling upon you or a body. Even using switches as a temporary distraction to move [=NPC=]s around is not as useful as it sounds, as A) coins have the exact same purpose, B) if there's someone else in the room chances are they'll notice any foul play anyway, and C) if an [=NPC=] is alone, you don't need to fiddle with the lights anyway. It does have ''some'' use here and there, but there's nothing that ever ''needs'' lights off to work, making it easy to forget the system even exist unless you want to troll [=NPC=]s.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: Sometimes when you kill and/or sedate a sitting person, others ignore them (presumably thinking they are just sleeping, [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy even if they are guards]]). However, whether they care or not seems to be completely random, meaning it has no practical use - [[GoodBadBugs if it's even intentional]]. Likewise, sedating a sleeping person to ensure they won't get up still causes guards who see them somehow tell they've been sedated and ruin your rating.

* FakeDifficulty: Two disguise related examples. One, you can't take disguises from bodies you've hidden and Two, if you steal the clothes of someone in a bodybag, the bodybag is removed instantly so the now stripped body can be found again. Both were fixed in the future games, but this game provides no explanation why 47 can't just reclose the bodybag or take the clothes of someone in a dumpster.

* ScrappyWeapon: There's very little reason to use most of the unlocked long weapons, as they are deemed suspicious even in most guard disguises, and they aren't nearly as useful as the free customizable guns you get from the start. Even the customizable long guns suffer from this, as they are smuggled into the level's ICA crate that may not be in the greatest of places. Worse still, if you don't retrieve them during the mission, there's a financial penalty for the Agency to recover them afterwards.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: For years, this game was the definitive ''Hitman'' game, with interesting, large levels with various ways to kill your targets. However, nowadays its various mechanics can come off as pretty limiting [[note]]For a few examples, you can't take clothes from hidden bodies, all melee weapons are lethal and you need either syringes or a gun to take out folk non-lethally[[/note]] and the levels feel small when compared to those of ''Hitman 2'', for example.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: Sometimes, if you kill/sedate a sitting person, others seem to ignore them, thinking they are just sleeping (even if they're a guard). However, this seems to be completely random, to the point it's hard to tell if it's even intentional. Likewise, if you sedate someone who was already sleeping to ensure they won't get up, guards can somehow tell they've been sedated and ruin your rating.

* GameBreaker: Using human shields. At first it seems like you can only sedate two people per level with the syringe, but once you realize that you knock out people after taking them hostage and that they don't count as witnesses, you'll have no more trouble getting through a level.

* UnfortunateImplications: Three of your targets (Alvaro D'Alvade, Richard Delahunt, Skip Muldoon) are involved in child trafficking/molestation -- they all also happen to be [[AllGaysArePedophiles bisexual males]]. However, the game does try to balance this out by having at least 2 instances where homosexuality is shown/implied without negative connotations in "A Murder of Crows"[[note]]One of the hotel rooms has 2 men half naked, one in the shower and one sleeping[[/note]] and "A Dance with the Devil"[[note]]Two women are making out in the Hell club[[/note]].
** The opening tutorial level prominently features an African-American gang who proceed to play all of the worst stereotypes regarding black gangsters to the hilt. What makes this especially egregious is that, unlike the first example above, there's virtually no positive representation of POC beyond nameless civilian NPC's outside of this.

* ScrappyWeapon: There's very little reason to use most of the unlocked long weapons, as they are deemed suspicious even in most guard disguises, and they aren't nearly as useful as the free customizable guns you get from the start. Even the customizable long guns suffer from this, as they are smuggled into the level's ICA crate that may not be in the greatest of places.

* BestLevelEver: The funeral is what people think of when they remember ''Blood Money''. The Christmas level got the most hype from reviewers.

* FridgeHorror: Vinnie's wife. If you kill her to get the microfilm, you've both orphaned and traumatized their kids. If you spare her, her kids get to grow up in a broken home with their alcoholic single mom. Yay?

* AcceptableTargets: Three of your targets (Alvaro D'Alvade, Richard Delahunt, Skip Muldoon) are involved in child trafficking/molestation -- they all also happen to be [[AllGaysArePedophiles bisexual males]]. However, the game does try to balance this out by having at least 2 instances where homosexuality is shown/implied without negative connotations in "A Murder of Crows"[[note]]One of the hotel rooms has 2 men half naked, one in the shower and one sleeping[[/note]] and "A Dance with the Devil"[[note]]Two women are making out in the Hell club[[/note]].

* AntiClimaxBoss: Put a bullet in Rick Hendersen's dome to end the game. If you're ''really'' unlucky, 47 will tangle with...a paraplegic who trips and dies if you lure him to the stairs.

* ValuesDissonance: Three of your targets (Alvaro D'Alvade, Richard Delahunt, Skip Muldoon) are involved in child trafficking/molestation -- they all also happen to be [[AllGaysArePedophiles gay/bi males]], which modern gamers will likely find a bit jarring. However, the game does try to balance this out by having at least 2 instances where homosexuality is shown/implied without negative connotations in "A Murder of Crows"[[note]]One of the hotel rooms has 2 men half naked, one in the shower and one sleeping[[/note]] and "A Dance with the Devil"[[note]]Two women are making out in the Hell club[[/note]].

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: "Death of a Showman." The game not only holds your hand throughout the mission, it also doesn't notify you that killing non-targets incurs a penalty. Instead, it makes you slaughter several gang members, then tells you to poison an unarmed civilian. The weird part is that it was also the game's demo; a demo which not only tells you to be reckless when it comes to causalities, but conditions to you to expect hint boxes in later levels.

''[[YMMV/{{Hitman}} Series YMMV page]]''

* SequelDifficiltyDrop:

* YouAllLookFamiliar: Every civilian looks like they are a clone. There's about 6 different civilian face models; they just have different clothes and hair/facial hair. Fortunately, the targets have unique designs.

* NarmCharm: Althoughthe world of assassination is as dark as ever, every mission isn't set on nighttime with permanent rain like in the previous game. Additionally, the Targets are even more gullible, and the game invites players to goof around with the new accident system.