Line #34 YMMV/HitmanBloodMoney


1	!![[center:'''YMMV Navigation:''' [[{{YMMV/Hitman}} Franchise]] \| ''[[YMMV/HitmanCodename47 Codename 47]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/HitmanContracts Contracts]]'' \| ''Blood Money'' \| ''[[YMMV/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'' \| [[YMMV/Hitman2016 2016]] \| ''[[YMMV/Hitman2 Hitman 2]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/Hitman3 Hitman 3]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/Hitman3Freelancer Freelancer]]'']]
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4	* AntiClimaxBoss: Put a bullet in Rick Henderson's dome and finish off his bodyguards to end the game. If you're ''really'' unlucky, 47 will tangle with Cayne, who trips and dies if you lure him to the stairs.
5	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The Franchise as a whole [[AwesomeMusic/{{Hitman}} now has its own page!]]
6	* BestLevelEver:
7	** The final mission, "Requiem", is what people think of when they remember ''Blood Money''.
8	** While it hasn't aged amazingly, "A New Life" is regarded as one of the best levels in the series, with an entire level being made purely to capture it's aesthetic. The open-ended nature and [[BlackComedy comical scenarios]] clearly were the blueprints for the World of Assassination trilogy.
9	** "A Dance with the Devil" is up there with "World of Tomorrow" and "Beldingford Manor" when all time best levels are brought up, mainly due to the size, creativity, and fantastic level design.
10	** "You Better Watch Out", the Christmas level, got the most hype from reviewers.
11	** "Curtains Down" for not only providing an atmospheric level with some creative assassination options, such as replacing a prop pistol with the real deal, but for providing context for the plot of ''Contracts''.
12	* BrokenBase: Some levels fall into this.
13	** "A Murder of Crows" is considered an innovative and unique level that captures the feel of a [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Mardi Gras]] parade well by it's supporters and an overly ambitious level that has too many empty spaces and linear interiors by its detractors.
14	** "Death on the Mississipi" is either a challenging and complex level that requires a mix of strategies to overcome in a large and interesting location, or a dull and overly long slog in a far less enjoyable map than previous levels.
15	** "Til Death Do Us Part" is either a fun and simple detour to an area the series has never visited before or SoOkayItsAverage and not helped by a change of scenery and residents.
16	** "Amendment XXV" is either a climactic and fun level unfortunate enough to come after two extremely high quality missions, or a level that wastes a good location for a middle-of-the-road stage.
17	* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
18	** 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 need to figure out how to ''sedate'' them rather than killing them (or at least make the kill count as [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident an accident]]).
19	** There is practically no reason to choose any weapons on the mission briefing screen other than your shiny custom weapons, as most of the standard weapons (the SLP. 40 notwithstanding) don't come with a silenced variant and are not as accurate. The Silverballer is particularly favourable, since it's concealable and is on your person at the start of a mission, as opposed to being placed in an Agency stash that has to be retrieved.
20	* DifficultySpike: "Death On The Mississippi" is quite a 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. Making it harder is that all but one of the targets are armed.
21	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: A level-specific example in the tutorial level. Despite it's linear gameplay and near-impossibility to get a Silent Assassin ranking on, the storyline of "Death of a Showman" has been quite well-received by fans.
22	* 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 ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' which builds upon the mechanics established in ''Blood Money''.
23	* FakeDifficulty:
24	** Two disguise related examples. One, you can't take disguises from bodies you've hidden and two, if you steal the clothes off someone in a body bag, the body bag 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 body bag or take the clothes off someone in a dumpster.
25	** As detailed under ScrappyMechanic, there are many ledges that can't be used to hide bodies or push people off of, despite being almost identical to those you can use.
26	* FranchiseOriginalSin:
27	** 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).
28	** 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).
29	* GameBreaker:
30	** 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.
31	** The Silverballer becomes this when it is modded with the Type 2 Silencer, Scope, Laser Sight, Magnum Rounds, Extra Ammo and Extended Clip. You have a concealable and silenced pistol that's nearly as powerful as the [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]] and [[RevolversAreJustBetter Bull .480]], is accurate enough to use as a sniping weapon thanks to its laser and scope, and it has enough ammo to shoot your way out of trouble if your cover gets blown.
32	* GeniusBonus: In "Curtains Down", many of the stealthy methods for taking out the tenor involve somehow turning the execution scene being rehearsed into a real one. In ''Theatre/{{Tosca}}'', the opera being rehearsed, the tenor character and his lover are told his execution will be faked, only for him to be killed for real.
33	* GoodBadBugs:
34	** Take any long/melee weapon that NPC characters will find suspicious, pick it up, and equip the detonator. As long as the detonator is in your hand, you can carry forbidden weapons around even in your suit. The AI will only react to your equipped weapon, and the detonator is suspicion-free. This is one of the only ways to properly use unlocked weapons in the game without sacrificing good rankings. This bug, despite it's use as an exploit, has survived the several ports the game has had, including the 2023 "Reprisal" edition for iOS and Android (which actually had a focus on adding new features), suggesting the developers are quite aware of how useful this bug is to players.
35	** It's unclear if it's a bug, but you might be better off ''not'' zooming with sniper rifles. You might not see the target as well, but just aiming in first person guarantees 100% accuracy.
36	** The newspapers in the post-mission briefings tend to break if you play the mission in a certain way. For example, the debriefing for a stealthy run of "A Vintage Year" can be summed up as "A violent episode claimed the lives of two people, father and son. Both were murdered with the same weapon and one of them was found hidden in a crate. Police are still investigating if the hidden body is related to the crime."
37	** Damage from explosions is not always blocked by level geometry. One spot where this is particularly convenient is "Amendment XXV", where you can place a mine right on the other side of the (bulletproof) window where Mark Parchezzi III does his ominous staring. Detonating the mine will kill him, while the glass remains intact.
38	** Pushing/Punching people inside moving elevators often [[DeathByFallingOver instantly kills them]], presumably due to the game assuming you just shoved them off a ledge.
39	** Normally, you can only take people hostage with a handgun or a machine pistol. However, by using the number keys to draw items, 47 will draw an item regardless of it's eligibility for hostage taking. This can range from useful (by using a two-handed SMG to spray the room) to hilarious (47 threatening the hostage with a coin).
40	* HarsherInHindsight:
41	** 47 can swap a prop gun with a real one to kill a target during a theatrical performance.
42	*** In 2008, an actor [[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/plot-thickens-as-actor-stabs-himself-with-real-knife-1065892.html accidentally slashed his throat]] when someone switched his prop knife for a real one. Luckily the actor survived the incident.
43	*** In 2021, during production off the western film ''Rust'', [[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/us/alec-baldwin-shooting-rust-movie.html Alec Baldwin fired what he believed to be a harmless prop gun]], but it ended up firing projectiles that struck the film’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins -- who died at the hospital -- and wounded its director Joel Souza.
44	** 47 checks into a hotel in Las Vegas, has weapons hidden in his person and his room, and then kills some people. In fact, the arguably easiest way to kill one of the targets is to shoot them from a balcony. It's a cool mission, all right, but after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, it's a lot more uncomfortable.
45	* ItsEasySoItSucks: Some find that the major overhauls made for the game makes it too forgiving when it comes to disguises, as the suspicion bar almost never rises unless they are sloppy on purpose, have high notoriety, or play on the hardest difficulty. On the other hand, a lot of people see this as a (somewhat) good thing, as it allows more freedom to just play around.
46	* MagnificentBastard
47	** [[EvilCripple Alexander Leland Cayne]], aka Leland "Jack" Alexander, is the brilliant leader of the Franchise, a powerful contract-killing organization. Wanting to gain a monopoly on cloning technology, Cayne organizes a series of assassinations throughout the US in order to get cloning banned. After [[GovernmentConspiracy getting a supporter installed as Vice President]], Cayne attempts to have the Secretary of the Interior killed, only for Agent 47 to stop the hit. In response, Cayne starts a war with the ICA, killing everyone except 47 and Diana Burnwood, and having his assassins ambush 47 several times. Cayne finally orders his best assassin to kill the President in order to ensure that whoever wins the current election will ban cloning. When the assassination fails, Cayne seemingly convinces Diana to kill 47, and when he is revealed to be alive, Cayne attempts to [[HandicappedBadass kill him himself]].
48	** [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Margaux LeBlanc]] is the beautiful and charming daughter of Mississippi crime boss John [=LeBlanc=] who [[HypercompetentSidekick runs his gang in his stead]] due to his deteriorating sanity. Wanting to escape from the gang, Margaux hires Agent 47 to murder her uncle Skip Muldoon along with his gang. Margaux then seduces her cousin Buddy and privately marries him. She then [[BlackWidow has 47 kill Buddy and John]] at a public marriage ceremony, allowing her to inherit the money from both families and become a high roller in Las Vegas.
49	* NarmCharm: Although the 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.
50	* NightmareFuel: Look closely at the right side of [[https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/hitman/images/3/3f/Mission_screen.jpg Mission 7's loading screen]] [[spoiler:ContractOnTheHitman time]].
51	** NightmareRetardant: [[spoiler:Of course, it gets a lot less scary once you realize how easy that particular assassin is to bypass, as well as the cheesy nature of her scene if she actually kills you. If you want to talk about nightmarish fellow assassins after 47's head, [[SlasherSmile Eve comes to mind]].]]
52	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: 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 and worldbuilding also feel quite small and simple when compared to those of the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy''.
53	* PolishedPort:
54	** The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection version takes an old classic, upgrades its textures, plays it in 4K, and runs at 60 FPS. There isn't really anything to complain about.
55	** The Reprisal edition was also praised for backporting several mechanics from the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'', making the game play like those games (such as adding Instinct and crowd blending). The only real complaint was the odd decision to make it exclusive to mobile devices.
56	* ScrappyMechanic:
57	** The split-screens that often occur [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality to show distant actions]] for timing/assassination hints. Problem is, you can't control them. They pop-up without warning [[CommercialPopUp taking up a third of your screen]]. These make the screen's right-side a potential blind-spot, getting you detected by patrolling guards. There are times when it flashes up when a guard discovers a dead body, and said guard [[UnwantedAssistance being only 25 yards away, right in front of you.]]
58	** While climbing on top of elevators is genuinely useful, jumping back down may cause fall damage. It's especially fun when you fail a long mission on professional because 47 hurt his knees while jumping down.
59	** The dual wield upgrade for the Silverballers is a textbook example of AwesomeButImpractical: It looks cool as hell, but reloading times are doubled. This is one of the reasons Requiem is so difficult on higher difficulties, as while extra firepower is good, you'll likely end up being ventilated when you need to reload.
60	** The save system is changed from the previous games, meaning that saves are only temporary and will be deleted once the level is completed or exited.
61	** While the ability to push/throw people down ledges is good on paper, the level geometry [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence doesn't always make it clear which ledges qualify for this]][[labelnote:For example]]Vinnie's second floor hallway, a balcony near the security room in "You better watch out..."[[/labelnote]], and there are times where a ledge that looks exactly like the ones you ''can'' push someone over [[FakeDifficulty doesn't let you do so for no clear reason]], resulting in 47 either awkwardly shoving the victim against an invisible wall or releasing a hostage you intended to throw off the ledge - not to mention the possibility of having to leave a body lying on the open because they couldn't be thrown off a nearby ledge. Fortunately, this was addressed from ''Absolution'' onwards, by adding a button prompt whenever a ledge can be used as a kill and/or a body dump.
62	* 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 (save for the sniper rifle) suffer from this, as they are smuggled into the level's ICA crate that may not be in the greatest of places and can't be concealed, which only makes them useful if you want to go on a [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential rampage]]. Worse still, if you don't retrieve them during the mission, there's a financial penalty for the Agency to recover them afterwards.
63	* SequelDifficultyDrop:
64	** Seemingly hard on the surface, but made much easier as soon as you realize there is no limit to setting up the accidents. Thanks to the new accident system, it's possible to kill off a truckload of people on any given level without it affecting your stats in any way. Not even under "kills" or "bodies found"!
65	** Characters rendered unconscious will no longer revive on their own after only a few minutes. They're also much more gullible: If a guard catches you in a restricted area, he'll just yell at you till you leave (assuming you haven't raised suspicion elsewhere). At worst, all you'll get is a "hey, get out of here!", which is mentioned in the newspaper but doesn't affect your rating. You can even dip into the hot tub, fully-clothed, with the Congressman's son and no one will mind.
66	** Fewer timed missions than before, so they just rehearse the ending of ''Tosca'' forever.
67	** Human shields make this game easier than ever. Remember to use this ability throughout the game; it’s an easy knockout instead of having to prepare your Syringe Sedative. With a human shield, you can paralyze up to three guards, reload your gun, kill them all and then knock out your shield if he isn’t already dead yet.
68	** Unarmed combat makes taking out single enemies nonlethally a piece of cake, provided you're not caught in the act. You can even take pistols from armed enemies in this manner, though there is a chance the gun will discharge in the act. However, enemies taken down in this manner count as witnesses unless they're killed afterwards.
69	* ThatOneLevel: [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ThatOneLevel/Hitman Can be found here]].
70	* {{Tearjerker}}: The tutorial mission "Death of a Showman". After the Ferris Wheel falls apart, you can hear a screaming woman trying to find her son. After several newspaper clippings reveal that your [[KarmaHoudini soon-to-be target got away with the whole incident]], we then see a photo of a young boy with his father still grieving over his death. [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty He then makes a call...]]
71	* UnderusedGameMechanic:
72	** 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.
73	** 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.[[note]]Also note that in the tutorial level, turning lights off ''does'' effectively disable the NPC's inside the room, which, as mentioned above, [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard is ''not'' how it works in the rest of the game]].[[/note]]
74	** Optional Targets. Only "Flatline" and "You Better Watch Out" feature them, and even then in the later case the target doesn't even show up on the map until you encounter [[spoiler:her, and she then pulls a knife on you to try and kill you. Adding insult to injury, if you kill her ''before'' that the game registers her as a civilian, which messes up your Silent Assassin rating]].
75	** With the exception of your default sniper rifle, any other long weapons you wish to take into a level are stored in an ICA crate that's always in the same (usually awkward) location, despite the fact that some levels feature briefcases built to carry assault rifles. If the player could choose where the crate is and/or and was allowed to use this other type of briefcase, the arsenal you'll collect throughout the game would suddenly have a lot more use. It took until the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' to let players decide where to hide extra items in the level and to streamline the briefcase mechanics.
76	* 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 who won't pay him, his wife's divorcing him and he is bullied and disrespected by everyone. His assassination seems more of a MercyKill than anything.

Context YMMV / HitmanBloodMoney