Headscratchers / Hitman: Blood Money

Sauna and Pool Murder

• How is it that you can kill someone by pushing them into a pool or sauna? Or down a short flight of stairs that they don't even tumble down? It's like they got Super Drowning Skills or something, even though those same pools of water you kill them in with a simple push they were swimming graciously through a few minutes ago.
  • The stairs one I can't explain, but maybe when you push them into water they knock their head and knock themselves out? Other the the obvious "programmers couldn't help it" solution.
  • Well, it's entirely possible to die by falling down a single step - or even just stumbling over something - if you're unlucky enough to land in just exactly the wrong way. So either 47 uses a special pushing-technique to ensure that they land just so, or he's a Reality Warper on the low ends of the scale, giving his victims a lethal case of bad luck simply by touching them.
  • There's a much cooler way to kill the guy in the hot tub in Blood Money. If you get to a quiet place with a silenced weapon, you can shoot out the glass bottom of the sauna and cackle as your target and his floozies tumble, nigh-naked, to the jagged, freezing rocks below.

Agent 47 and the USA

• What I didn't get about Blood Money is that, at the end of Contracts, which happens after the mission after Curtains Down (basically, the bits where he is in his room tripping out during most of Contracts, and then kills the chief), Diane and 47 discuss going to the USA like it's somewhere new, like he hasn't ever been there. Still, in BM, he goes to Maryland, then to South America, then to Italy or wherever, which is when Curtains Down and Contracts happens. So basically, he just went to the USA, South America, Europe, and then pretends he's never been to the USA.
  • I'm pretty sure those missions aren't in order. If you look at the date, the carnival mission takes place after Curtains Down. It goes Italy, France, Contracts, USA.
  • Hmm, I was sure I checked the dates. Besides, the Notoriety system wouldn't have much sense if the missions weren't in order. 47 has notoriety from the Tutorial mission in the South American mission. It doesn't matter much, it just bugged me, but they generally screwed up with the BM/Contracts connection.
  • She's talking about doing a long series of missions.
  • Inevitable continuity snarl. Really, there's a lot of contradictions between Contracts and Blood Money. I'd chalk this up to the fact that they were in development at the same time by two different teams (note how Contracts looks similar to the previous two, but Blood Money is completely different.)
  • You could make a point about the graphical difference, sure, but that's more because they deliberately went for an upgrade and presumably upgraded or replaced the engine, whereas with Contracts obviously it reused Silent Assassin's engine with few tweaks.

Worst bodyguards ever

• Ambassador Delahunt has the worst bodyguards ever. A man has just been shot onstage by a sniper. The sniper has not been caught. They have no idea where the sniper is. For that matter, they don't even know if there's only one sniper. And what do these highly-paid, highly-trained bodyguards do? They let the protectee run onstage and stand completely motionless over the body of the guy who just got shot. Surely, only good things can come of this.
  • What could possibly bug you about that? It's the limits of the AI. I'm sure they'll let you know when they've invented the kind that emulates exactly how humans would react, but 'til then...
    • Actually, that's not the limits of the AI. They're actually programmed to do that. It's intended that the only way to get the Silent Assassin is to kill D'Avalde and get Delahunt to run out into an area where you can shoot him or drop something heavy on him. The game is programmed so that your success for the mission depends on his bodyguards being stupid, not you being good at your job.
    • If anything it's a sign of poor level design that you have so few ways to get to the target that they instead programmed him and his bodyguards to be stupid rather than add other ways for you to get to him.
    • Actually you can kill him before he runs out onto the floor, you can snipe him as soon as he reacts to the death on the stage since Delahunt jumps out of his chair with shock. This give you an easy shot if you are on the scaffolding, so its not just due to poor level design.
    • Not to mention the fact that D'Avalde is meant to be killed with the authentic WWI pistol that you can slip to the actor who plays his executioner...

Why not tell the New Orleans police?

• In "The Murder of Crows," why doesn't the client just go to the cops? He/she knows who's going to try to kill Macklin, they know where, they know when, and they even know the time and location of the handoff of the payment. Why spend a ton of money hiring a very expensive assassin to kill the assassins, when he/she could just have them arrested (or, failing that, get Macklin to cancel his appearance)?
  • I think the cilent was a former member of the Franchise or has criminal history of some sort. Getting the police will have them arrested as well.
  • The Franchise have significant pull with America's law enforcement and intelligence communities, as Agent Smith explains. No doubt they'd be able to block the client's efforts if they tried involving the police. As for getting Macklin to cancel... well, the Vice President is working for the Franchise, so it's unlikely that the warnings would even reach him.
  • Ruin their plan once, they'll just come up with another one. Kill the ringleaders and you don't have to worry about it. Although you do have to wonder why they're running around in mascot outfits, since it makes them incredibly conspicuous.
    • It was Mardi Gras. Nothing looks conspicuous during Mardi Gras (Except, apparently, walking into a theme bar without the right costume. Then the bouncer shoots you in the face).
  • One of the few rational explanations for the bizarre AI behavior in this level is that the authorities are in the pocket of The Franchise and thus hand in glove with the killers. The police can't very well be seen to kill Macklin themselves, but they can shoot anybody trying to stop the people tasked with doing it. So you can't go to the police about the assassins if the police are aligned with them. And more likely, you are dealing with a bunch of assassins dispersed throughout parts of the level, headed up by two veteran career killers and an enhanced super soldier clone. A normal police response would likely get wrongfooted and slaughtered, while surgical attacks by another super soldier clone can work.

Albino Assassins

• Mark Parchezzi II and III are apparently expert assassins, but they're albinos. Firstly, being albinic generally causes poor eyesight, which would hinder any assassin; and secondly, by my understanding, assassins generally like to blend in and avoid notice, which can be pretty difficult for albinos. Wouldn't it have made sense, when cloning the original Mark, to tweak out the albinism somehow?
  • They're so good that even when they should stand out, they don't.
  • They're meant to stand out. The public will eventually realize that a group of assassins that are all albinos are clones. Public sentiment would grow towards anti-cloning. With cloning outlawed and 47's DNA Cayne will be the only one able to create perfect clones.
    • Actually, you're both wrong. Flawed clones, remember, and that's why they want 47's DNA.
  • Both of them wear Sinister Shades, which could be prescription. Plus Parchezzi is actually a Master of Disguise who used make-up and contacts to hide his appearance according to Word of God. The fact that they aren't disguised is likely because they want to be recognized as clones to further The Franchise's plans.

Mississippi Missions Importance

• Before "A House of Cards", Diana says "Those missions out in the sticks may have bought us some time, but things are still deteriorating rapidly." Huh? What did the Gator Gang and the Blueclaws have to do with the Agency-Franchise conflict, and how did dealing with them buy the Agency time?
  • The two missions take place out in the Mississippi swamps, one in an area accessible only by boat. Due to the difficulty of travelling around, it would probably make it harder for the Franchise to find him there.

Killing Innocents

• It seems out of character that 47 would kill the priest and Rick Henderson (the reporter) during Requiem. Since 47 canonically survives and they are targets their deaths are canon, which seems to conflict with the ISA/47's MO of not killing innocents, especially the priest since he was not directly involved with the plot and considering 47's relationships with clergy in Silent Assassin before and later in Absolution. Does this mean no witnesses is more important to ISA/47 then no innocent deaths?
  • Essentially, yes. While the Agency prefers no innocent casualties in their missions (because innocent deaths would result in authorities being more aware for future missions), in circumstances such as those seen in "Requiem" allowances are made. 47's survival has to remain secret, so any and all witnesses to his survival must be eliminated. Furthermore, while 47 does go to lengths to ensure that nobody but his target dies during a mission, he does so out of a sense of professionalism rather than any altruism. He typically doesn't care about other people outside of a very select few (Diana, Father Vittorio and Victoria).

FB-why them?

• Shouldn't US Marshals be assigned to protecting the Sinistras rather than the FBI?
  • Its possible the FBI are protecting the Sinistras because Vinnie had previously been caught by them, so its probably to make sure he's not committing any other crimes before his court session.
  • It could simply be that whoever wrote the game is only aware of the FBI.
  • Because the Big Bad is a former director of the FBI who wants to get 47 and is using assassination targets as bait. Presumably Cayne pulled a few strings with his old contacts in the government to have agents loyal to himself guard the Sinistras.