There are so few people in the world who enjoy what they do for a living that on the occasion when actually meeting such an individual, I find myself stopping to admire how they not only perform well in their chosen path in life, but that they take pleasure in the course of their tasks. It is only natural then that the vim and vigor displayed by Agent 47 in the Hitman series would be appealing to someone such as myself, and to the credit of Io Interactive I’ve enjoyed this admittedly quirky and occasionally flawed series. However, when playing Hitman: Contracts (which is something of a setup for the next game rather than a true sequel per se), I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with this latest look into the questionably glamorous world of contract killing. For while the bones which built up the franchise are solidly affixed in place, the guts are noticeably absent and sorely missed, even when you’re spreading the latter across the room.

Contracts is presented in an intentionally jarring fashion, as the game begins mid-situation with Agent 47 having been shot, fading in and out of consciousness. The levels that follow are flashbacks of previous jobs, some of them related or chronologically ordered, others plucked out a single point in history. And while a wordy story has never been a huge part of the series there has always been a point to the missions and hits, an overall arcing theme that finally brings upon the player a realization “Ah, so this is what it all means”. Whereas in this iteration, the developers appear to have gone out of their way to avoid anything faintly enlightening about 47’s situation and how he wound up in some French hotel room pouring his vital fluids out onto the furniture and floor. This situation is further pained by having half of the twelve levels in the game being lifted directly from, or “inspired” by, the previous two Hitman games. And while most of these recycled levels were classics in their own right, most players who have enjoyed the series already experienced them at length, and might not feel entirely satisfied after laying down the greenbacks for a “do-over”.

Regardless of this new approach by Io, the title otherwise delivers what it promises in classic fashion with plenty of weapons, stealth, wholesale murder and multiple methods of achieving the mission goals. Whether the player chooses to stealthily garrote the target, run in guns blazing, or opt for the more creative methods such as poison or remote controlled bombs, victory can be achieved and the mission requirements met when all is said and done. It is this freedom of choice in the series that has always been one of the crowning achievements of the series and the tradition runs strong in the few new levels presented herein. In addition to the trademark silver Ballers and 47’s usual cornucopia of rifles and machine guns, the notable addition to his arsenal this time around are the new stealth kill weapons which are gleaned from the environments his targets reside in. Be it a meathook at an S&M party in a slaughterhouse, a pool cue in a dingy Rotterdam bar, or a fire poker in a stuffy British mansion, our implacable hero will assuredly find a way to insert said items into the cranial and abdominal cavities of all who obliviously stand in his way. And really, isn’t that the whole point in traveling to diverse locales around the world?

Graphically, followers of the series won’t see a lot of improvements to the engine. The weather effects are constantly coming through walls or absent in places they should be, the lighting is somewhat quirky with shadows being miscast towards a light source rather than away from, and while the models are as good as they’ve ever been the engine is certainly starting to show its age. Some levels come across as murky and muddled even after extensive tweaking of the gamma and contrast settings. As for sound, there’s a vivid contrast between the production values of the music and voice acting. Jesper Kyd’s gritty techno tracks are appropriately dark and mood-setting, whereas the vocal crew seems to have been rounded up from the office staff and people dragged in off the street. Even Agent 47’s traditionally nonchalant delivery seems rather uninspired and distanced from the whole affair, breaking immersion for the player at any time an NPC interaction takes place.

While Contracts is certainly something of a disappointment in regards to rehashed themes, voice acting, and story telling, the real crowning gem has to be the conclusion of this particular episode. Without going into detail, the story ends in Tarantino-esque fashion mid-sentence with what should’ve been the twist point in the plot of a true sequel. Rip out the recycled levels, replace them with a half dozen new ones following the point where this game actually ends, and it might’ve actually qualified for satisfactory sequel status. As is, it’s an overall disappointing downward note in a series whose various quirks and imperfections I’ve always been able to accept in light of the more appealing factors, up until now.