Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Io-Interactive's Hitman was generally well received by the games industry, but disappointed many console owners when it was revealed to be a PC exclusive. Thankfully, Io and Eidos have taken onboard the thoughts and opinions of the console-owning community and have finally brought us the much-vaunted sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.

In the second episode, we meet our intrepid assassin in a church on the Isle of Sicily. Codename 47 has been attempting to distance himself from his past, burying his career along with his identity. But his place of solitude is quickly discovered and Codename 47 is blackmailed into rejoining the criminal underworld of assassination. This time it's personal.

It's not an original story, but it's one that suits the setting of the game brilliantly. The tale spans some 20 objective and action-based missions, in which you must virtually travel the globe, meet with NPCs who speak in their native tongues (there are subtitles), guard your own life against hundreds of skilled assassins and become accustomed to library of deadly weapons such as sniper rifles and lethal explosives.

In the beginning, gameplay is simple. Armed with a small knife and several other non-lethal weapons, the initial level is very much a training exercise designed to help players become accustomed to the Dual Shock controls. Players can even choose between first and third-person perspectives.

Naturally for a game of this stripe, later levels become increasingly challenging, level design becomes complicated yet dynamic and enemy AI becomes cunning and unforgiving, but it's all part of a manageable learning curve.

With a revised ranking system, a greater variety of game styles, and an invaluable mid-mission save feature, Hitman 2 is superior to its predecessor in many ways. So when's Hitman 3 coming out? You'll have to wait and see.