Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the second installment in the Hitman video game series, followed by Hitman: Contracts. It is a stealth-based, first/third-person shooter developed by IO Interactive and produced by Eidos Interactive. The player assumes the role of Agent 47, a retired and famed assassin who was once considered the best in the business.

The story begins as 47 has fled to Sicily after the end of Hitman: Codename 47 to seek asylum and peace. Shortly after attending confession, 47 learns that his best friend and mentor, Father Emilio Vittorio, has been kidnapped by the Mafia, and so he decides to temporarily come out of retirement to get him back. 47 then travels to different countries, including Russia, Japan, Nuristan (Afghanistan), Malaysia and Punjab (India), doing contracts for The Agency.

Gameplay

New features

The fiber wire, the binoculars and the compass are now a permanent part of 47's arsenal and no longer need to be bought at the start of each mission. Also, the compass is now part of the HUD rather than an object.
Ratings: at the end of each mission, your stealth and aggression are rated. If you earn the Silent Assassin rating in a mission, a new weapon will be unlocked.
The map now shows all AI movements in real-time, including civilians, guards, policemen, VIP's and targets. In addition, it also shows elevators, doors, stairs, ladders, ICA pickup spots, and points of interest to help you traverse the map.
Anaesthetic: a new introduced weapon. Instead of killing enemies, it sedates them for a short period of time.
Silenced versions of select weapons, which don't alert guards.
During close encounters, 47 can knock out enemies with the butt of his weapon, creating another way to pacify enemies without killing them.
Addition of crouching, which allows 47 to hide behind a low object.
47 can now run backwards, making movement more fluent and player-friendly.
Detailed statistics are shown at the end of each mission.
First-person mode, replacing the free-look view.
Ballers: a dual weapon treated as one.
Looking through the lock of a door is now possible.
Ability to pick locks on doors that are locked.
Weapons gathered from previous missions can be used in the next ones, replacing the shop menu.
In some missions, Diana will talk to 47 to assist him in completing the mission.

Removed features

Dual-wielding is no longer the default action when picking a handgun with another one already in hand. It's still possible with the Dual-handgun glitch, though.
The shop menu is no longer available, being replaced with the ability for players to use weapons and utilities acquired from previous missions or the Silent Assassin weapon award.
Free-look is removed (replaced by first-person mode).

Changed features

Running now requires players to press the directional buttons, as opposed to the previous game where pressing the run button will make 47 run forward.

Plot

File:Hitman2 Start.jpg

The Hitman 2 main menu

The game's introductory video shows two men, Sergei Zavorotko and the Mystery Man, talks on a cargo ship about someone the mystery man saw in Rotterdam. They go to Dr. Ort-Meyer's cloning lab/mental asylum and find everybody inside to be dead. They find a few tapes that shows Agent 47 strangling an asylum guard and dragging his body to corner with a Fiber Wire, and blowing asylum guards and orderlies away with a shotgun. After watching the tapes, the mystery man concludes that the killer is none other than Agent 47, and Sergei decides to hire him. The two men then leave the building.

Many rumors arose that 47 was dead and died extremely wealthy. Therefore, 47 decides to leave his life as a contract killer and retreats to a Sicilian church owned by Father Emilio Vittorio. He works as a humble gardener at the church. Soon, Vittorio becomes a friend of 47. One day, 47 decides to confess his past to Vittorio. After his confession, a car arrives at the church, two people get out of the car. Vittorio says to them that the church is closed. But one of the persons assaults Vittorio and kidnaps him. He leaves a ransom of 500,000 dollars. Unable to pay that price, 47 contacts the ICA (International Contract Agency) and agrees to perform an assassination mission for information about the whereabouts of Vittorio. He gets information from the Agency that Vittorio is captured in basement of Gulliani's Villa Borghese.

47's 3 General targets — 3 of 47's first targets (The five Generals) upon returning to the Agency

47 infiltrates the Villa Borghese and kills Gulliani, but fails to find Vittorio in the basement room; therefore, he takes Gulliani's car and escapes. To repay the debt on the Agency, 47 works with the Agency again. After the hit on the last General, he negotiates a payment raise and accepts more contracts from the Agency. Eventually, he gives up his search for Vittorio, believing him to be dead. He travels to various countries, namely Russia, Japan, Afghanistan, Malaysia and India to carry out contracts.

After some time, 47 learns that Vittorio's kidnapping was an elaborate setup by Sergei, the brother of one of 47's five fathers, to lure him out of retirement. He also learns that all of 47's targets were individuals who were involved in a transaction of a nuclear warhead, Sergei had bought recently, and that the items 47 was sometimes ordered to "retrieve" were all components of two nuclear missiles, which Sergei was planning to sell to a Sikh sect in Punjab, India. The warheads had key signature software that would fool the Americans into thinking the warheads were theirs, and therefore bypass the American missile defense system. Sergei, who has ties to the Russian government and military, needed to eliminate everyone involved in the deal, and therefore, offered 47 the contracts as the client. Learning this, 47 pursues Zavorotko, he escapes 47 and takes Father Vittorio hostage at the Gontranno Church.

47 confronts Sergei, where he gives a subsequent chase around the church in which he finally kills him, and frees Vittorio. Vittorio gives 47 his rosary and begs him to follow a good path. 47 decides that he is incapable of finding inner peace, and thus, leaves the rosary on the church door and eventually resumes his life as a hitman.

Missions

Targets

Main article(s): Category:Hitman 2: Silent Assassin targets

VIPs

Emilio Vittorio (Anathema and Redemption at Gontranno)
Sergei Zavorotko
Makarov
Mikhail Bardachenko
Vladimir Zhupikov
German Ambassador
System Administrator
Afghan Agency Contact
United Nations soldiers
Indian Agency Contact
Agent Smith
Patients in The Death of Hannelore

Other characters

Weapons

Firearms

Melee Weapons

Other

Bomb
Poison

Notes

The naming conventions for the weapons in this game have undergone a substantial simplification compared to that seen in the original, as can be seen;
The Beretta is now "9mm pistol"
The Colt Python is simply "revolver" (additionally, misspelled in-game as "Stub-nosed")
The PSM is simply ".54 pistol", et cetera

Reception

Hitman 2 probably received the best reviews as compared to any other Hitman game and other games of 2002. IGN gave the game an 8.7 with a review "One of the more interesting games of 2002 returns with much needed improvement". GameRankings gave the game 85.02% on PS2, 84.88% on PC, 84.63% on Xbox, and 83.47% on GC. Metacritic gave amazing reviews, saying "IO Interactive has fixed almost every flaw for Hitman 2, the result is an almost perfect blend of action and stealth." with highest rating on PC of 87, followed by 85 on PS2, 84 on Xbox and 83 on GC. IMDb gave the game a 7.5 on 10. Gamespot gave the game a highest of 8.6 on PC, followed by 8.6 again on PS2, then 8.4 on Xbox and 8.3 on GC, saying "Hitman 2 virtually fixes all the problems of its predecessor and stands tall on its own merit as an outstanding action game". Eurogamer gave the game 7.9 on 10.

The user score of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was 90.

As of 2009, the game has sold a total of 3.7 million units, making it the best selling Hitman game so far.

Trivia

This is the only numbered sequel so far.
It is the only Hitman game to be released on a Nintendo platform (Nintendo GameCube).
This is the second time (the first one is Hitman: Codename 47 with Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer) in which you only have one person giving most of the contracts throughout the whole game, who is later killed off in the final mission. With the exception of the first mission and the last, all of the contracts in this game was given by Sergei Zavorotko.
This game is part of the Hitman HD Trilogy.
The GOG version is 1.01 and uncensored.
The NPC guards are anti-running "nazis". Run and you will get shot.

Hitman Series
Classic	Hitman: Codename 47 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - Hitman: Contracts - Hitman: Blood Money - Hitman: Absolution
World of Assassination	HITMAN - HITMAN 2 - HITMAN III
Promo	Hitman 2 Christmas Game - Hitman: Sniper Challenge - HITMAN: Sniper Assassin
Mobile	Hitman: Vegas - Hitman: Sniper - Hitman GO - Hitman Sniper: The Shadows
Films	Hitman - Hitman: Agent 47
Literature	Hitman: Enemy Within - Hitman: Damnation - Overachievers - Agent 47: Birth of the Hitman

Missions in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Prologue (Sicily)	The Gontranno Sanctuary - Anathema
Russia	St. Petersburg Stakeout - Kirov Park Meeting - Tubeway Torpedo - Invitation to a Party
Japan	Tracking Hayamoto - Hidden Valley - At the Gates - Shogun Showdown
Malaysia	Basement Killing - The Graveyard Shift - The Jacuzzi Job
Afghanistan	Murder at the Bazaar - The Motorcade Interception - Tunnel Rat
India	Temple City Ambush - The Death of Hannelore - Terminal Hospitality
Epilogue (Russia & Sicily)	St. Petersburg Revisited - Redemption at Gontranno