Hitman 2

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a stealth-based assassination game. The game was released in 2002, picking up the story from 2000's Hitman. After discovering the secret of his own origin, Agent 47 has retired to a small church in Sicily to live out the rest of his life in peace. However, when his friend and confessor Father Vittorio is kidnapped, 47 must once more take up his guns to save him.

The first game in the series was a huge success, and the sequel doesn't stray very far from its core concepts. However, the gameplay is more refined and intuitive. Levels are smaller and the range of weapons and tools is more varied than in the first game.

Each mission is a separate assassination, with Agent 47 tasked with taking out a particular target. There's more than one way to kill a mob boss, though; 47 can use a variety of disguises, weapons and strategies to eliminate his victims. Levels allow several different approaches, and careful observation is often the best way to begin. Studying enemy patterns of movement will reveal weaknesses in their defences which can be exploited to complete the mission. The perfect kill is a complex puzzle, in which other characters, the target and the environment all need to be in the correct position for success.

At the end of each mission, you'll be graded on how well you achieved your goals. Take out your target without attracting attention and you'll earn the coveted Silent Assassin rating. Shoot everything that moves and you'll receive the less-desirable title of Mass Murderer. Complete missions with a Silent Assassin rating to unlock additional weapons.

As the story progresses, Agent 47 learns that Father Vittorio's kidnapping was carried out by a figure from his past, someone who wants revenge against the assassin for a previous killing. As all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, 47 heads back to the church for a final confrontation with his mysterious enemy and an answer to the question of whether a killer can live a normal life. (Spoilers: the answer is no, as you can tell from the four subsequent games and two movies in the franchise.)

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the best-selling, best-reviewed game of a successful series. It took the promise of its predecessor's mechanics and filed the rough edges off them, creating a game that's simultaneously more difficult and easier to play. However, it's not without a few weaknesses. The grim, deadpan "hero" might be one of them, although it's an intentional choice on the designers' part -- and no one plays Hitman for characterisation.

Like any game from the early 2000s, it shows its age in the graphics department. Additionally, some of the concepts pioneered by this game are now old hat to most gamers; it will hardly seem as innovative now as it did when it was released. Lastly, one person's tense, patience-rewarding gameplay is another's boring exercise in frustration; this game is intentionally slow-paced, and success at a mission often requires multiple painstaking tries. Eliminating your target is definitely satisfying, but for impatient gamers the process of getting there can be infuriating.

Despite these signs of age, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is well worth a look. Even if you've completed the missions, you can always replay them in hopes of earning the Silent Assassin title.

If you ever wondered what life was like for a paid assassin, you can download and play Hitman 2 and experience that nefarious world for yourself.

Hitman 2 follows a story line similar to the one found in the first game. You play as Agent 47, a former assassin who left behind that world for a quieter and simpler life. While working in a small church, he wakes to find that a priest went missing in the middle of the night and needs his old employer to help him locate the man. Though the agency agrees to help, it sends you on a series of missions to prove that you still have what it takes to work in that underground world.

The full game features more than 40 different destinations that you will play over the course of more than 20 levels. As in the previous game, you'll find weapons that you can use to dispatch your enemies. Each level gives you the freedom to decide just how you'll take down those other characters based on what you find in that location. The game changes and grows more or less challenging based on those decisions.

One great feature about Hitman 2 is that it comes with its own tutorial. A common complaint players had about the first game was that it took them far too long to learn how to sneak around enemies, climb walls, use certain weapons, and do other things within the game. This one comes with a tutorial at the very beginning that shows you how to do everything you need to do before you go out in the world alone. You can even replay certain things until you feel more comfortable performing those actions.

Players will also like that the full game comes with three difficulty levels. When you play on the normal level, you can save your progress up to seven times in each level. The number of saves available drops to two for those playing on expert. If you choose the professional level, the game will make you restart the level at the very beginning each time you die. While this Hitman 2 demo doesn't come with the full game, it comes with a full level that shows you some of the action you'll see in the full version.