Editor’s note: This review was written by Andrew Gaubatz, a student at Full Sail University. Andrew is yet another lifelong gamer who discovered his passion for the subject could be turned into a career. He spent 10 years working in assorted industries — from telecommunications to insurance — before making the decision to return to school. This wide range of "real-world" experience has helped him to form a diverse knowledge base to pull concepts from as he tinkers away on ideas for new games. Now, he is enrolled in Full Sail's Game Design Bachelor's Online program with the goal of putting his love for creating new game concepts, worlds and stories into real-life practice. Andrew looks forward to the day he can walk into a GameStop or Best Buy and find a game title he helped produce on the shelf and in customers' hands.

It is never easy to make sequels to popular games, and it is certainly a challenge to produce the fourth title in a series that will keep the players interested. Eidos Interactive faced the issue head on and delivers another winner with Hitman: Blood Money. If you’re a sucker for a good backstory, political intrigue and assassinations aplenty, then you won’t be disappointed.

In Blood Money, the player is presented with the tried-and-true game style found in the first three games. Throughout a series of missions ranging across the world, the player will discover new elements of the game’s story — and even learn a few details about the previous titles in the series. This doesn’t mean the game is just a rehash of what’s come before, however, as Blood Money hosts a variety of new features as well as refinements to “classic” elements.

Diverging from previous titles in the series, Blood Money is told primarily as a recounting of events from a third party rather than Agent 47 himself. The bulk of the story’s events — the playable missions of the game — are recounted focusing on a two-year period leading up to the present. As these player progresses through the story, they are treated to a few moments of backstory that revolve around one of the previous titles in the series: Hitman: Contracts.

Though the overall style of the game hasn’t changed, the player is presented with a much more fluid and friendly game in Blood Money. Improvements to existing elements, such as unarmed combat and model animations help keep the game feeling familiar, but at the same time fresh, for longtime fans. Players will find themselves with new options during missions, such as using NPCs as human shields or new and inventive ways to make your hits look like accidents.

No Hitman game could be improved, however, without presenting new challenges. Building on the subtly element of Contracts, Blood Money introduces a Notoriety system. At the end of each mission, the player will be presented with a newspaper article regarding the death of the mission’s target. The headlines will present the player with their overall “stealth” grade for the mission. Although this may seem like just a rehash of the “Silent Assassin” rating system seen previously, in Blood Money there are real repercussions attached to those headlines.

Throughout each mission, the player must be aware of their environment and keep an eye out for hazards, such as closed-circuit cameras or witnesses. The more attention a player draws to themself during the course of a mission, the more notable the outcome will be and, ultimately, the more recognizable Agent 47 will become. To a hitman, being recognized raises the difficulty of an already dangerous job.

The challenges don’t stop here; Blood Money introduces the player to a new element of the story and the challenges it brings. Throughout the story in Blood Money, the player, and Agent 47, are faced with rival assassins from an organization known as “The Franchise.” Enter the Agencies’ new competition. Chief among these new rivals is Mark Parchezzi III, who is to the Franchise what Agent 47 is to the Agency. The struggle between 47 and Mark III is the story’s illustration of the larger confrontation between the Franchise and the Agency that is at the heart of Blood Money’s story.

The flashback method of storytelling for Blood Money takes a unique twist as the character retelling the events, a former FBI director speaking to a journalist, often lies about details. The player, having “lived” through the event, knows how it really happened and is able to pick up on these details should they choose to pay attention. It is through this method of “duality” storytelling that the player will be able to decipher the true plot at hand.

In another twist, longtime fans of the series will want to take note that Blood Money also marks the first on-screen appearance of a longtime character. Diana, 47’s contact at the Agency, makes her screen debut during the mission, which transitions the story from past to present events. It is also her appearance that marks the end of the story ... or does it?

The end of the game comes with the potential for a twist depending on the player and just how attentive they are to the game. Things may not always be what they seem, and anyone who wants Agent 47 to emerge victorious should keep that in mind.

In the end, Blood Money does a great job of distinguishing itself as the latest and best of the Hitman series, making it a must-own for any fan of either Agent 47 of a good assassin story. Polished gameplay, engaging and challenging missions, and a great story bring all the key elements together into a fantastic game.