General Criticism Regarding Blood Money

[Hichkas]

I’m not good when trying to criticize something, and most of the times I make things worse. Though I had to do this, whether rusty or not, at some point. At the end of the day, these are only my opinions and you have every right to disagree(in a civilized way )

Covered Aspects:

• Sales
• Graphics
  • General (& Compared to other games of the era)
  • Map Design
  • Character Design
• Gameplay
  • Controls (& Stealth)
• Plot
  • Story & Targets
  • 47’s character
  • Locations

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Sales

“If we go on by sales compared to previous titles, then BM is the weakest link in the franchise. It only sold 1.5 million copies (in 2006) and 2.1 (by 2011). Compared to 3.7 million SA sold (by 2009) and 3.6 of Absolution (by 2013)”.
Stats: @Norseman, Danestaniha journal, Issue #173, Bahman 23th - 1395 Solar Hijri

Generally speaking, Blood Money was the one they put more effort on so the expectation was higher than this. I mean, yes, Contracts did worse in this matter but Contracts is the “rushed” one released prior so they could work on Blood Money. Thus Disappointing.

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Graphics

General (& Compared to other games of the era)

There is sort of a paradox in this part. The environment render got better to be frank yet everything was bright. Very bright as in some points unbearable; Though I guess it was the step to be done in the engine progression. Talking about that, Blood Money was a weak link graphics wise comparing to the rivals of the era from other franchises.

Map Design

The atmosphere of the maps didn’t have the charm, mainly due to lack of complexity in design most of them had and the lack of the dark vibes of the previous games. Let go the repetitiveness of America.

Character Design

47 had the least improvement-from-previous-title rate in my eyes. His body got round enough render wise in the past 2 titles, so this was mainly just making it worse by brightening his face.

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Gameplay

Controls (& Stealth)

Controls were meant to have improvements than the prior titles, simplifying it probably yet I think it was the Windows 8 of the series of controls in the franchise; Supposed to make things easier, yet complicating it. With Absolution it had refinements and with WoA it reached the peak perfection.
To be utterly honest I don’t see much stealth potential in the game, mainly because the atmosphere and the story make it hard to believe in most parts. Controls are not stealth friendly as well.

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Plot

Story & Targets

This matter could be subjective, but I sincerely hate their take on the story. The way they brought back cloning stuff and connected it to ICA and The White House and some random groups, let go how rusty it was. To me, They felt like unrelated matters getting merged to tinker a bigger thing while “the bigger thing” failed to bring the Hitman charm with it.
We saw quite some good targets, though, again to me, they were less memorable than the ones from WoA, Absolution and Codename 47. There wasn’t so much to characteristics of most, not all, targets in Blood Money.

47’s character

Before and after Blood Money, we had the plots which took us deep into his character instead of just portraying a “Ruthless Bald Contract Killer”. With Silent Assassin we got to know about his ethics, with Absolution he showed a bit of emotion, and WoA went way back and gave us a taste of his childhood.

Locations

It’s mostly explained on “Map Design” section, though the comment here would be that, again, Blood Money was too much America centered. Before you show off your genius, I know that Absolution is worse in this matter.

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[Mini]

I agree with almost everything and…

@Hichkas

Locations

It’s mostly explained on “Map Design” section, though the comment here would be that, again, Blood Money was too much America centered. Before you show off your genius, I know that Absolution is worse in this matter.

Absolution might be more america centered than Blood Money but at least the level design was more detailed. In Blood Money, some locations felt almost lifeless IMO. Allen could have added much more detail there, that’s fore sure.

[MrOchoa]

It’s trash and only casuals enjoy it.

[EvilGeniusRo]

@Hichkas

“If we go on by sales compared to previous titles, then BM is the weakest link in the franchise. It only sold 1.5 million copies (in 2006) and 2.1 (by 2011). Compared to 3.7 million SA sold (by 2009) and 3.6 of Absolution (by 2013)”.

The year is 2006. The year of the X360 and the PS3. The year when all you could hear teenagers talking about was Halo 2, Assassins Creed, TES: Oblivion and other “cool” games on consoles. The stealth genre was always niche.

@Hichkas

everything was bright

2006 was the year of bloom and HDR in video games, it wasn’t just BM. And from the top of my head I can’t remember a spot that blinded me like some later games in the series did.

@Hichkas

a weak link graphics wise comparing to the rivals of the era from other franchises

I don’t think the Hitman series was going head to head with another one back in 2006. As for graphics being bad for that year?! It was using shader model 3 which not many PC players were able to run it. You can even check reviewers back then praising the graphics…

@Hichkas

The atmosphere of the maps didn’t have the charm

This is subjective unlike…

@Hichkas

mainly due to lack of complexity in design

… what you mean it wasn’t complex. Compared to previous titles I say it was very much complex. You mean levels being smaller? I prefer smaller but more detailed levels than long and empty / barren levels. As to why they didn’t try to make bigger levels that were also detailed was because of technical limitations, not only for the game to run well on most PCs back then but also on the new consoles which many developers had troubles with not to mention the game was also ported to the PS2.

@Hichkas

so this was mainly just making it worse by brightening his face

Even MrOchoa will say that the image you posted is a bad example. As to 47 having a brighter face, I will use my “call a friend” option and mention Hotel_Pollisya, mostly his avatar. BM had some great in-door shadows / lighting. And hey, 47 could move his eyes unlike some future titles cough 2016 cough

@Hichkas

Supposed to make things easier, yet complicating it.

My only gripe with the controls is the fact that IO didn’t give 47 animations when he was turning around so I always had to fight with the orientation / positioning in some cases, other than that, easier than ever to play, especially since they added the buttons / action hud on screen.

@Hichkas

With Absolution it had refinements and with WoA it reached the peak perfection.

You’re comparing a game from 2006 with one from 2012 and another from 2016 and you’re saying that BM didn’t have those fluid animations and those fluid controls. It’s like comparing the controls of GTA SA to the ones from GTA 5.

@Hichkas

to be utterly honest I don’t see much stealth potential in the game

The Hitman series is a social stealth game, not the kind of stealth that involves sneaking around without making too much noise and staying in the shadows at all times.

@Hichkas

Controls are not stealth friendly as well.

Have you ever played Thief 1/2? Let me tell you, the controls weren’t friendly yet the games were still great stealth games

@Hichkas

mainly because the atmosphere and the story make it hard to believe in most parts

Story? Sure that’s subjective but atmosphere? What do you mean by that?

I’m gonna stop here and may continue later but damn, it’s really hard for me to figure out if most of the stuff you said are truly your feelings for the game or you’re just trying to get on Norsedude’s and MrOchoa’s good side

[Heisenberg]

I’m gonna stay out of this one, because I have a feeling I’d be causing serious trouble. All I’ll say is, those who think blood money is bad are wrong. I’m done.

[Khakiasp]

Bloodmoney is fun, thats all it needs to be

[Hichkas]

@EvilGeniusRo

The year is 2006. The year of the X360 and the PS3. The year when all you could hear teenagers talking about was Halo 2, Assassins Creed, TES: Oblivion and other “cool” games on consoles. The stealth genre was always niche.

Disagreed. Both of the 2002 and 2012 installments were marketed as “stealth” and both years had those fancy, popular games of the franchises (Vice City, Far Cry 3, ACs, the list goes on).

@EvilGeniusRo

2006 was the year of bloom and HDR in video games, it wasn’t just BM. And from the top of my head I can’t remember a spot that blinded me like some later games in the series did.

“Later games” AKA WoA is generally good with the lighting as far as I’ve played, and those bloom attacks happen in specific places. BM was bright in pretty much every open location.

@EvilGeniusRo

I don’t think the Hitman series was going head to head with another one back in 2006.

I don’t think the franchise ever did

@EvilGeniusRo

… what you mean it wasn’t complex. Compared to previous titles I say it was very much complex. You mean levels being smaller? I prefer smaller but more detailed levels than long and empty / barren levels. As to why they didn’t try to make bigger levels that were also detailed was because of technical limitations, not only for the game to run well on most PCs back then but also on the new consoles which many developers had troubles with not to mention the game was also ported to the PS2.

The maps were straightforward. I mean, I still find new rooms and places in Sapienza/Lee Hong’s building in C47/Dubai/Miami etc. The second part is probably correct, and that’s why (again, probably) they upgraded the engine for Abso.

@EvilGeniusRo

Even MrOchoa will say that the image you posted is a bad example. As to 47 having a brighter face, I will use my “call a friend” option and mention Hotel_Pollisya, mostly his avatar. BM had some great in-door shadows / lighting.

My fault, of course indoor lighting was dece… let’s admit it, great. It’s mostly about the natural light part of the level sky boxes. And ahh why should it matter when I’m always looking at his barcode while actually playing?

@EvilGeniusRo

other than that, easier than ever to play,

#different_with_different_ players

@EvilGeniusRo

You’re comparing a game from 2006 with one from 2012 and another from 2016 and you’re saying that BM didn’t have those fluid animations and those fluid controls. It’s like comparing the controls of GTA SA to the ones from GTA 5.

That part wasn’t meant to destruct Bm per se And GTA 5’s controls are worse than the controls of GTA SA though that’s for another time.

@EvilGeniusRo

The Hitman series is a social stealth game, not the kind of stealth that involves sneaking around without making too much noise and staying in the shadows at all times.

Was that ever in doubt? I was comparing it to other Hitman games

@EvilGeniusRo

Story? Sure that’s subjective but atmosphere? What do you mean by that?

The vibe it gives you? They left doing the games mostly-dark and started the sunny shiny happy wappy maps which were poorly executed. It got better in WoA though.

@EvilGeniusRo

it’s really hard for me to figure out if most of the stuff you said

@Hichkas

I’m not good when trying to criticize something, and most of the times I make things worse

@EvilGeniusRo

are truly your feelings for the game or you’re just trying to get on Norsedude’s and MrOchoa’s good side

IRL and else places, I always stayed on my side. There were regime/else lickers all around but no, I never do anything for the purpose. Unless for a joke or something but not when it gets serious.

[Hotel_Pollisya]

@Hichkas

If we go on by sales compared to previous titles, then BM is the weakest link in the franchise.

Don’t care about 'em, but what exactly does the point about sales mean? Low sales mean players didn’t like the game and voted with their wallets. So how can this “disliked” game be overrated?

@Hichkas

everything was bright . Very bright as in some points unbearable

I have never heard anyone having this problem. Graphic settings are very flexible iirc and they should be able to make the picture look whatever you consider being pleasant to the eye. As noted by others above, Absolution and Hitman 2-3 had much more notable bloom issues.

@Hichkas

The atmosphere of the maps didn’t have the charm , mainly due to lack of complexity in design most of them had and the lack of the dark vibes of the previous games. Let go the repetitiveness of America.

Subjective. Despite nearly all of the levels being set in the US, it felt much more diverse to me than Contracts.

When Blood Money has a peaceful rehab facility at woods, a sunny neighborhood, a crowded carnival at night, a high-tech condo in snowy mountains, a ship, a rural area with some swamps, a luxurious hotel, an office building with the parties and the White House, Contracts is mostly filled with the levels that have “some shady location filled with criminals at rainy night”. Dunno, I’d stick with the Blood Money version.

Points about 47’s face, controls and plot are pretty much subjective too.

For me, Blood Money was the game that introduced a lot of people into the franchise. The “casual” and “easy” gameplay actually offers a lot of freedom and a great variety of approaches - more than before. The latter was ensured by brand new mechanics, some of them were so good they made it to the next games. The gameplay formula of Blood Money was so successful that IOI sort of went back to it with WOA, dropping some of the bad Absolution decisions. Try to overrate that.

[Mini]

Where’s @Norseman when we need him?

[Danger_dog_guy_7]

I think this goes out for a lot of other fellow BM enjoyers:

I have fun with it and don’t care what anyone else thinks of it.

[Screaming_Meat]

@Hichkas

There is sort of a paradox in this part. The environment render got better to be frank yet everything was bright . Very bright as in some points unbearable; Though I guess it was the step to be done in the engine progression.

i think that was less about the engine and more a stylistic choice. there was - to my mind - an intentional juxtaposition between the bright, cartoony american dream surface and the dark underbelly hidden beneath.

@Hichkas

The atmosphere of the maps didn’t have the charm , mainly due to lack of complexity in design most of them had and the lack of the dark vibes of the previous games. Let go the repetitiveness of America.

dunno about the bolded. i think blood money’s level design was excellent. lots of ways and opportunities to complete each mission. series best up until woa (whose level design harkens back to bm).

in terms of atmosphere, i wrote a bunch about that before.:

Summary

@Screaming_Meat

if atmosphere is the mood or tone of a piece, then i would argue that blood money has, if not the ‘best’, then the most interesting in the entire series so far.

it’s all about tension.

i adore contracts’ incredible gothic european-flavoured noir. it’s many things - a heady mix of rain, ghosts, blood, ruminations on death - but it is not in any way subtle.

contracts wears it’s unsettling aspects entirely on its proverbial sleeve, hiding very little from the player. almost every level immediately lets the player know how they should feel. we know, even without the brief, that there is something very off about beldingford manor simply by looking at it. precisely what it hides requires exploration, but there is absolutely no room for doubt that something is very wrong there.

blood money’s a new life, on the other hand, isn’t so obvious. on the surface, and without looking at the brief, it appears to be an idyllic north american suburb; the peak of the elusive american dream. it’s only when we scratch the surface - open the doughnut van, meet the wife, etc. - that you can see the rot brewing underneath.

it’s like looking through a beautiful lawn of rich green grass and coming across a rotting, severed ear.

that’s a reference to blue velvet, by the way, which i suspect was an influence on a new life, if not the entirety of blood money. i’ve said this elsewhere, but i’ve always felt that blood money comes across as quite lynchian in-and-of-itself. by lynchian, i mean a juxtaposition between the relatively mundane (boring, everyday, earthly) and the macabre (horrifying, gruesome, pertaining to death).

47’s deathly presence alone is enough to strain each locations’ superficiality. he is death, invading these blandly iconic american locations: theme parks, rehab, steamboats, weddings, vegas, suburbs, etc. compare this to contracts where 47 doesn’t look out of place at all ; he is very much part of that sleazy, seedy universe.

(i know contracts is all in his head narratively speaking, but that’s besides the point. we’re talking from a gameplay experience here).

this is, i think, blood money’s greatest trick: it appears at first sight to be bright, clean, colourful and even cartoonish, but the juxtaposition between its overwrought surfaces and the grim machinations underneath provide a tension contracts’ can’t.

i also think it’s no coincidence that the first hitman to explore america chooses to do so using this technique as opposed to contracts’ brooding take.

blood money is the first game in the series that really embraces its dark, satirical potential (which 2016 kind of carries on, i think), and it aims it squarely at the veneer of the american dream. it’s not exactly brass eye or swift, but it does a relatively good job, i think. it doesn’t get enough credit in this regard.

i could bang on about this and go into deeper examples, but i think i’ve blathered on way too long already.

[Mini]

@getro_gamer

Plot
Who the fuck plays hitman for the plot? And even then, Bm had the best plot out of the franchise.

Here, I play Hitman for the plot And BM together with Absolution has the worst plot in my opinion.

The whole Diana/47 plot, the ICA being infiltrated and the political structure… they did that better with the WoA trilogy, because it was much deeper and felt more “realistic” there (at least till Hitman 3).

And again, just like in Absolution, some characters are very much over the top, together with sexist, homophobic and misogynistic pictures (Eve, Skip Muldoon).

[MrOchoa]

@getro_gamer

And even then, Bm had the best plot out of the franchise.

laughs in Codename 47

[getro_gamer]

So you’re telling me, Blood Money is entirely bad because of the story? (which was far better than the WoA story btw)

[Mini]

Well, in my personal opinion the story is not better than the story of the WoA trilogy. I also think that the story of Codename 47 and of Silent Assassin is better than from Blood Money.

And like I said, there are other things why I don’t like Blood Money. I think that other games are more detailed and that BM feels a bit “lifeless” to me. And the homophobic, sexist and misogynistic aspect is something I don’t like either (it’s a problem of all older Hitman Games, but in BM and Absolution it’s the most extreme IMO).

[Rimland]

@getro_gamer

Not only are you wrong, you’re stupid.

It’s completely fine to disagree - I disagree with him as well (a lot!) and will write my lengthy response later today when I have the time - but please try to keep the conversation polite and do not result to insults, no matter how much someone’s opinion infuriates you (he mentioned it himself that he’s not particularly good at articulating criticism)

[getro_gamer]

How can one disagree with something that is completely wrong and has literally no foundation. This post was clearly written as a joke, and reply to it as a joke I will. Disagreeing is for opinions that have merit. This is clearly tries to present itself as fact, which is why I ridicule it

[Heisenberg]

While I agree with you in principal - people have a right to their informed opinions exclusively - there is still no need to resort to insulting a member directly. Calling them wrong is ok; calling them stupid is a recipe for trouble.

[Mini]

I don’t think that @Hichkas arguments have no foundation, he even pointed out why he sees it that way. And he also said that he’s not good into criticisms, but he has every right to tell his opinion.

I don’t think that his posting was just for provocation, his arguments feel very conclusive for me and I agree with many of them

So I think it’s kinda rude to call him stupid, especially after he asked for a respectful tone.

[Schnitzel]

Lets be frank. Blood Money was a bloody good Hitman entry. There might be things better and worse compared to other entries to the series, but those are certainly minor. But its not overrated. It has the sandboxy, freedom of approach style covered which we need for a great hitman game. Everything else are just opinions and preferences.

Overrated is such a vague word. Overrated related to what.?