If there was ever a game so fitting of Jack Thompson’s absurd catchphrase “murder simulator,” Hitman is assuredly it. Death is your business, and business is good. Aside from the rather traditional means of execution – garrote wire, or a double-tap with a silenced Silverballer, for example - the team at IO Interactive has scattered various hazards in each level so as to allow the player to make a hit appear as an unfortunate accident, as opposed to a violent murder. Men will stumble to their deaths, chandeliers will fall upon unsuspecting victims, and tragic equipment complications will ensue as a direct result of your influence, adding an entirely new aspect to the genre. Suffice to say, you may never stand near a railing the same way again.

It’s somewhat ironic that, for a game focused on pure bloodshed, the violence in Blood Money never becomes particularly gratuitous. That is, if you play it the right way. You could blow through the game in an hour or so, by arming Agent 47 to the teeth and pumping lead into anything with legs. But that’s never been the modus operandi of 47, especially in the case of Blood Money. The player is rewarded for stealthy kills, by earning a title at the end of each mission (from Silent Assassin and The Eraser up to Sushi Chef or Russian Hare). In the case of the XBOX 360 version, earning Silent Assassin ratings will earn Achievements.