The only niggle is the control system which still takes some getting used to and
you can still press the wrong button as you try to get to grips with it.
Once again, blood splattering can be done in first-person as well as third-person view but
I prefer the latter as that's how the game has always worked in beforehand. Be careful, though,
as when this was introduced in the third game it seemed possible to do this accidentally quite
often which made for very disconcerting gameplay.
On the plus side, as well as shooting the baddies, stealing their clothes,
the game having quick loading times and the ability to interact with almost
everything, such as killing the lights.
In terms of new stuff, '47' now behaves more realistically. He can jump, he can climb, shimmy along
ledges, take human shields, throw coins to distract guards from their post so you can sneak up and
grab them to snap their neck, hide in a closet, shoot out locks on doors, rig bombs, steal
surveillance tapes so no-one spots you've been where you shouldn't have let them see you, punch,
headbutt, kill baddies and throw them off high balconies and disarm enemies in hand-to-hand combat.
Also something that is new is that when your notoriety rating is high, it doesn't just make everyone
suspicious during the rest of the particular level you're on, but will affect future missions. However,
you can bribe officials at the end of each one so you can start the next one with a cleaner record
than you ought to have.
And you the level does end, zoom in to read the newspaper headlines and the story that appears in front
of you as it actually tailors itself depending on how many shots you've fired, baddies and innocents
you've killed, etc.
Don't forget at the end of each level to go to your hideout to stock up on ammo and go target shooting
to hone up your skills. This was similarly available in the previous games but it's not been done as well
here, I feel, as you're holed up in some underground cellar, rather than being allowed to walk about in
the fresh outdoors, which was much brighter.
Oh, and just a note for Xbox Live users. I've since stopped subscribing to that
service since I just don't have the time to play on it, but as I understand it,
the live option is mainly just for collecting scores and other minor bits and
pieces, it's certainly not an online deathmatch game with scores of opponents
around the world all being '47', sadly.
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