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Hitman: Contracts for PlayStation 2
Hitman: Contracts for PlayStation 2 is a stealth game in which a wounded Agent 47 recalls earlier assignments. Those memories take you to separate locations with targets, guards and different routes. You first investigate who walks where and how to reach a secured area. Another outfit can grant access, while restless behaviour can still expose you. The assignment therefore concerns not only the target, but also the route there and a departure without unnecessary attention.
You use the map to understand the layout and study routines on location. Sometimes a key or uniform helps; sometimes waiting is better than walking straight ahead. You can move bodies to delay discovery and bring weapons for your chosen approach. Shooting immediately provokes different reactions from quiet, careful action. The final rating shows how your attempt unfolded and offers clues for another route.
Contracts is a solo adventure with twelve missions. Replaying is rewarding because of the knowledge you build: an unobtrusive door, a gap in a patrol or clothing you previously passed. The sombre memory structure connects these jobs to 47’s condition in Paris. This is the original 2004 PS2 edition, without the later systems of Blood Money or Absolution’s Instinct display.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Hitman: Contracts for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Hitman: Contracts
IO Interactive developed Hitman: Contracts, published by Eidos in 2004 for PlayStation 2 among other platforms. It was the third game, after Codename 47 and Silent Assassin. A wounded 47 is in a Paris hotel, reliving assignments. This gives the locations a different connection from an ordinary journey between new jobs. His uncertain condition lends the memories a dark tone without removing the observation and planning of earlier games.
Contracts combined new assignments with reworked situations from the series’ early history. For PS2 players, this also opened memories of 47’s work that were not simply the same campaign as Silent Assassin. The core remained reading an environment: a guard has a routine, a uniform a purpose and a route a risk. You learn these connections by watching and trying, not merely following the shortest line to the target.
Blood Money followed in 2006, expanding consequences between missions through money and notoriety. That later approach should not be projected back onto Contracts. This product page concerns the original PlayStation 2 game, not an HD collection in which the same name later appeared again. The twelve missions, Paris framing and emphasis on disguises and preparation define this edition. Contracts thus occupies its own place between 47’s return in Silent Assassin and Blood Money’s next step.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin has 47 return to assignments from a secluded life. Contracts instead connects missions through a wounded 47’s memories. In both you observe guards, seek access and try not to attract attention. That similar foundation makes the different tone and reworked assignments noticeable: these are not two names for the same campaign.
Hitman: Blood Money builds on disguises and assignments with different possible approaches. It adds stronger connections between jobs through money, equipment upgrades and notoriety. Contracts emphasises each mission’s execution and rating. Calm observation remains familiar, but the consequences and tools surrounding the assignment are not the same.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell shares observing patrols and avoiding alarms. Sam Fisher uses darkness, sound and technical tools to get inside. Hitman more often lets you move among ordinary people in different clothes. Both reward preparation, but Splinter Cell usually demands staying hidden, whereas 47 can sometimes walk in plain sight as long as his role remains convincing.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty on PS2 combines sneaking, evading guards and investigating secured rooms. It tells a tightly directed espionage story involving the Big Shell, among other locations. Hitman more often organises tension around a target, a disguise and an escape route. Both make you consider sightlines, but the narrative structure and reasons for entering a building differ.
Manhunt also has you observe routes and approach opponents without being immediately discovered. Shadows and sound play a major role in a violent struggle to escape. Hitman uses clothing and social access alongside sneaking. Where Manhunt emphasises the hunt and close attacks, 47’s assignment concerns a designated target and a carefully chosen exit from the surroundings.
