Here in Europe we don’t have the gun culture of the Americas, though I think “culture” is a bit forced here. Should I use curse? That’s for you to decide. Anyway, having the opportunity to play with a gun is a very special occasion, since the punishment for illegal possession of firearms is very tough around here. Of course, if you’re in the army you get to play with them for free, but if you’re a civilian with a problem, there’s always the black market which makes your dreams come true. So, I once played with a gun, a Walter P88-9. The cold steel makes a welcomed feature on a warm summer day. You also realize that some guns are not that light as you think, so having two of them, one in each of your hands, can sometimes be a serious burden. Yes, it was quite a big gun and it was staring at me from the table. I picked it up and the first thing I did was to stick it to my head. Here’s the thing. The cold steel meets the warm skin and all this makes you shiver. If you close your eyes you can even see the trajectory of the bullet going through your head and the blood spreading all over the place. So I pressed the trigger. Since I’m still alive, you, my reader, can guess that, fortunately, it wasn’t loaded.

     And that’s how, for the first time in my life, I felt like a small God. That’s also how I came to appreciate the Hitman series. It’s really easy to point a gun at someone and shoot. You don’t think. You just do it, because you feel like a God with that thing in your hand. Guess what? You’re not and you’re as vulnerable as the person you’re shooting. It’s a lot harder to approach your victim and strangle, stab or poison her. In this case you are compelled to think, to plan, to find a viable way to do it. This is what makes an assassin different from a serial killer. And there’s always the reason. Some kill for their own twisted fun and some kill because this is their job while the most of us never even kill a chicken, a pig or some other domestic animal. The paradox is that we sometimes go suicidal, while assassins never have such problems. I guess pro assassins know that life has a value, which of course can be zeroed for a price, but it still has a value.

     That’s why preparing your hit is so hard. You must go through all the details over and over again and you must have a decent quantity of cold blood, not to kill someone, but to face unforeseen situations. That’s what Hitman: Blood Money requires from you. Clockwork precision in planning and execution. Because this is the most advanced Hitman game ever. We’re in the USA now. Another organization wants to enter the market, so all ICA agents are systematically eliminated. Diana assigns you various missions, but things reach a point when all that’s left from the agency is you and Diana. I won’t reveal important bits of storyline since it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen in a game and spoiling it all would hurt you too much. All I can tell you is that you should do whatever you can to reach the end of the game. The story is told with the help of cut-scenes between the missions. I advise you not to skip them.