Poor old Agent 47 hasn't had what you'd call an ideal upbringing. As well as coming from a dysfunctional family (his DNA donors are an assortment of deranged and dangerous criminals), the Romanian replicant was dragged halfway across Europe by his creator before being discovered by the mysterious Agency. But it's not all doom and gloom, as Agent 47 finally discovered his true vocation in life - to be a ruthless assassin.

But enough of the derivative back-story; 47 has plenty of time for that in the beautiful and stylish cutscenes. It's very slick and stylish at first glance, but has Hitman: Contracts got enough substance to get to leather-gloved grips with?

Picking up where Hitman 2: Silent Assassin left off, Agent 47 wakes up in a mental asylum, populated by his recently deceased, balding brethren. Aside from serving as the customary tutorial level, this blood-splattered, corpse-ridden environment confirms from the outset what we'd all been secretly hoping - that Contracts is darker, grittier and downright nastier than the previous instalments.

The core gameplay remains faithful to the Hitman series, so fans will be pleased to see the original formula of silently entering a compound, covertly taking out enemies, utilising their clothes as makeshift disguises and ultimately assassinating an unscrupulous businessman/treacherous military commander repeated here - with many levels seeing 47 going through more costume changes than Mr Ben. Unfortunately, this formula is a bit too consistent - every mission is just a variation on the same theme, broken up only by the odd rescue or sabotage task. It's all a bit monotonous, and due to dubious enemy Al, the game resorts to standard trial and error gameplay.

Stealth, if you haven't guessed by now, is just as important to Agent 47 as a discreet dry cleaner, and the handy Training level teaches players all they need to know about creeping through windows, avoiding guards and carrying out clandestine kills. At the end of each mission players are graded on their performance, based on criteria such as Stealth, Aggression, Shots Fired, Innocents Killed and so on - the idea being that a perfect mission involves zero detection and no other fatalities aside from the target themselves. However, one of the game's fundamental flaws is that there's no clear distinction of how stealthy you should exactly be. Alongside your health meter, a gauge measures passing enemies' state of suspicion. But even if all hell breaks loose (due to the above-par difficulty of remaining undetected), this returns to normal once all guards in the vicinity are silenced, leaving players in an undercover limbo. Agent 47 can only crouch or sneak, and his ungainly movements are done no favours by the appalling animation that results in our hairless hero skidding, gliding and moonwalking all over the screen. It's pretty rudimentary compared to other stealth-'em-ups like the outstanding Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.

Part of the morbid beauty of the Hitman series is the relatively open gameplay that allows players to work through missions in a variety of different ways. As mentioned, the player is rewarded for carrying out tasks covertly, and as such 47 has all manner of silent weapons at his disposal. Gone is the option from Hitman 2 to select your fatal tools of the trade before each mission, as now a quick look in your inventory reveals a tasty garrotte, lethal syringe and the favoured silenced Silverball pistol - permanently there. Heavy weapons and other melee items you come across, like snooker cues and carrier bags can be picked up and put to more unorthodox use, along with some neat-looking choke holds if you can get close enough.

Alternatively, players can blaze through the level with a wanton disregard for secrecy; leaving discarded bodies littered everywhere safe in the knowledge that a heightened alarm stage will eventually return to normal. A new feature enables the player to switch to a first-person perspective at any time during proceedings, but this is something of a double-edged sword. Whilst making aiming and shooting a lot easier, it also turns the game from third-person adventure to all-out FPS.

Unfortunately, the shoddy animation reoccurs here, as jerky characters and a dubious framerate make this a very poor FPS at that, and further compounds the fact that all things stealth are stuffed in a brown sack and thrown off the nearest pier. It's a lot more satisfying/exciting/easier to simply blast through a level, completely negating the real purpose of the game.

We really wanted to like this game. We loved the previous Hitman titles, yet sadly this has proved the black sheep of the series. Some nice touches remain, like the great physics engine that makes enemies' bodies slump when dragging them like the dead weights they are in real life (erm, not that this reviewer would know...), and the comical death throes of dying victims. However, a very dated look and a simplified, confused gameplay style mean Hitman: Contracts is a considerable disappointment that aims wide of the target. Definitely more miss than hit.

1. Plenty of gore
2. Entertaining fatalities
3. Varied gameplay

1. Terrible animation
2. Shoddy presentation
3. Descends into shooter territory

Power
Shocking animation but, bizarrely, great cutscenes, though the in-game framerate is poor.

Style
Gritty and blood-drenched, the game's littered with generic, repetitive characters.

Immersion
Intuitive controls make for easy stealthing. Failing that, you can mindlessly shoot people.

Lifespan
Not massive, but pedants will find tons of replayability in trying to get that elusive perfect stealth rating.

Summary
Appalling presentation and confusing gameplay results in players having to sacrifice stealth for all-out blasting.