Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

To start, this'll serve as sort of a general review of the series but go more in-depth with my favorite Hitman game and one of my favorite stealth games ever: Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. Now, people who talk about "Does it hold up?" have to understand how it was received on release to compare it to playing through it today. Codename 47 on release was mixed for various reasons, even IGN 20 odd years ago complained about no mid-mission saves in that game so hold back your video essays, it's not a new or special opinion. What is special is the sequel. Hitman 2 has the lasting impact the other entries in the series lack. Blood Money yes has the gameplay and extra cool things you can do especially creatively, but Hitman 2's aesthetics, level designs, atmosphere, story, that's where it's at for me. The Church hub world is so nostalgic to me and Vittorio is a very very powerful character narrative wise. Not to say Hitman 2's gameplay can't be fun in it's own right, but it definitely can feel overtuned at times. Really, I think this is a must play for any Hitman fan or really any stealth game fan in general, this and Blood Money. Blood Money is still G.O.A.T. just not my personal favorite. Thanks for all the fun memories on Original XBOX Hitman 2: SA. :)

walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, tip, toe, pivot, walk, tip, toe, pivot, walk
(dont expect do get anywhere in a disguise whilst running)

Totally unplayable with my PC and Steam (i9 14th gen, RTX 4070) and can't even launch properly; when I do occasionally get to the main menu, and try to start a new game, the controls simply do not work. My keyboard registers when I try to map controls, and then when I try to use them in game suddenly the program cannot respond to my keyboard.

I would prefer to play this game with a controller, but I'll settle for keyboard and mouse as this game has no controller support out of the box, but even the keyboard mouse options do respond in game.

This is a much better game than its predecessor. It still a bit buggy, there are still some BS levels, but you can actually complete most levels via stealth here.

The inclusion of a proper save system, even though you are limited in amount of saves (not slots) you can do per mission, allows you to more easily experiment with game's mechanics.

This entry introduces the stealth rating (the staple Silent Assassin challenge), but it works a bit wonkily in this game.

Interestingly, this entry has one MAJOR DOWNGRADE from the previous game - no real time reflections in mirrors.

As is expected of old games, this game has issues when above 60FPS, as well as UI scaling poorly on resolutions above 720p. I played at 144FPS with v-sync, and there were some issues with enemies detecting you instantly, snipers enemies shooting like machine guns and things like that. Naturally there's no FPS limiter in-game, and setting my monitor to 60Hz introduced a lot of input lag.

even if it is a bit rough for today's standards, is still an amazing game.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin brings huge improvements over the first game, Hitman: Codename 47. Almost every negative point from the original has been addressed or improved. However, like its predecessor, this game is over two decades old and suffers from technical issues that require file modifications for a smoother experience.

Let’s start with the negatives. First, the difficulty. Ooh boy, don’t ever play this game on the hardest difficulty unless you’re ready to break your keyboard. The game is REALLY hard: some missions are so frustrating they’ll make you ragequit. As with the first game, expect to die and retry a few missions, especially on your first playthrough.

Apart from the main theme which is absolutely epic and some other pieces of work, the music is another step down from Codename 47 in my opinion. While it does definitely sounds more modern, with the use of a real choir and orchestra, it’s also far less memorable. It’s not bad by any means, just it has less character as Jesper Kyd’s first outing.

While the enemy AI has improved significantly, it’s still far from perfect. Guards are highly sensitive to your actions, which can get tedious. Something as simple as running while disguised or getting too close to them can blow your cover, leading to frustrating moments.

Now for the positives: the stages are much more varied, the maps are well-detailed, and the graphics are a massive improvement over the first game. The UI and map navigation are leagues better than in Codename 47, making this game much easier to play. That said, the HUD still doesn’t scale properly with higher resolutions, which can be an issue for modern players.

Another great feature is the freedom the game offers. There are multiple ways to complete your objectives and several pathways to reach them. This flexibility makes Silent Assassin feel much closer to a modern Hitman game. The addition of a save system, allowing you to save during missions (with the number of saves depending on difficulty and mission), is a huge improvement. The inclusion of a first-person view is another welcome addition, as it can be useful in certain situations.

The story picks up directly after the events of Codename 47. While it’s nothing groundbreaking and feels a bit bland at times, it’s less cheesy and over-the-top than the original game. The game is also significantly longer, taking around 15 hours to complete.

Overall, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a huge step forward for the franchise. Despite some frustrating difficulty spikes and minor issues with AI and music, the improved gameplay, varied missions, and better graphics make it a much more enjoyable experience than its predecessor. If you’re a fan of the series, it’s well worth playing.

A good sequel but not very fun.

Codename 47 was frusterating, but this game? well that takes it up to 100 times. the maps are big and boring, empty and barely crowded due to it's just mainly enemies, I cannot complete this game for the life of me, watching walk throughs to complete it would be even more boring. I like the more modern hitman games, this is a dumpster fire compared to them. the AI is so stupid, it's like they know a hitman was coming to infiltrate the area. and besides the enemies can insta kill you if your not careful, the saving system is helpful, but repeating the mission where you saved multiple times is boring. gameplay is hard to master, and your health still doesnt regenerate unlike world of assassination. every guard is very suspicious of you. I dont wanna play this heap of difficulty anymore, it's so hard to the point I'd rather play hitman in real life.

I have played this game at least 3 times and always enjoyed the new details i discovered to complete my missions. This is an old but fun game till this date and I wanna play the entire series.

t's a great game, and a lot of work has been done on game design, graphics, and locations. Now everything doesn't look as flawed as in the first part in terms of graphics and gameplay design. the hardcore of the game has also decreased compared to the first part. The average plot, excellent musical accompaniment, a large arsenal of weapons, various locations - for its time, the game is partly gorgeous, but the first part is still more vibe

Literally doesn’t work anymore don’t buy it I only buy it as good so more people see this

Such a classic. I remember leaving my ps2 on for days when I was a kid playing this game without any space left on my memory card. I was able to scoop it up for under a dollar for the winter sale and this is hands down the best deal I've ever got here.

There is a chance this won't immediately work on your machine, it didn't for me (Win11, i5 12th, 4060). I had to look for a fix online but there was a Steam community post from silentgameplays that made it work great. I'm not too knowledgeable with coding and I could still figure it out (although it did take me 5mins to figure out how to download a file from github) so I'm sure you can manage it.

Silent Assassin is showing its age but its miles better than Codename 47 in everything. But...

Slow/janky controls and atrocious disguise mechanic aside, suffers from the fact that it is straight up too long. There’s just too many filler missions (Hidden Valley, At the Gates, etc…). It also has maps that are wayyyy too big and complex for the missions they contained.
Sneaking slower than others walking is just insanely annoying to the point that it's a challenge if you can even fiber wire them. Walking is also super slow and running isn't that much better neither.
The AI is too sensitive every single thing can trigger them to shoot you (yes I know I should't run near them only walk),

I liked the soundtrack and story, I also find it a bit weird (in a positive way) how 47 is more human in this one and talks more lol just so unusual to me coming from later games. But it also makes sense because at the end him saying he wouldn't trust anyone only his instincts.

I wanted to recommend this game but it aged not that great, a new comer in this day and age would't enjoy it at all. Buy only if you are a massive fan and want to complete the collection.

I have three problems with this game,
1st the game doesn't work when you download it, i had to try at least 10 different fixes until it worked properly. 2nd the game is insanely hard, it takes a lot of time to get used to the games mechanics
3rd most of the time you are just running around or waiting for guards to move and only about 20-40% is the actual hitman part.
Do I still think this is a great game? Yes. At times I got really frustrated but all in all it was really fun once I got the hang of it

Quite enjoyable and a significant improvement over Codename 47 but the detection is quite janky and feels more rng then not

One of the best games for stealth combat and puzzle solving

Just finished this game for the first time...

My thoughts?
This game is INCREDIBLY frustrating at times because of the overly sensitive AI (looking at you Hidden Valley 😓!), but it has some really great levels like too like Invitation to a Party!

This game is where the Hitman formula really started but it was not yet fully developed.
i really like the music and environments in this game tho, probably one of the best in the series imo.

Overall, I think Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is where the identity of the series really started to manifest but was not quite fully there yet.
If you want to play a hardcore and quite difficult stealth game, this game is for you!
Otherwise...skip this entry as it might be too outdated for you and go play any game starting from Contracts onwards.

I give Hitman 2: Silent Assassin a 7.5/10 ❤️, decent game but nothing too amazing!

Gotta love sneaking into a military compound in Afghanistan as the whitest male ever.

A true silent assassin lives by these unbreakable tenets:

A silent assassin completes the job without drawing attention to themselves, and with only the least amount of necessary violence.

A silent assassin always walks, never runs.

A silent assassin does not kill the innocent. If they need to get an innocent person out of the way, they use chloroform, and then do everything else they need to do real quick because ah, yeah they’ve got about five minutes before that person wakes up and instantly blows their cover. You know, cause that’s how long chloroform canonically lasts, five minutes.

A silent assassin, if they need a disguise from an armed guard, can use stealth to kill one armed guard and one only without ruining their rating, as a little treat.

A silent assassin knows the value of patience and control, and knows that even if something on the map is like super far away, they are to always walk to that location, and never run.

A silent assassin uses stealth to incapacitate enemies or kill targets. And that stealth walk is slow. Drying paint has to outrun that stealth walk if they’re really going to be stealthy enough. If their target fails to look behind them before they complete their stealth walk well, let’s be honest, they weren’t really long for this life on earth anyway.

A silent assassin never blows their cover, ever, because they know if someone rats them out for taking their clothes as a disguise, the armed guards will easily sniff them out as an assassin, even and especially if they have long since disguised themselves as someone completely different.

A silent assassin knows that if they are using the element of disguise, then the person they are disguised as would never run, which is why they always walk.

A silent assassin has a passing familiarity with a sniper rifle, but for some reason could not hold it steady if they had a gun pointed at them. Like they’re on a boat in choppy water.

A silent assassin has the rather remarkable ability to look through a door’s keyhole, but knows that such an ability will almost never be useful.

A silent assassin can pick any lock on any door, so long as they take their time. Really, there’s no rush. Whenever you’re ready.

A silent assassin knows that the only thing that looks more suspicious than say, picking a lock open, or dragging a dead body by the ankle, or changing into a knocked out cop’s uniform, is running in public. No one runs in public, which is why they always walk everywhere.

A silent assassin knows that the world of assassination is one of high risk and high reward, and there are no second chances. Unless, of course, they're on normal difficulty, in which case there are seven chances.

A silent assassin, upon completion of one (1) assassination, automatically enrolls them in a “dark past.” They get one (1) storyline where they attempt to evade said dark past by spending their days in seclusion, being catholic or whatever and growing tomatoes in a little garden, before said dark past inevitably “catches up with them.” It's old hat by now, you get to do that exactly once, get it out of your system. After that they pretty much have to unabashedly be in it for the money.

And finally. A true silent assassin walks. THEY DO NOT RUN, EVER.

An exquisite symphony of stealth, a romance between player and precision. From the very first mission, the game seduces you with its intricate level designs, pulling you into a world where every shadow feels like a whispered promise and every silent takedown a lover’s caress upon the fabric of fate.

The narrative itself is deceptively simple—Agent 47, the enigmatic assassin of ethereal grace, is called back to the world of contract killings after attempting to leave it behind. Yet within its simplicity lies a profound elegance, as the game sweeps you across the globe to breathtaking locales that feel like forbidden trysts in faraway lands. The frosty streets of St. Petersburg, the sun-soaked villas of Sicily, and the vibrant chaos of India are more than backdrops—they are paramours, each begging you to dance to their unique rhythm of danger and opportunity.

The gameplay is an intoxicating waltz of choice and consequence. Whether you don a disguise to waltz past oblivious guards or orchestrate a flawless sniper shot from the shadows, every moment feels deliberate, as though fate itself were holding its breath. The tools of assassination—fiber wire, chloroform(which I seldom utilized), silenced pistols—are your quiver of deadly affection, each one allowing you to craft a symphony of destruction so elegant it could make the stars blush.

The haunting choral melodies of Jesper Kyd’s score feel like hymns sung in devotion to your dark artistry. The AI, while occasionally prone to quirks, reacts with enough realism to keep you on edge, heightening the thrill of your forbidden endeavors. There are moments of frustration, of course—an ill-timed detection, a plan gone awry—but even these feel like the passionate quarrels of a tempestuous romance. Each failure spurs you to try again, to perfect your approach, as if Silent Assassin itself were whispering, “You can do better, my love.”

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a game that elevates stealth to the realm of poetry. It is a love letter to patience, strategy, and the quiet beauty of calculated chaos. For those willing to embrace its challenges, it offers a passionate affair you won’t soon forget.

My first ever Hitman game and absolutely love it

The year is 2007. There are two games downloaded on my computer at home, one is Hitman 2 and the other is Counter Strike Source. I enjoy playing both of them. Hitman 2 was a masterpiece for me. It promised to have a great time, whether it was changing clothes or listening to music. I finished the game at that age. My father did the final task because I had difficulty. I have a great memory of it.
And before I forget, Jesper Kyd's wonderful music added a different atmosphere.

A good, if a bit buggy, classic.

This game is a much improvement over the first game. The time to kill from the enemies is more fair than the first hitman game since it gives you more time to defend yourself against the enemies shooting at you. The game controls are much better than the first one since the button layouts are much easier to remember. The AI in this game is random since the enemies with guns would just shoot at you If you walk right past them ruining the stealth pace you're going for. At least you get to save in places in the game but you're limited on how much you can use permission so use them wisely. Every time you beat a mission the weapons you find in the places you go to for contracts are in your personal to be used for the next mission. At least in this game, you can choose to be stealthy or aggressive depending on the missions you're on where you have to be stealthy. I give this game an 8 out of 10. I hope my review makes you think twice about getting the game. Have a good day.

I'm currently on the "Hidden Valley" mission, but it is so buggy that I cannot complete it.

Very fun and realistic stealth mechanics, would highly recommend.

Going through the marathon. This one is better than Codname 47... However, it's still garbage. It's not hot garbage like 47 but still a garbage nonetheless. Most of the places are huge and empty. Feels super dead and hallow. I can't run because people will shoot at me so I need to walk... SLOWLY. SOOOOOOOOOOO SLOWLY. I don't feel like a killer. I feel like I'm in a puzzle game with just walking nothing else. It's terrible. That being said playing in expert allowed me to kill my way out time to time. So I'll at least give the game that.

Hitman 2 is a bad game. I think it is the worst stealth game I have ever beaten. Not only that, but I dare to say that it is plain unfinished game that does feel like as if it was released in its Alpha state. I thought that after the success of the first game and the bigger budget the sequel would improve a lot, but obviously, I was wishing for too much.

Where do I even begin... Every single aspect is a major downgrade from the first game.
The first game had rough controls, but they somehow managed to make them even more complicated and much more annoying in the sequel... It is painful that half the time instead of switching to a different weapon, I switch to binoculars instead because I walked left...

The game is absolutely broken. Most of the mechanics and missions are broken or are severely flawed.
Stealth – in the first game I could run with bodies. Maybe it was not intentional, but it was fun and fast. Here I am forced to drag them very slowly, it requires a ton of time and is annoying. In the first game I could walk to the guys from the back for a stealthy execution, here I must sneak as otherwise they will turn around before I can get to them, but the problem is that sneaking is extremely slow. It is unbelievably slow. Not only is it super annoying, but enemies walk way faster than I can sneak and often when I'm almost at the right spot they just walk away... It is ridiculous and painful. But that is not all. The game has suspicion system. Sounds awesome, but the execution is sent by the devil. The A.I. is so sentitive that the game is almost unplayable. If you run, guards will instantly begin shooting at you. If you walk and look at the side, guards will begin shooting at you. If you walk and then stop, guards will begin shooting at you. If you walk, but it is too close or a bit detouring away from the guard, they will shoot you! You have to walk in a very precise manner for guards not to get suspicious and even then, often you'll get unlucky and they will shoot you after you walk away from them anyway... Another issue is that sometimes you need to dress up as guard, if you do not carry the firearm, guards may shoot at you, but if you carry the firearm, even a holstered one, the civilians will freak out and then the guards will begin shooting at you... And all of this is extra tedious as your walking speed is so slow! The stealth is absolutely broken through and through and it is not fun at all. It requires an insane amount of time and I simply do not have the patience for such slow gameplay.

NPC A.I. – also completely broken... In most missions something goes wrong. For example, there is a mission where I put some poisonous fish in a dish and the servant is supposed to take it to my target. But no, the servant just walks in, then the animation happens that she is picking the plate, but she does not. She goes away with the plate left on the table. So I have to wait till she'll come back, she finally picks it up in her 2nd attempt and when she brings the food to the target – nothing happens. The target simply does not eat the dish even though he should... And this is just a single example of how the A.I. refuses to work. Even in the first mission there is some weird soft-lock. If I do not kill my victim without an alarm for some reason he will not carry the key which I must have in order to progress. If afterwards I did not watch walkthroughs on YouTube I would have never figured it out that it is the game which is broken and not me being unsure what to do. There are many seemingly cool missions in this game that always get ruined by the broken A.I. which then leave me no choice but switch to combat. I really tried to play this game stealthily but all the constant game breaking glitches forced me to choose combat instead.

I have not even mentioned the other game breaking glitches. In one mission, I had to use sniper rifle and for some reason I could not hit any targets with it, all the bullets just did not hit anyone or anything, not even windows. Another major problem I had, not a glitch, but the game has a limited amount of total saves you can have at a time for your whole game. But it does not tell you that! And it allows you to continue to save, but those new saves simply do not get created. At first, I thought that maybe the mission is broken or that I have used up all the saves even though it said that I still had 4 of them, but I learned that I had to delete some of the previous saves to make some space...

Another problem I have with this game is its poor level design. It is often made of massive empty spaces or repetitive copy-pasted layouts and very bland environments in general. What is super annoying is that in some maps there are hidden doors that you must somehow know about if you want to progress in a stealthy manner. Those doors do not show on your map and I only found out of them because enemies open them up when they run on alarm. How should I find them on my own is anyone's guess.

I can praise one element in this game though, that many missions, on paper, have awesome concepts, but I could not even play them properly due to the glitches...


4/10

worked the first time i played but couldn't move, tried to get a higher rez broke the game and have no chance of playing.

what a disrespect to not only sell these games but then sell them in a bundle it's a scam don't give them a dime and refund it

It's unplayable garbage and is not optimized for PC.

This was one of my favorite games when I was young and went to buy it as soon as I saw great deal on it. Really wanted it to work and tried hard to run it but the game is so outdated and unplayable. I'm really sorry for my finger being down but its not the game its just "time"......

if you got good pc dont buy this game i have araound 1300 fps adn when i and the game is buggy i cant move when you croos 1000 fps you fut freez and cant move or if you can ist juts buggy i cat even finish first misio where is not even one shooting none is attacking you 10/10

If you have old system, you apparently can still make this game work. However, it will never work on modern systems. I was unable to launch it on Windows 10 with RTX graphic card installed, for example. So, I am actually not sure if such old games shall ever be sold in Steam. If we compare this situation to GOG, there old games are at least being optimized for modern systems. And this must be a market standard. You either sell product with a good support or do not sell it at all. Or just make the game free since it's so old by now. Seriously, didn't they earn enough of money with selling this game during last 20+ years?

epic music / atmosphere and shooting still fun too.

I can't lie, I am actually pleasantly surprised. I (finally) finished Codename 47 before playing this game, and I was expecting more of the same buggy mess. However, this game is far more polished. The controls feel way more intuitive, the UI is nicer to look at, the movement feels smoother, and the graphics, while still dated, are already a huge step up from its predecessor. Furthermore, I can actually launch and play this game without having to jump through hoops to not get a blank/blank screen, or a resolution so low I can count the individual pixels. Don't get me wrong, the game has its issues (including the infamous hidden valley level that breaks if you have more than 30fps, which is basically always unless you manually cap it to 30), but it's far better than Codename 47. In short, yes I would recommend this game to others, and I would probably recommend you start the HITMAN franchise here instead of bothering with CN47, just watch a YT video for that one.

the game is just a blank black screen due to a bug, so I bet you can guess why this review is negative

good og game

NOTE: This game has to be capped at 30fps in order to fully work as intended, 60fps will break certain stuff. However, above 60fps the game becomes broken.

Hitman 2 Silent Assassin is one of the best hitman games in the whole series. Everything about it just seems perfect. The missions, soundtrack, storyline... I also love the balance of this game, it is not too limited yet not too advanced. As someone who prefers the first 4 hitman games over WOA, I was always a fan of more simple stuff than things being too large and advanced. Awesome game worth giving a try!

A bit outdated today but a good classic. When you're alone, in the darkness, you can hear YAME YAME

Oh this game got amazing music , great memories and the coolest character ever agent 47 .

Jogging is illegal, 0/10

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Keep in mind that you will need some patching for this game first.

AI is a bit bonkers in the sequel, the worst part of it is you can't run legally (holding shift and spamming W works though, making a macros could be useful).

Nice story, if you are interested in Hitman, you definitely should give this game a chance. Locations are varied, missions are interesting. But the stealth is not very comfortable, and disguises feel useless half the time even though they are certainly not, and in some circumstances you will actually feel like you are tricking other people with them.

Collecting weapons from various missions is a fun mechanic. If you're gonna play this game - replay for example the first mission perfectly with a guide, you'll like the reward, akimbo silenced silver ballers are fun.

enjoy this game if you play on windows 98!

Best soundtracks ever

My favorite stealth shooter on the classic Xbox when I was a kid. This game holds up well after so many years. I recall having a frame issue on another PC where trying to move around would be janky, the solution I had to use then was to adjust frames for this game in Nvidia control panel and limit it to 30, this issue didn't occur when I played through it this time around.

one of the original Hitman games

My childhood masterpiece

Solid improvement upon the original, foundations clearly laid for the following titles.

I love killing people

I used to play this game instead of studying for my school exams when I was a kid.

Awesome game, the japan mission was peak stealth.

There's a game breaking glitch in the Hidden Valley Mission which, if you get, will prevent you from getting Silent Assassin and can even stop you from progressing. Truly a terrible experience at that point. The only saving grace is that the other levels are at least doable. Hidden Valley also comes with Guards who ID check every other guard for some reason. I.e. you can't even use disguises in this level to get past them. Which, I might add, is a core game mechanic for Hitman games.

one of the best hitman games