The stealthy death dealings of Agent 47 return for yet another gory outing in Hitman: Blood Money, and this time the hard-hitting franchise also makes the next-generation crossover via Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Follows the established gameplay success of the series without fault; Gradually improving 360 graphics see the game shine over time; Compelling and intriguing storyline; Notoriety system promotes more clear cut stealth usage; Intricate assassinations are fabulously constructed; Music and sound are...

Rather splintered A.I; detracts from the whole package, Too much jagging and dodgy collision detection for a next-gen title, Steep difficulty sometimes leads to trial and error progression, Not really a massive departure from established series standards

Of all the virtual playgrounds I've frequented over the last decade of 3D gaming, IO Interactive's remain some of my favourite. Rarely perfect and not always even that much fun (in a traditional sense), their Hitman missions nevertheless exhibit a convincing vision of what the craft of level design...

Hitman is easily one of the most fun games ever and one of the new features is making the deaths look like accidents brilliant. The new game from IOinteractive looks awesome aswell (Kain & Lynch).

The sheer variety of ways to eliminate your target is staggering and keeps gameplay fresh as you complete each difficulty, while some of the more creative achievements help mix things up a little bit and change the way you play.

I really enjoyed Hitman: Blood Money. It is a game that takes a lot of time up admittedly, but you feel better for it once you get through the levels. There are lots of things to do in each area with places to hide, lots of availability for sneaking around or simply blowing someone away.

Some very good graphics; Long Levels; Excellent Sound; Improved over the last one

Dodgy AI; Fiddly Inventory

You might think this makes him a little emotionally shallow(er) compared to his previous manners, and I don't want to spoil anything for you, but you'd be dead wrong. Agent 47 is hard shit, and he puts it on display for you before the curtain falls.

"I do not like clowns! They give me the creeps. I am 45 years old – you think I would have outgrown this by now, but I haven't. The odd thing is that when I went into a room full of people, nearly 40% of them agreed that they didn't like them either.

Agent 47's mastery in hunting is the reason he's now a target himself.

Hitman: Blood Money is the most robust and refined Hitman experience to date.

The Hitman games have always been solid to a degree, but most suffered from several annoyances. With each game, it seems like the franchise is working towards fixing these in an effort to provide a great gameplay experience.