Eidos Announce Hitman: Blood Money News

Despite the fact that the next instalment in the Hitman franchise had been well documented, Eidos today lifted the veil on the title, currently in development at IO Interactive for a release in Spring 2005 on the Playstation2, Xbox and PC.

This time around the developers have returned to previous titles in the series instead of focussing solely on a plot too clever for its own good. Hitman: Blood Money depicts a story of how assassins from Agent 47â??s contract agency, the ICA, are being systematically eliminated, suggesting an all-together more powerful agency has entered the fray. Unable to contact the ICA and sensing he may be the next target, Agent 47 sets off for America, where he hopes to make a killing.

In a return to its roots, Agent 47 now receives cold, hard cash when he successfully carries out a hit; how he spends this money will affect his progress through the game and the weapons available to the player, in what is promising to be more of an open-ended structure in comparison to previous titles.

IO Interactive claim that the game is built upon a new version of its stunning â??Glacierâ? engine, although specific details on exactly what enhancements are in store remains unknown at this stage.

Mike McGarvey, CEO of Eidos says: â??The Hitman series is one of Eidosâ?? biggest franchises and goes from strength to strength with every new instalment. IO-Interactive is one of the worldâ??s most accomplished developers, and yet again has raised the stakes in terms of graphics and gameplay with Hitman: Blood Money.â?

Janos Flösser, managing director of IO-Interactive added: â??Considerable time and effort has been spent developing a new version of the Glacier engine that enables us to implement many new and exciting features. The quality of the graphics and A.I. surpasses even our own expectations and this combined with a gripping narrative and the introduction of some really inventive characters makes us confident that Blood Money will be the greatest Hitman title to date.â?

Weâ??ll have closer look at the title soon.