Many years ago, I remember seeing a few copies of the Hitman Absolution collector’s edition in stores. Those didn’t end up selling out and were discounted heavily. I was not familiar with the series at that point, I just remember hearing a lot of folks lament the changes that game made to the formula. I didn’t bother playing it. When Hitman (the first game in the new trilogy) hit PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2016, I ended up playing and adoring it. I was a fan, and couldn’t wait to play more from IO Interactive. Fast forward to today, the World of Assassination trilogy is superb, and I’ve bought those games multiple times across all platforms. I even ended up getting the HD collection on Xbox that included Hitman: Blood Money, but not playing it really. When Feral Interactive announced Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal ($14.99), I knew this would be the way I experience this beloved IO Interactive classic. I also didn’t want to play prior versions to see how I feel about the game through Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal directly. In this review, I’m going to cover why the game is special, what makes this one of Feral Interactive’s best games ever, and more.
As I said in my preview, I’ve come into Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal after loving the newer games, and it still holds up very well thanks to the wealth of quality of life features and improvements. What really surprised me is how much freedom is available to the player for approaching the different situations in Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal. This adds a ton of replay value, and while it isn’t as much of a sandbox experience as the complete Hitman World of Assassination package on PC and consoles, it is hard to find fault with the gameplay in Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal and in how polished and modern it feels on newer devices. I almost titled this review “Franchise Killer”, but that would lead some to think the game is bad, rather than knowing it is a reference to the plot of the game. The mission structure perfectly suits portable play as well. In fact, the fast loading and save syncing makes this even better to play on the go. Boot it up for a quick mission or two while on the commute and I can’t imagine anything better.
A lot of my praise for Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal is due to the features from the newer games being seamlessly brought back to Hitman: Blood Money. The instinct mode and minimap are the stars here. If you are a longtime fan of the original game though, you can play without any of the modern conveniences and experience it as it was back on console over a decade ago. Feral Interactive’s mobile conversions are usually fantastic for bringing classics to modern portable platforms, but Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal rivals the developer’s release of Company of Heroes for iPad Pro with how impressive everything is.
Having looked at prior games and what I own on Steam, I then learned how much Hitman: Blood Money brought to the series. It was definitely a huge turning point for the franchise, and it makes me appreciate the superlative missions even more. A lot of them are very memorable, and while Sapienza from the new Hitman games remains my favorite sandbox, Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal is definitely close overall. There just is so much variety and freedom, and yes, the coin is also included to basically break the game if you’re good enough with it.
Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal feels so good with touch controls on iPhone that I almost didn’t feel like playing it with a controller at all. I hope someone at Capcom pays attention to Feral Interactive’s work to see how console games can be adapted for mobile rather than dumping every single controller button on the screen. That tangent aside, Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal plays surprisingly well with touch controls. I ended up sticking to touch controls on my iPhone 15 Pro, and using my DualSense controller on iPad. The iPad touch controls are very good, but I’ve found myself not enjoying touch on iPad unless it is a point and click experience or touch-focused game.
Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal also comes packed with tons of control options. I was hoping to test the keyboard and mouse support on my iPad Pro, but the external keyboard I ordered to use on iPad has not arrived yet. I will make sure to cover it once it does arrive and when I post about potential updates Feral Interactive releases for this game.
Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal is obviously not a huge visual overhaul like say the Demon’s Souls remake on PS5. Think of it more as an enhanced remaster making everything look and feel as crisp and smooth as possible on modern iOS devices. This has led to some lower quality textures or assets than you’d be used to. On the performance side, I’ve had no trouble with the game on iPad Pro (2020) and iPhone 15 Pro. I played in either Performance mode or Performance+ mode. I did test out the 120fps, but didn’t stick with it. I’ll leave that for MrMacRight on YouTube to do in his detailed performance videos which Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal likely will get soon.
Audio design in stealth games is very important, and I am pleased with how Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal sounds across the board. Yes, including the voice acting which I found hilarious because of how different the dialogue is in this compared to modern games in the series. While not directly related to sound and audio, Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal features great haptic feedback on iPhone 15 Pro. I love when games do this in iOS releases.
There isn’t much I dislike about Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal. Those hoping for a full visual remake will be disappointed, but Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal has always been an enhanced remaster with many gameplay improvements in my eyes. The only things I hope to see added in future updates are better texture filtering, improved shadows, and anti-aliasing. Barring those things, Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal excels above all prior versions of the game by a big margin.
Feral Interactive is known for going above and beyond in post-launch and paid DLC in games so this is more of a want than something I expect, but I’d love for the team to bring over Hitman: Contracts with the same care and attention Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal got. This could be either paid DLC for Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal or a standalone release. I’d also love for this version to come to macOS and Steam Deck. The PC version is not in a great place if you want to play on Steam Deck.
Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal is one of the easiest recommendations ever. I finally see why many consider it one of the best games ever, and while it is too soon to say if it is my favorite Hitman game, it is close. If you’re new to the franchise and want a great way to taste the world of Hitman on mobile, there isn’t anything close. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal on mobile and Hitman: World of Assassination on PC and console platforms are both the best entry points into the series, and both masterpieces. If you have a newer iPhone or iPad, don’t even think twice. Just go buy Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal.
