Immersing you slowly into a story that moves between Russia, India, Japan and other locations, you have to use your wits as you sneak through deadly exercises.

Continuing on from the original game, Eidos has done a lot to improve the games control mechanism as well as some of the features that where criticised in the first instalment. Unlike the original, a save option has now been included, though the number of saves you get (and the number of bad guys and the degree of their intelligence) will be determined by the difficulty level you choose.

While the graphics have been noticeably improved since the first game--the snow is very impressive in St Petersberg--neither the sound nor the gameplay have been forgotten: there is now a 60-piece orchestra and 50-member choir soundtrack; and now you don't necessarily have to complete the missions in a specific order.

Eidos has managed to do a rare thing with Hitman 2. It has taken a game that was by all accounts mediocre, listened to the criticism and tried its best to address the problems with an effective response--and produced a high-quality game which, although still difficult, should give you plenty of late nights and annoying puzzles to solve. --Jason Denwood