"are you ready for your lessons in how to be a good rpg game?"

Megami Tensei gulped.

Dragon Quest nodded.

Final Fantasy shuddered.

Xeno blinked nervously.

"yes Volcanic Bird: Bird Quest," they say in unison.

Codename 47 is the very first game of the Hitman series that I like a lot but it certainly is a rough entry to it as much as I appreciate it's contributions to the later Hitman games and the gaming as a whole (maybe, with it's ragdoll physics).

The reason I'm calling it a rough entry is entirely due to the execution of it's gameplay mechanics. This game was by far one of the jankiest games I've ever played. The AI is an inconsistent piece of shit. You can do same thing exactly the same way in a level and somehow get through it without any problems while starting to get shot on the other and have no idea why that happened. I was so shocked each time this happened that I was wondering if the AI was sentient or not. Sometimes the AI feels clueless about anything that happens around them and sometimes they have either eyes behind them or they see something bad happening outside the very low rendering distance you have which can lead to very frustrating situations.

The combat doesn't work well due to the fact that for some reason Agent 47 in this game has the aiming capabilities of a stormtrooper even though he is the perfect assassin. The reticle is not at all an indication of where you are going to shoot becuase even if you're only 2 meters away from your target your bullet can completely miss your target which makes it more viable to either spam with your pistol or just use high fire-rate guns and hope your target dies. You could avoid combat like in the later games but I personally dont see it happening with the forementioned AI problems and level design on some of the missions.

Speaking of level design, indoor missions in this game can feel like a maze with how samey rooms and halls look like and outdoor missions are so big and empty that you can easily get lost due to low render distance. I will talk about some of the levels that I want to particularly talk about later.

All of these would still make the game very playable but there is one last problem that amplifies the problems above, there isn't a save system. Lack of a save system means you could progress far in a complex, long or a big level but one bullshit with the weird AI might mean it's all moot, you are restarting the level. I don't know if this actually true but I've heard the playtesters of this game managed to beat the game very quickly with save files so that's why the devs removed it which seems insane to me because I absolutely don't see how you can beat this game quickly without actually knowing what to do since the game doesn't hold your hand at all but at the same time I find it equally baffling how the devs decide to not add save files otherwise.

All of these complaints are the reason I actually dropped this game midway through the first time then finished it after playing all other Hitman games but the non-gameplay stuff is actually nice. In the current gaming climate where there are way too many remakes and remasters which I hate a lot, Codename 47 is the only game that I would like the see a remake of (Contracts levels don't count) due to these non-gameplay stuff actually being very promising. Most coherent plot of the franchise, Ort-Meyer is the best villain this series has to offer (Both points don't actually seem that impressive when you think about it) and I would like to see it more expanded in a potential remake. Missions have good premises which isn't executed this well with the level design but I think IOI can do them justice if they don't make it outright worse like some of the Contracts remakes. Jesper Kyd's music is as good as always. And that's it I think.

Now let's talk about the missions that I feel like there are things worth to talk about:

The Massacre at Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant: 4th overall mission of the game, this was actually the mission I dropped the game first time I played because it's the first mission the very perceptive civilians outright failing the level impacts you. After actually finishing it, I think it's a neat mission. It's on the more creative sides of the missions in Codename 47 and it has the most iconic line of the franchise.

The Lee Hong Assassination: 5th overall mission and the last of the Hong Kong missions, probably the most complex mission of Codename 47 but also one of my two favorite missions in it. You'd think with how long the mission actually is, no save system would take a lot from it due to janky gameplay mechanics but the mission actually flows very well. Everything leads to each other with the information you can get from NPCs. Also I felt like the AI in this mission isn't that problematic.

Find the Uwa Tribe: First Colombian mission, this is the worst mission in the game if you don't consider the gameplay. Racial insensivities aside the level itself is a gigantic empty jungle you can easily get lost and the level itself is mostly just running around it for 15 minutes. Thankfully the game has a compass you can buy so you don't have to check the map every 5 seconds.

Say Hello to My Little Friend: Final Colombian mission where you kill a discount Al Pacino is a big offender of the gameplay jank I talked about before. The first baffling thing about this level is the gigantic walk you have to do get inside the big campsite because for some reason the devs decided it was a good idea to spawn you on the other side of the entrance of it. On top of that this mission is the biggest offender of the inconsistent AI (especially around the lab) so have fun taking the walk of shame when the game feels like it.

Traditions of the Trade: My other favorite mission of the game takes place in a Hungarian hotel. Once again the mission is once again good at giving information via NPCs and also the level itself is the most non-linear mission Codename 47 has to offer which I think is the reason why I feel like you could put this mission as is on any of the future pre-Absolution games and you wouldn't bat an eye.

Plutonium Runs Loose: Now the real worst mission of the game, 11th overall mission and the final mission of Rotterdam. I think most players who played this game will also tell you how awful and frustrating this mission is. Much like Say Hello to My Little Friend, this mission also suffers from the inconsistent AI and the huge walking and waiting times it has. On top of that the level forces you into combat with how it's designed and the non-combat stuff you need to do on the level is much riskier which leads you into much more failures in this huge level in a game with no save system. Seriously, fuck this level.

Meet Your Brother: Final mission of the game is a combat level, which the Hitman series actually really likes to do a lot in their final missions even in the future games. As much as the concept of this one goes I think it's one of the better final missions of the series. The real problem with this level is that the combat mechanics of the game forces you to just wait in a corner and kill your targets one by one which takes a long and mundane time. The two (!!) instant kill mechanics you can be hit by after you do that is downright evil.

As much as how frustrating this game can get I think I'd still recommend it to a Hitman fan that wants to play pre-WoA/Absolution/Blood Money Hitman games and at least try it out. I personally didn't have the patience to finish it the first time around and moved onto 2: Silent Assassin instead which I think is also fine to do.