Hitman - Agent 47, Silent Assassin and Sniper Challenge

I've changed the rules after my painful Painkiller experience.  Now games where I bought the "full pack" only require a cursory examination provided I play the main game to completion.  With that, I went through and played a few hours of each of the other still pending Hitman games.

I love the Hitman series.  It's a game designed to be played over and over again in attempts to do things in that perfect "Groundhog Day" style.  Invariably first attempts end up being a shootout through guards as you learn other ways to interact with your surroundings and learn the patterns in the environment.


Hitman: Codename 47 is the origin story, in which Agent 47 learns about his origin - he is a clone created by the DNA combination of his first four targets.  This stayed unplayed in my "active" list for a long time, as much as I love the series, I couldn't get past the clunkiness of the interface.  

I next tried Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, whose plot revolves around the kidnapping of your friend and employer, Father Vittorio.  Agent 47 agrees to do a few missions for the Agency to enlist their assistance in tracking his friend.  The interface and controls were much better in this installment, but the story was pretty thin.  Both of these games felt like they belonged on a PS2 with their lack of shadows and angular geometry.
 

I was first under the assumption that this was just another in the line, but Hitman: Sniper Challenge was created in 2012 as a teaser single mission companion to Hitman: Absolution.  You do nothing but snipe from a locked position, but the scene is filled with other targets and potential for eliminating your targets in a variety of ways. It created an interesting game of "pick-up sticks" where you had to find the untended bodyguard leaning over a balcony or wait until he walks under a scaffold filled with wine casks to eliminate him.  Additionally the scene is filled with flair bits while you're scanning around that increase your score multipliers - like destroying all the evidence a stripper left behind, or garden gnomes.  Fun game - and with a fast reload that encourages you to try and complete all the challenges.