Hitman: Contracts/Gameplay

Hitman: Contracts can be played a variety of ways. In this guide, there are two play-styles: stealthy and aggressive. There are a few notes about these two styles from which all other strategies are built upon.

Stealth

 * Running draws more attention than walking. So walk when close to people, but when further away, you can run.


 * Lock pick only when nobody is looking at you. Otherwise your cover will be blown.


 * When you complete a mission with a silent assassin rating, you unlock a new weapon.

Aggressive

 * Combat should be avoided. More so on higher difficulties and on certain missions.


 * Aim for the head.


 * Stay out of sight when trying to shoot.


 * Use silenced weapons as they draw less attention.

Notable Missions
Certain missions have traits that are worth noting. These missions and their peculiarities are discussed below.

Asylum Aftermath
This is the first mission in the game, and there are no targets to kill. Your only objective is to escape, which is an easy task on all difficulties.

The Bjarkhov Bomb
In this mission, you have to enter a radiated ship in order to collect bombs and place them around the ship. The radiation will slowly drain your health, therefore you need a suit protecting you from the radiation in order to get in the ship.

Beldingford Manor
There are two types of guards here: indoor and outdoor guards. The outdoor guards carry shotguns which are devastating at close range. Avoid combat with the outdoor guards. The indoor guards carry pistols which are nothing to worry about.

There is a sniper in one of the stables. He won't blow your cover when he sees you outside, but he deals a huge amount of damage when shooting.

Guards are good at detecting intruders, stay far away from all guards when disguised.

Dogs will be released if the manor is on alert.

The good news about this mission is that it takes place at night, when visibility is poor, so you can get a little closer to guards than usual.

Deadly Cargo
This mission is timed, though the timer is hidden. Eventually, police will assault the ship where your target is. When this happens the target will threaten to activate the nuke. Alerting the target when he does this will cause him to activate the nuke, failing the mission. Eventually, the police will give him a helicopter as part of his demand.

Because of the above information, you must act quickly.

Traditions of the Trade
There is only one way to enter the hotel, and that involves going through the metal detectors. This means you will enter the hotel with no guns, as they will be confiscated at the entrance.

Slaying a Dragon
This is the easiest and quickest mission in the game. The target can be sniped close to your starting position.

The Wang Fou incident
The blue lotus disguise is useless, as people see through this disguise instantly.

The Seafood Massacre
You cannot trigger alerts right away. Doing this will alert the targets and they will all flee. You can trigger alerts after all targets are dead.

Hunter and Hunted
The police will shoot you on sight. You must don a disguise in order to escape without triggering an alert.