by: The Button Man | January 31, 2003
[Jump to: Murder At The Bazaar | Motorcade Interception | Tunnel Rat]
This is a level which sits precariously on the fence between brilliantly
tense and stupidly hard. Personally, I'm of the feeling that it's lost its
balance a touch, and is about to fall into the endless pit of needless
trickiness; but each to their own! It's also one of the few levels in the
game where you'll be extremely happy with the addition of game saving to
Hitman 2; the slightest mistake can often leave you requiring a massive
back-track.
It's very fortunate that the man who has hidden the cargo is coming home
today. Well, not for him, but it gives 47 the opportunity to assassinate
Kahn Abdul Bismillah Malik, before he sells the cargo to the United Nations.
He is returning to his palace, accompanied by a UN team who wish to inspect
the cargo in the coming afternoon. He will be accompanied by a UN guard
(armed to the teeth, riding in jeeps, and wearing the famous blue helmets),
and a UN civilian, who will be accompanying the Khan in his limousine.
Just to make things a little tougher, you can't kill any UN personnel.
Finally, be very wary of the local civilians. They appear to be on some
kind of steroid, and charge around the city far faster than their military
counterparts. They also seem to have heightened senses, and can see you far
further off than the soldiers can.
Load-Out
As usual, you're stuck with what ever you've brought into the level, but
there are plenty of weapons available here, including the sniper rifle you
require for the mission. UN soldiers carry the coveted M4 assualt rifle and
hefty M60, but unfortunately killing these guys (ballistically, ahem)
automatically fails the mission. Although, they sometimes have a nasty
habit of killing their own guys should a firefight break out. Play
the role of scavenger!
Walkthrough
This is an extremely well designed level, being both close and claustrophobic
whilst rarely leaving you safe from behind. It's also a real looker, and
it's a great shame that you'll hardly be spending any time here. This is
because you can't directly control when the hit is available to you - this
is left to the game, and although it can be triggered, it will come by
whether you want it or not. In addition, other events are triggered by
the game, and this can lead to unpredictable patrol patterns from the NPC's,
so you really do need to be on your toes.
Firstly, you need to get hold of a disguise. This isn't absolutely necessary,
because as in the last level, you are entirely safe to run around in your
civilian clothing. However, once you pick up that sniper rifle, you'll need
every advantage you can get to reach a sniper point, so the additional
cover of being a soldier would be wise. From your starting position, run
directly to the far north east of the level, and wait by the building there.
You're in for a bit of a wait, so keep your eyes on the map. A single
guard will come into this north eastern area from the center north of the
map, and will walk slowly eastwards between these top buildings.
When he rounds the final corner and heads towards the road, equip your
silenced pistol, and put a bullet in his head. Quickly drag his body behind
the building, and change clothes. His body will remain undiscovered here.
You may also be informed that the motorcade has entered the region. This
begins the countdown for the motorcade's arrival in the city, though you still
have time left. Make your way as quickly as you can to the weapons pick up
point, and receive your huge sniper rifle.
[Save Game]
Hopefully, around this point, the call for prayers will go up, and around
10 seconds later, the guards who wish to pray will leave their patrol paths
and head towards the Mosque in the south of this city area. You now need to
get yourself to a suitable sniper point before you are informed that the
Motorcade is approaching the city. There are a few choices of
location, but the easiest to escape from after you have made your shot is
the Mosque. However, it is also the hardest to get to, but this still
outweighs the problem of being shot to pieces by a bunch of UN and Kahn troops.
Holster the sniper rifle (this seems to make it less likely to attract guards
from a distance), and head south from the pickup point. One of the two guards
by the western gate may start heading towards you, but if you keep moving
east along the main road, he will stop following. Take the first road south,
and, keeping an eye out for remaining guards and civilians, make your way
south, passing the western wall of the mosque.
This can be an absolute
pain, depending on the initial positions of the guards when they headed
for prayers, and where the civilians are on their patrol routes. Keep
looking at the map, and stay out of site of civilians at all costs. Leave
a reasonable distance between you and guards, and if they appear to show
some interest, just try your luck and walk away from them. If something
goes wrong, just reload and start your dash south again.
[Save Game]
As soon as you pass the open area of the mosque, you will see a ladder up to
the roof of the mosque (marked on the map). Climb this, crouching the
second you hit the top. Move immediately south, standing only when you
feel you are out of site from the guards praying in the courtyard. Head to
the southern side of the dome, and take aim facing east. The motorcade's
arrival will have been triggered. You may wish to make an additional save
at this point, but it's not really required.
There are two rocky outcrops in the desert ahead. Put a bullet through the
engine block of the first UN jeep when it reaches the northern most rock
(furthest to the left), and then take aim at the limo. The driver will
jump out and run away, leaving you with a good view of the back seats. You
need to shoot the passenger furthest away from you. Do this quickly,
and then run off the mosque roof to your right, heading down to ground level,
and running to the exit on the eastern wall. Phew! When we asked for more
sniping levels - I'm not sure we had this in mind...
Recommended Saves: 2
Rating: Professional
Time: 5:47
Items Available For Collection
- AK-47 [On Guards]
- M4 Assault Rifle [On UN Soldiers]
- M60 Machine Gun [On UN Soldiers]
- M195 Sniper Rifle [In Weapons Stash]
Points Of Interest
There's always more than one place to fire a gun from. But be warned, some of them might be useless.