Wasn't sure whether I should post in the Hitman forums or in the general ones. Decided these ones as it might get more replies.

What's your ranking of the Hitman games? Here's mine:

1) HITMAN (2016)
I was between this and Blood Money, which has a better story. In the end I went solely by which one I had more fun with and spent more time on. I don't even know how many hours I spent on the Sapienza and Hokkaido missions. I replayed all of the missions so many times, until I realized I liked this more than Blood Money.

2) Hitman: Blood Money
Great story, but not as replayable as HITMAN (2016), at least for me. Loved some missions, and some others I'm content with having played just once. Overall, I'd say a lot of Blood Money's missions are in my favorite Hitman missions list; more than any other Hitman game.

3) HITMAN 2 (2018)
Took me almost 2 years since release to actually play this. I didn't enjoy it as much as 2016's Hitman game. Can't quite put my finger on why I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first one. I've spent 100hrs on the first one and 50hrs on this one, but by the end I was just doing things mechanically. It's a really good game, and its place in my ranking is "unfair", but it would also be unfair to place it under Silent Assassin or even Contracts.

4) Hitman: Contracts
First Hitman game I actually completed when it came out. Memory is fuzzy, but I remember my impressions being that it had a great atmosphere, and I still remember the Beldingford Manor mission fondly. I remember being kinda bummed out about half of its missions being Hitman: Codename 47 missions.

5) Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Took me over 15 years to actually complete this, but it's got some great missions nevertheless. Major cons include glitches forcing you to restart missions, bugs that bum you out for ruining perfect runs and a story that wanders off only to accidentally bump into what started it all near the end.

6) Hitman: Codename 47
Weakest in the series. Took a 15 year hiatus before completing it. I remember I stopped playing after the last jungle mission when I kept messing up on escaping with the plane. Don't remember the difficulty I was playing it on, but it was much easier the second time around. It's a fun game, but overall it's not as focused as later installments, and I won't be revisiting it anytime soon. Besides, most of the good missions are on Contracts, and although I was bummed out initially about this, I'd rather play the Contracts version than this one.

Hitman: Absolution
OK, so I don't consider this a pure Hitman game, but it's a great game for what it is (same with Splinter Cell: Conviction). I've been reading a lot of comments online that like to hate on it. As a Hitman game, it's pretty weak, but as a B-movie type of action game it's a lot of fun. I wish they'd have some sort of spin-off with this and do more of the same in between "proper" Hitman games.

The Hokkaido mission in HITMAN (2016) is probably my favorite mission overall. It starts off and you're feeling so underpowered, so naturally you have to do a lot of homework. Not a mission to "wing it". Then you slowly discover you have a multitude of things you can do, and it's just so replayable. Clocked many hours on this mission just trying out different stuff all the time. Absolutely love it.

One of my favorite series that has kept its standards high over a long time. I haven't played the new one yet. I'm not counting any mobile spinoff games here.

1. Hitman 2016 Okay technically I have only played the first mission, but based on that I'm putting it here provisionally as long as the rest of the game holds up the same.

2. Hitman: Codename 47 A game that changed how I look at some aspects of games. High risk gameplay (by not allowing saves) that forced me for the first time ever to actually play a game like something is really at stake. Nostalgia has something to do with being this high up no doubt, but so what?

3. Hitman: Blood Money Everything good about the Hitman series and one of the best ending sequences ever put into a video game.

4. Hitman: Absolution Controversial to put it so high up. But I like to accept and look at games for what they are rather than what people want them to be. And Absolution is actually a fine example of the modern cover shooter and really had some great moments and levels. A game that does what it does well is still a good game even if people wanted it to be something else.

5. Hitman: Contracts Solid entry.

6. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Still good, but the lesser of the series.

IO are soon to be joining Microsoft if the rumours are true (and recently almost all these MS rumours have come true), so expect more to come.

Did that awful limited save system ever change, and if so, when?

The DRM on Hitman 2 (2018) has been removed. Once it goes on sale as part of a golden ultimate diamond bundle, I will add it to my library and play the heck out of it.

Of all the Hitman games I've played, my top three would be:

1) Hitman: Codename 47
2) Hitman: Codename 47
3) Hitman: Codename 47

I've only played the one.

No one else played Hitman 2 2018? I honestly thought I'd be one of the only ones. In any case:

1) Hitman: Blood Money.
Best level design of all the Hitman games I played. My only complaint is that most of them are effectively linear if you're going for Silent Assassin with no penalties. I also really enjoyed the combination of collecting standard guns plus purchasing custom gear. Makes for an excellent upgrade system that to an extent lets you choose not only which upgrades you acquire but also how you acquire them.

2) Hitman: Contracts.
A remake of Hitman: Codename 47 that vastly improves it in every conceivable way. Excellent levels, both in terms of quality and quantity (though admittedly, the Lee Hong saga kind of outstays its welcome). The clunkiness of 2 has been greatly improved. Best of all, it got the difficulty just right, in my book. Not to mention, the finale can actually be played like a proper Hitman game.

3) Hitman 2016.
Falls short of Blood Money and Contracts in my view, due to the excessive hand holding and emphasis on playing the same maps over and over again. The levels themselves are quite good (Colorado excepted), but unfortunately stretched and padded so much that they really outstay their welcome.

4) Hitman 2.
Very hit and miss for me. A lot of the levels are decent, but the bad ones are absolute rancid turds. I enjoyed it a lot back in the day, but between that and the previously mentioned clunky mechanics, the years have certainly not been kind to it.

5) Hitman: Absolution.
A shitty attempt to turn Hitman into yet another one of those cover based shooters that were all the rage at the time (I believe the official term for them is spunkgargleweewee). Between the constant corridor sections and the occasional tiny imitation of a proper Hitman level, I barely made it a third of the way through the game before throwing in the towel.

Why aren't the rest of the Hitman games here, hmmmmmmmmmMMMMMM?!! Could it be because IO LOVES DRM which is why the games are DRM-free on Steam?!!!!!!

Out of all the Hitmans I've played:

1. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
2. Hitman 3: Contracts
3. Hitman: Codename 47

Would have almost put 3 below 1 because of the rehashing of old missions which is pretty lame. Isn't that the mission where the stupid developers thought Japan uses Fahrenheit instead of Celsius?

Only played up to Blood Money, and thought it was the most excellent. Love the sheer variety of different ways in which you can complete each mission.
Those jungle levels in the first or second game were the only low point of the series for me.

I don't remember the game being much of a "shooter". In fact, I seem to remember doing stealth for each mission perfectly. It was fun. But saying that, I would bet I have a more open mind for these things. So what? Can GOG have a single discussion without the preaching? It would be nice.

I've only played thru the first two games in the series..

It's a tough call. Silent Assassin feels a little smoother and more polished, but then again most of my attempts at playing through the game ended with me getting bored in the snowy japan mission. On the other hand, yeh, Codename 47 has the jungle. I don't know.

It also bothers me that Silent Assassing rewards you for being Silent Assassin by handing you fun loud guns perfect for a massacre...

I've yet to play the series, even though I've owned Hitman 1-4 as retail CD versions for a very very long time, and also 1-3 on GOG. I seem to have Absolution on Steam as well, not sure when I bought it.

Some years ago I think I played a bit of the first game's tutorial, and I've run Contracts and seen the intro, and hearing the great intro (menu) music.

Oh well, I guess I will play them at some point. Maybe.

EDIT: Well, I can rate some of them for their theme music, so;

1. Hitman 3
2. Hitman 1
3. Hitman 2

Yes, Contracts has the best theme music of those three. No question about it. Hitman 1 theme music is kinda ok but a bit too simple and repetitive to my taste.

Blood Money and Absolution finally here. Instabuy.

Thinking a giveaway is in order.