(Eidos; Xbox, PS2) Games do their part in teaching the ABCs of life: driving, solving puzzles, and so forth. This game, on the other hand, demonstrates how to strangle someone with a piano wire without leaving a shred of evidence. Your dad’s pre-plasma Pong!, it is not. Contracts isthe third riff in the Hitman series, giving players a bountiful amount of freedom to kill any which way they can. You’re Agent 47 — a suit-wearing, irony-spewing death dealer — and missions are what you make of them. From meat hooks to mini guns, no weapon is spared in the hunt for pricetag-pegged civilians. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix for Xbox (Dolby Pro Logic II for PS2) makes the stealthy proceedings much more nerve-racking than average actioners in the same genre. Here, your prey’s every step, giggle, and breath must be monitored to ensure maximum, deadly impact. Just call it assassin boot camp.

—Jon M. Gibson