HITMAN 2: SILENT ASSASSIN. Publisher: Eidos. Formats: PS2, X Box, PC. Price: from £29.99.

X BOX and PS2 owners will be forgiven for wondering what happened to the first instalment, but PC owners will rejoice in the appearance of a sequel to Hitman: Codename 47.

This sequel has a good pedigree. It's two-year old predecessor was nominated for a BAFTA award and collected consistently high marks from the PC mags despite a punishing difficulty level and some iffy control issues.

Offering a choice of first or third person viewpoints, Hitman 2 is a stylish and mature action adventure similar to Metal Gear Solid.

Your character is a genetically engineered assassin-for-hire - Codename 47. When the game starts, he is trying to live a normal life (if working as a gardener for a church in Sicily constitutes such a thing) after the events of the first game.

Thankfully this is no Ground Force-esque gardening sim so when the kindly church minister is kidnapped, Codename 47 soon finds himself blackmailed into returning to his old ways.

If he wants to get the churchman back, his old employers will help. Provided, that is, he does a few favours for them first.

And so it begins. Those "little favours" will see Codename 47 dropped into world trouble spots across the globe. His mission: to eliminate key targets, get in and get out without being seen. And anyone who spots him must be eliminated too.

There are 20 missions in all and how you achieve your ultimate objective is pretty much up to you.

The beauty of it is the branching plot which ensures no two missions are ever the same. Do you take out your target by delivering a bunch of flowers via the front door (risking a hail of bullets if you are rumbled) or sneak in the back way with a silenced pistol?

Violence isn't always the answer. If you are a seasoned player it should be possible to play through the earlier missions without taking down anyone other than the main target. Eidos reckon it should be possible to play through without even drawing your weapon just like Metal Gear Solid, although the tough difficulty makes this virtually impossible later on.

You can play each mission over and over; experimenting with different ideas, looking for an ever more ingenious solution. Trying different methods gives Hitman 2 far greater longevity than Metal Gear Solid.

It's all good stuff. Some missions see you infiltrating enemy strongholds. It's hard to resist the urge to run like hell as you saunter coolly through a room packed with armed bad guys.

It's still a tough game but on normal difficulty level you stand more of a chance thanks to 47's ability to repair himself (remember, he is a genetically engineered killer).

Eidos should be congratulated. Hitman 2 isn't a mould-breaker like Tomb Raider but as an adult-orientated slice of 3-D action-adventure it's straight out of the top drawer.

What's more, this sequel couldn't have hit games shop shelves at a better time. What with Vin Diesel's actioner xXx cleaning up at the cinema box office and a new Bond waiting the wings, spies and secret agents are big news again.

If this one isn't a massive hit there's no justice.

Photoshop 7 Trade Secrets By Janee Aronoff, Gavin Cromhout, Dave Cross, Colin Smith

Another book dedicated to showing you the short cuts in Adobe's terrifyingly accomplished (but hard to learn) graphics package; but Trade Secrets spends too long explaining the basics.

The first three chapters (improving your efficiency) may be handy for newbies but users who are familiar with Photoshop will find themselves flicking impatiently further into the text.

Thankfully, things improve when the authors get round to discussing practical application of the software.

There is useful advice to be found on using layers, making selections and retouching poor photos.

The book also draws attention to the new features to be found in version 7 (the healing brush and the improved browser et al) and is a good companion for anyone using Photoshop 7 for the first time.

The final chapters deal with the hardware you'll need for successful graphics work and what to do if your machine doesn't measure up.

Published:25/10/2002