- "Birdie. He took my Silverballers as payment for his services. Now, he is giving them back. For some reason, he is reaching out. Can I trust him? Or has his allegiance shifted towards more lucrative business partners? No matter. Before I go after Lenny, I will reclaim my weapons. I have been adrift for too long."
- ―Mission description.[src]
Birdie's Gift is the eighth mission in Hitman: Absolution. It consists of a single segment, Gun Shop.
Mission Information[]
The mission takes place at a gun shop where the sole goal of Agent 47 is to recover his signature Silverballers. The owner tells him that they are not for sale, but offers them to him as a reward for beating a woman named Lilly Dukes at target shooting. 47 must score more than 471 points in 120 seconds if he wants his Silverballers back. Use Point Shooting and a weapon with a large magazine to help you. In higher difficulties, the time for point shooting is very limited, so use it wisely. The alternative is to steal the key to the case and take the Silverballers straight from the case. Inside, he also finds a note from Birdie.
The level is an excellent place for players to practice shooting. There are numerous firearms lying around, which can be picked up, carried around and fired at targets (in the firing ranges) without anyone becoming alarmed. There are two firing ranges: a large exterior one where human-shaped targets pop up and down, and a smaller interior one where the targets look like ducks. At the large firing range, there is an empty stall with an infinite pile of ammo. In Contracts Mode, the level can also be used to test custom firearms. Caution is advised when handling firearms in this level, if 47 starts a shootout, it will have a pretty bloody outcome - all NPCs except for one are packing firearms of their own.
Objectives[]
- Get the Silverballers
- Leave the gunshop
Enemies[]
- Hope Sheriff's Department
- Police Officers
- Store shooters
Items[]
Firearms[]
- HX AP-15 - In the gun store.
- HX UMP - In the gun store.
- Jagd P22G - In the gun store.
- Kazo TRG - In a box around the corner from the dugout at the back of the main shooting range, can be accessed by going behind the counter up the stairs and then down from the balcony and past the artillery gun.
- M590 12ga - Lynch carries this.
- Mustang Snub - The store owner carries this. It can also be found on a counter near the entrance.
- Pink Aries Charging Ram - In the lower room behind the counter and carried by Lilly.
- SA .44 Auto - 47 starts with this weapon.
- Swiss 3000 - In the gun store.
- Ultramax - In the bunker on the side of the range.
- Worn Z&M Model 60 - Carried by police officer.
- Z&M Model 60 - Carried by police officer.
Melee Weapons[]
- Baseball Bat - Behind the counter.
- Metal Pipe - Can be found on several locations.
- Gasoline Can - In the bunker in the shooting field.
- Radio - On a desk in the room behind the counter.
Cut from game[]
Cannon - on the ledge
Tank - On the side
Double barreled Shotgun - Glass case
Other[]
- Key - In the safe in the office past the shooting range, the safe requires code (notebook) to open.
- Keycard - Behind the counter, required to open the bunker past the shooting range.
- Notebook - In the bunker, code for the safe. Can also be found on Mr McGarmond (The owner, who is in the initial cutscene with 47)
- Evidence - In the bunker.
Disguises[]
Challenges[]
| Icon | Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Chameleon | Pick up the disguises. | |
|
Evidence Collector | Find the evidence. | |
|
Infiltrator | Avoid getting spotted. | |
|
Suit Only | Avoid using disguises. | |
|
Depends on the Girl | It's not about winning. It's about taking part. (Lose the shooting contest.) | |
|
Bullseye | Who are we kidding? Of course it's about winning. (Win the shooting contest.) | |
|
Assassin's Signature | Not bad. Not bad at all. (Obtain the Silverballers, and then use them to win the shooting contest - Score min of 650) | |
|
Ultramax | You just can't resist showing off. (Use the Ultramax, and use it to win the shooting contest.) | |
|
It Wouldn't Be Stealing | No receipt, but plenty of subtlety. (Obtain the Silverballers without participating in the shooting contest.) | |
|
Shiver Me Timbers | Face it. You're a loose cannon. (Fire the cannon in the outdoor gun range by shooting its wick.) | |
|
Duck Hunting | They never let out a single quack. (Destroy 10 ducks in the indoor shooting range.) | |
|
Choosing Weapons | Complete "Birdie's Gift". | |
|
Up Your Arsenal - Part 1 | Stick to your guns. All of them. (Win the shooting contest by using a pistol or revolver, other than the SA .44 Auto or Silverballers. These include JAGD P22G, Z&M Model 60, Swiss 3000, Mustang Snub, and Pink Aries Charging Ram.) | |
|
Up Your Arsenal - Part 2 | Stick to your guns. All of them. (Win the shooting contest by using the Ultramax.) | 
|
|
Up Your Arsenal - Part 3 | Stick to your guns. All of them. (Use the Kazo TRG to win the shooting contest.) |
|
|
Mastery: Birdie's Gift | Reunited in every way. (Complete all the challenges for this mission) |
Trivia[]
- Lynch from the Kane & Lynch series makes a cameo appearance in this mission. His partner Kane is seen in the previous mission, entitled Welcome to Hope, where he explains that his associate (Lynch) is in town buying "business equipment." In this level, Lynch is shooting at decorative gnomes instead of firing targets while cursing them and getting angry. A guard then comes to warn him to stop, then he continues. After this cutscene plays, and the guard goes back to his post, shoot a gnome, to get him into trouble again. If you repeat this one more time, Lynch will be told to go inside and calm down, and you can take the shotgun, which he leaves behind, to win the shooting contest. The shotgun is, by far, the easiest weapon for the contest, because you can hit the target in three places with one shot (the ideal place to aim is between the head and chest area, and if you are lucky, you may get 20, 10, and 7 points all at once!).
- The woman named Irene Durber found on this level uses the same model as Jenny Angulo from Terminus.
- The Gun Shop is called McGarmond's Guns & Firearms yet in Contracts mode the owner's surname is S. Dukes. This is the same for Lilly even though her name is McGarmond on the scoreboard.
- The gun shop sells a brand of accessories called "Lady Croft" most notably seen on the mat Lily is standing on, and a large duffel bag on a couch in the duck shooting range. This is likely a reference to Lara Croft, as Hitman: Absolution and the Tomb Raider series were both (at the time) owned by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos.
- Lara, like 47, is frequently associated with dual wielding pistols.
- Interestingly, if 47 completes the "It won't be Stealing" challenge without raising attention, nobody in the gunstore will notice 47 taking away his Silverballers.
- Lenny Dexter's name can be seen on the scoreboard.
- This is the only mission that the SA .44 Auto is 47's starting weapon and it is the second mission where the weapon appears overall.
- This is the only mission where 47 is allowed to carry weapons visibly wherever he likes since most missions usually have a visibly armed sign whenever 47 wields a weapon when using the Suit. However, due to the "heavy armed" nature of this mission, if a gunfight starts, the mission can turn into a bloodbath very easily.
- The shop owner can be seen in Hitman: Sniper Challenge.
- So far in Hitman: Absolution, this level has the lowest highest possible rating.
- Even though most areas are marked off as restricted, no disguise in the level can be used to remove this restriction.
- It is impossible to steal the guns if any NPCs are on any level of alert.
- If you are caught trespassing behind the counter and you take the keycard, your window to leave the restricted area instantly expires.
- At one point in development the Cannon and Tank were usable but were cut due to unknown reasons.
- In the small bunker there is a old portrait of Daisy holding her revolver.
- The double barreled shotgun was going to be a usable weapon but was cut due to unknown reason.
- M. Whitefield, who only managed to score a measly 35 points at the shooting range, apparently tried to duel wield Aries Charging Rams despite the severe recoil and failed miserably, earning his last place spot.
- In the Gun Shop counter, Robert S. Dukes, the owner of Gun Shop talking about the history of Silverballer, which is a figment of his own imagination. the owner say "Can't take your eyes off them, can you? Me neither. They are beautiful... hand crafted... by inmates in an insane asylum. Just kidding. But they are very special. Did some research. Believe me. For a fine set like that, it wasn't easy. Death of high ranking officials, gangsters, upstanding citizens have all fallen foul of these beauts. Once in the hands of a lone assassin, they were obtained from a pirate ship off the shores of the Ivory Coast... I see you don't believe me. I'm telling the truth. They were smuggled into the country by Sudan mafia wanting to trade it for drugs and whores... So how did I get them? The man who purchased them owed me a favor... saved his life in Vietnam. Oh, you still don't believe me..."
- It is impossible to unlock the assassin technique for this level on easy because the score required is unattainable and even on higher difficulties, the player will need to have nearly obtained mastery to have a large enough score multiplier to reach it, unlike other levels.
Gallery[]
| Missions in Hitman: Absolution | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | A Personal Contract | |
| Chicago | The King of Chinatown - Terminus - Run For Your Life - Hunter and Hunted - Rosewood | |
| Hope, South Dakota | Welcome to Hope - Birdie's Gift - Shaving Lenny - End of the Road - Dexter Industries - Death Factory - Fight Night - Attack of the Saints - Skurky's Law - Operation Sledgehammer | |
| Chicago | One of a Kind - Blackwater Park - Countdown | |
| Epilogue | Absolution | |