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This article is about the pistol. For its upgrades in Blood Money, see AMT 1911 'Hardballer'/Upgrades. |
The AMT 1911 'Hardballer' (nicknamed by Agent 47 the "Silverballer,"[citation needed] and known in World of Assassination as the "ICA19 Silverballer") is Agent 47's signature pistol.[1]
Description[]
The AMT Hardballer is a stainless steel clone of the Colt M1911A1 made by Arcadia Machine & Tool. In Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts, and HITMAN™, it has a seven-round magazine. It fires .45ACP rounds.
From Codename 47 to Hitman: Absolution, the AMT Hardballer is available in dual, suppressed dual and single suppressed variants. In Codename 47, the "AMT 1911 'Hardballer'" could be dual-wielded by picking up another Hardballer (or another handgun) with one already in your hand.
In Hitman: Blood Money, the Hardballer starts off as a single un-suppressed pistol, though, the dual and/or suppressed upgrades, optics and different ammo types can be bought as you progress.
In Absolution, the gun is by default suppressed, with no optical attachments and can be dual wielded from the start. The silencer can be removed, by pressing the "T" key or holding down the D-pad on console.
In World of Assassination, the AMT Hardballer is named "ICA19 Silverballer", and is only available after achieving level 10 Mastery on The Showstopper. It is a carbon-copy of the ICA19 and its Chrome variant, the only difference is that you can use hair trigger with it, and it has a different texture.
Appearances[]
Hitman: Codename 47[]
Agent 47 first encounters the Hardballer in Ort-Meyer's Asylum during his Training and subsequent escape. It can be bought at the beginning of each mission for $550, with ammo costing $5 per seven-round magazine. In Codename 47, the AMT Hardballer has yet to be adopted as Agent 47's personal firearm. It is interesting to note that the AMT Hardballer and Beretta 92' share the same ammunition, even though the Beretta uses the much smaller 9x19 ammunition.
The AMT Hardballer can be found in these missions:
- Training - In the shooting range and on an orderly.
- The Lee Hong Assassination - On Tzun and the unique short obese guard outside the brothel.
- Find the U'Wa Tribe - In some weapon caches.
- Plutonium Runs Loose - In weapons cache.
- Meet Your Brother - On an orderly sitting behind a desk at the start.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin[]
The AMT Hardballer in Silent Assassin became Agent 47's signature pistol set. Now referred to as the "Ballers", they are available as both dual standard and suppressed. The standard "Ballers" are available from the start; the suppressed version requires Agent 47 to complete any mission with the Silent Assassin rating first.
The "Ballers" are automatically dual-wielded, and each time Agent 47 fires them, it counts as two shots, which greatly reduces the chance of achieving the Silent Assassin rating. Also, due to the game's ragdoll physics, enemies shot tend to go flying. Finally, they have a long draw and reload time. They use their own unique .45 ACP ammo. They can be used on every mission.
Hitman 2: Christmas Game[]
In the Christmas Game, the "Ballers" are Agent 47's only weapons used to defeat the elves. They're forced to be dual-wielded and have infinite ammo in their magazines. In appearance, they are identical to how they look in Silent Assassin.
Hitman: Contracts[]
Now sporting wooden and rubber Pachmayr® grips, Agent 47 will start out each mission with dual, nicknamed, "Silverballers". If the player is on normal difficulty, a single suppressed Silverballer as well. Oddly enough, a suppressed "Silverballer" can also be found on Andrei Puscus in the mission The Meat King's Party. Dual suppressed Silverballers can only be obtained by completing The Bjarkhov Bomb with a Silent Assassin rating.
Hitman: Blood Money[]
Available from the start of A Vintage Year, it is one of Agent 47's most versatile weapons. It can be fitted with several attachments and upgrades as the game progresses, such as suppressors, scopes, a long slide, different ammo, an increased rate of fire (To the point that they become full auto), extended magazines, and can also be dual-wielded. It uses .45ACP rounds, and the standard magazine holds 9 rounds. The "Silverballer(s)" look identical to how they do in Contracts.
Hitman: Absolution[]
Dual Silverballers are part of Agent 47's starting gear in most missions, except for a short period of time without them starting after The King of Chinatown when Agent 47 trades them for some information from Birdie. They are recovered in the mission Birdie's Gift. The Silverballers play a minor role in Hitman: Absolution's story, and at one point Agent 47 is tasked to retrieve his signature weapon. Unlike Blood Money's Silverballer, it now uses an 8 round magazine, making the ammo capacity slightly lower, however, each gun is now fired alternately as opposed to previous games where they were fired simultaneously, allowing for better ammo efficiency. The suppressor does not need to be purchased, as Agent 47 has already attached them. Unfortunately, the Silverballers cannot be customized in single-player as in previous games. But with the suppressor, it's good to deal with most situations in-game.
The Silverballers in Absolution will be always suppressed unless you decide to take the suppressors off. Taking them off will increase their accuracy and the range at which they deal their maximum damage, but generates significantly more noise. Un-suppressed Silverballers should be used only in combat situations, which should, in turn, be avoided.
World of Assassination[]
Making an appearance in the World of Assassination Trilogy, Agent 47 does not begin with his signature Silverballer, but has a black and chrome variant, the "ICA19" instead. It has a 7 round magazine and mostly similar traits with the original Silverballer. If the player has pre-ordered HITMAN™, they will also have access to the "ICA19 Chrome", a silver variant of the ICA19, which can now be obtained as DLC.
Agent 47's original Silverballer is obtainable after completing several challenges and increasing the mastery level for The Showstopper to level ten. It is very similar to the ICA19, and in turn, the ICA19-Chrome, but also has the option to increase in accuracy when using the "hair trigger" feature introduced in Absolution. Dual wield is unavailable in the WoA Trilogy, and the suppressor can no longer be freely detached throughout the mission unlike in Absolution. In HITMAN™ 2, it unlocks when the Mission Stories - Paris Challenge is completed.
Gallery[]
Hitman: Codename 47[]
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin[]
Hitman: Contracts[]
Hitman: Blood Money[]
Hitman: Absolution[]
Trivia[]
- Silent Assassin's Silverballers still have "Hardballer" etched on the sides, although the AMT logo has been replaced with a similar one reading IOI (Io-Interactive, the developer of the Hitman series). In some concept art however, they say "HARDBALLER" and have the AMT logo on their sides.
- The only games in which the Hardballer's real name is used are Codename 47 and Absolution.
- The AMT Hardballer makes an appearance in Tomb Raider 2013. Used by Square Enix to promote Hitman: Absolution.
- .45 ACP is an inherently subsonic round and as such makes for a stealthy, but still powerful cartridge.
- A single Silverballer appears in Sleeping Dogs, automatically equipped by Wei Shen when he wears the Agent 47 DLC outfit.
- The atomic number of the element silver is, ironically, 47.
- The AMT Hardballer being a weapon of choice of Agent 47 is possibly inspired by movie The Terminator (1984) where it was one of the main weapons of the T-800.
- There is a single, silenced Silverballer in Hitman: Contracts, but it only appears as a default loadout weapon on Normal difficulty, and in the possession of Andrei Puscus on all difficulties. The only other way to acquire it is through cheats or console commands.
References
- ↑ Silverballers Evolution in All Hitman Games, Irrational Gamer, 13 January 2023.