I picked up the X360 version of the Hitman HD Pack (i.e. just Silent Assassin and Contracts) from the digital marketplace last Christmas, for the exact reason of having all 7 games on one console (unfortunately, I don’t think you can get it on PS4 or PS5). It’s fair to say that, as a collection, it’s pretty bare-bones.
As far as intentional changes go, the HD upscaling is the main attraction. The menus, apart from a bland screen at booting up that just makes you pick from the games, are exactly the same as in the originals, meaning the only way of switching between games is closing and restarting the game. On top of that, all of the cheat codes have been removed (so no Hitman-Ali, floating bodies, God mode fun anymore).
The game plays pretty much the same as the originals, but it is buggier. While it was more obvious to me because I played the original and HD versions back-to-back, there are still some bizarre visual and audio bugs. For instance, some subtitle graphics will completely freak out depending on how you move the camera, I noticed a lot more A-posing from NPCs, especially during takedown animations, and there were even a few moments where weird lighting and flashing textures in some areas becomes very distracting and sometimes a bit painful to look at, but the moments weren’t happening enough to be considered consistent. The game can also crash sometimes when loading save files, but I think it’s more likely to happen with some levels than others.
The pricing is also an interesting factor. I managed to pick up my copies of the PS2 trilogy for £1 each, but second-hand copies of the HD Trilogy on PS3 go for at least £25 on eBay, but it is cheaper on Xbox, because, again, you can get them digitally on the Xbox Marketplace, although even digitally SA and Contracts set me back £15.
In conclusion, personally speaking, the graphical upgrade just isn’t worth the extra bucks, when the game itself is buggier and less stable than the originals, and doesn’t come with the cheat codes, nostalgic game trailers or, in Blood Money’s case, really cool and detailed game manuals. I’d recommend getting a PS2, because they are dirt cheap, and getting the trilogy as one set, either the Trilogy or Triple Pack, depending on the region, or you could even find all three games on their own for potentially cheaper. While it’s convenient for me on my Xbox One to have all the games available digitally on one console (except Codename 47, but hey ho), I still prefer the PS2 versions (even with the PS2 version of Silent Assassin having weird broken detection AI). Of course, the HD Trilogy is the only way to play Sniper Challenge on consoles these days, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth getting a console and an over-priced second-hand copy of the games just for a thirty minute pre-order bonus and slightly inferior versions of those three games.
Of course, this is just my opinion, however, and I’m sure there’s people, especially new-comers who had never played the originals before, that really like this set. In the end, these games are ALMOST exactly the same as the originals, but the changes that are there, intentional or not, are mainly negative rather than positive. Also I have not played the version of Blood Money that came with the trilogy, but since that game launched on Xbox 360 back in 2006, I’m guessing it’s pretty much the same, but obviously the HD Enhanced Collection version is better anyway.