The last five years have been good if you’re a Hitman fan. Sure, we also got the laughably ridiculous film Htiman: Agent 47 and then there’s the general miasma of living under the Trump administration, but we have been spoiled with the release of the Htiman: World of Assassination trilogy, which took the promise of older titles like Hitman: Blood Money and realized it on a much greater scale. Hitman 3 completes the story that began in 2016’s Hitman, featuring six new maps as well as all the content of the previous two games.
Hitman 3 starts off strong, with 47 parachuting onto the world’s tallest skyscraper in Dubai. The mission that follows feels like the perfect mix of Mission Impossible and Hitman. The second mission takes 47 to Thornbridge Manor, a sizable country estate in Dartmoor, UK that feels like a nod to Hitman: Contracts’ Beldingford Manor mission. The third mission, Apex Predator, takes place in Berlin in a crowded nightclub where 47 is both the hunter and the hunted, and the fourth mission takes place in Chongqing, China, an almost cyberpunk city that houses plenty of secrets. What follows is perhaps the most creative map in the game, taking place in Mendoza, Argentina that also feels like the next step to Hitman: Blood Money’s A Vintage Year. And lastly, the final mission takes you to a more linear location that harkens back to Hitman: Absolution and wraps up the narrative in a satisfying fashion.
While Hitman 3 looks largely similar to the previous two games, it also sports several noticeable graphics upgrades, such as a better lighting system and the prospect of ray tracing to be included post-launch. The gameplay mechanics are largely the same, except for the addition of a camera that can be used to scan documents and other objects as well as unlock doors and vents. You still have dozens of different ways to kill your targets, and if you feel overwhelmed, you can follow the mission stories which guide through some of the possible gameplay paths. These can lead to delightful experiences: in the second mission, for instance, you can pose as a famous investigator and take on a murder case that’s highly reminiscent of Knives Out. If you prefer a more freeform experience, however, then you will probably like the Apex Predator mission, where you have to explore the map to discover your targets.
These missions are also more noticeably narrative-driven than those in the first two games.
In the fifth mission, for instance, if you follow a certain mission story, the stakes can get reversed, where you will be forced to save a person for once instead of killing them. The final mission also gives you a choice at the end that feels suitably poetic.
Of course, Hitman games have always embraced their black comedy nature. 47 has a lot of fun making double-entendre statements whenever he has to interact with others in a disguise. And speaking of disguises, it’s still absurd how people fail to notice that the person they were talking to minutes ago now looks different, sometimes to the point of being a different ethnicity altogether.
The storyline, which felt like almost an afterthought in Hitman (2016), is more front and center in this game. While it’s not terribly exciting, at least it isn’t as bombastic as the story in Hitman: Absolution.
It provides a decent framework for the missions to take place around. At times, it does feel as if it is divorced from the events of the games that took place before The World of Assassination trilogy. At least, this story is streamlined and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Most of the missions in Hitman 3 take around 45 minutes to an hour to complete, but there’s plenty of replayability here to keep you coming back for more. If you’re playing the trilogy for the first time, then you have around 20 hours of gameplay to go through, and many more if you want to get all the challenges and strive for the Silent Assassin score. This might be the last time we get a Hitman game for a while, so be sure to get the most out of Hitman 3.
