Several years ago, I made a concerted effort go through all of the Hitman games that had been sitting unplayed on my my Steam account. I had never touched any of them before that point in time, so I had no real affinity for the series. I just knew they were popular stealth games with an enthusiastic fanbase. The first three games were undoubtedly impressive for the time in which they were released, but their aged mechanics and format definitely kept me from really enjoying them. I’m sure if they were games I had played when I was younger, I’d be more willing to overlook their flaws as I do with other older games I love, like the original Deus Ex or Tenchu, for example. By the time I got to Hitman: Blood Money, however, my opinion had begun to shift much more in a positive direction. It was the first Hitman game I played to near completion before moving on. I had a blast, then, I played Hitman: Absolution. I could definitely see why Hitman fans hated it for being completely different from the traditional structure of the franchise. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed myself to the end, despite its numerous flaws.

By the time I played HITMAN from 2016, I was already pretty positively biased towards the franchise. Playing the 2016 release pushed me over the edge and made me a huge fan before I even finished the Paris level for the first time. I did as many elusive targets as I could. I did most of the contracts that were available for all the stages—I gave up on the scarecrow contract in Colorado. I did some player-made contracts. I made a ton of YouTube videos of myself playing it. It was my favorite game that year and I couldn’t wait for the sequel. When IO Interactive managed to salvage the company after the split with Square Enix, I was relieved that the modern Hitman games would continue. When HITMAN 2 came out a few years later, I immediately jumped in and got addicted all over again. I tried the various new modes and had fun for a while before finally taking a break.

Obviously, despite being a new fan of the series, it has taken me a while to get to HITMAN III. It has taken me so long, in fact, the name of the game has technically changed. I had mistakenly burned myself out with HITMAN 2 by making sure to get Suit Only/Silent Assassin on all the available levels on Master Difficulty. Had I known that I could have played the same levels in the third game and gotten the same rankings regardless of difficulty, I might not have done it in preparation for the sequel. Then again, it certainly made me a lot better at the game as a result.

Having watched a number of James Bond films recently, I felt the assassin bug bite me again. I worked up the desire to hop into the Hitman franchise once more and push through the first few levels. I’m glad I did because, even though the process of syncing all my previous game experiences into this one was a pain in the ass, I’ve been able to have a great time seeing the conclusion of the campaign and trying out the new rogue-like mode that essentially lets you role-play as Agent 47.

The Short of it

What I’ve Played

• 150+ hours

• All story levels completed on Master difficulty with Suit Only / Silent Assassin achieved

• Two completed regular Freelance campaigns, two nearly completed campaigns that failed at the last second, & one nearly completed Hardcore Freelance campaign

Pros

• Creative level design and objectives

• Impressive-looking levels with lots of layers

• Story goes in surprising directions

• Rogue-like “Freelancer” mode brings a lot of life to the levels and shakes up the format in a good way

• Ambient music still works great

• Plenty of the Hitman humor

Cons

• Still get the occasional instance in which 47 will get stuck on something, button prompts disappear, or a person can see him through walls

• Glitches in which items fall through the geometry can really ruin your freelance experience

• Trying to import all your progress from previous games is a pain

• Bonuses in Freelancer mode are a little too random

The Rest of it

Story

HITMAN III’s story picks up—as one would expect—after the events of HITMAN 2 with Agent 47 working alongside Lucas Grey, having captured The Constant. The Constant, for those who do not remember, is the head of Providence, a secret organization that supersedes all other secret organizations—Providence is the equivalent of an Illuminati to the Illuminati. 47 and Grey seem to be holding all the cards at the start of the game and are getting ready to continue their plans for revenge by wiping out all the high-ranking members of Providence and its partners, destroying the organization one assassination at a time.

Even though there are only six levels that progress the story, a lot happens in HITMAN III, including betrayal, the deaths of significant characters, and deep secrets being exposed. The first game in this trilogy set things up with the origin of the relationship between 47 and his handler, Diana Burnwood, while also setting up Lucas Grey and Providence as opposing forces for 47 to eventually face. The sequel has a few surprises and divulges more details about 47’s past while letting the heroes make some big gambles, like going after The Constant. HITMAN III wraps all this up in a very dark yet satisfying way. It ends with the potential for more, but also with a sense that this is the end of 47’s story as we know him.

The same sort of blend of tones is here in the third installment of the modern trilogy. There’s the seriousness of the situation in which people of the shadows are making big power plays and killing countless people in the process. There are also the various lines that would be very cheesy if it was someone other than 47 saying it. I mean, it still is, and it is predictable, but that’s how the franchise has been for a long time and that’s not a knock against it. It’s a self-aware game series in which you’re playing as a super assassin who is not just good at killing people but countless other miscellaneous talents, such as professional modeling, drumming, yoga, bar-tending, etc. Agent 47 could say “rubber baby bunky bumpers” in his flat, merciless tone as he throws an exploding rubber ducky at someone’s head and it would still feel appropriate on all levels.

Gameplay

HITMAN III’s gameplay is no big departure from the previous two games. The core gameplay loop is to locate your various targets on a large map and find ways to eliminate them and complete any secondary objectives without being noticed or killed in the process. The appeal of the HITMAN games is that the maps themselves are very large and have a lot of personality to their design. There are countless NPCs that can be used for or against the player’s intentions, disguises that 47 can use to infiltrate the area, and items scattered around the premises to be used in creative and murderous ways. At the end of each level, the player is graded on how well they did in completing the mission, which is judged based on whether you were able to eliminate your targets without leaving any evidence. If you kill people other than the targets, or if you kill people in ways that are messy and leave blood stains, you get a lower grade, but you’re not necessarily penalized; you don’t get access to as many rewards as quickly if your methods are sub-par.

One thing I like about the HITMAN games’ method of implementing stealth is that it is still punishing if you are caught, but the game gives you enough time and tools to potentially react and save the bad situation. With a silenced pistol, you can very quickly remedy a bad situation that would lead to 47’s death with a few well-placed headshots. When the shooting starts, it doesn’t take long for 47 to die, so you should be focused on being as stealthy as possible if you want to succeed. This makes every gunfight or moment in which his identity is revealed to the NPCs tense and exciting. It’s all the more exciting when it happens at the end of a mission and you have to fight your way out of a bad situation to survive.

Another good idea when approaching a mission for the first time is to get the lay of the land before being so bold as to take out your targets. An important part of the stealth game experience is understanding the environment and the routes the various NPCs take. When I played the HITMAN games, the first thing I would do was walk around the map, disguise myself as much as possible to ensure I could gain access to different areas I normally couldn’t reach as 47 in his default clothing, and gather as much information as I could about the ways I could sneak around and approach the situation. The more times you play the same map, the better understanding you have of where you can infiltrate, hide, and prepare to eliminate your targets. Once you have a good idea of the ways you can manipulate the world and the NPCs to your favor, you can begin the process of trying to get as high of a score as possible and completing the Suit Only/Silent Assassin objectives.

Since you are expected to replay these levels many times, the levels themselves are often very large with a lot of different paths for you to take and items to use. HITMAN III, in particular, had several missions that managed to really stretch the limits of verticality in their design. Each level has its own sub-stories and opportunities to give the targets a poetic end, which you can choose to engage with or just completely ignore. The more of these random challenges and opportunities you complete, however, the more advantageous items will be unlocked for you to bring on missions and give you some new methods of approaching the level or killing the targets in creative ways.

This has all been true for the last two HITMAN games. Where HITMAN III deviates is in some key levels involving the game’s story, a few new minor surveillance challenges that arise, and using the new camera feature. Every game these days has some picture-taking functionality because the world has become so narcissistic that we need to take selfies in our video games now, I guess. I roll my eyes whenever I see this mechanic in a new game, but at least the camera in HITMAN III doubles as a scanning device that can be used to hack devices, open shortcuts, or accumulate evidence.

The key difference between this game’s main missions and the previous games is in how the objectives operate on your first time through a map. One mission requires you to find secrets tucked away in a mansion. One requires you to eliminate your targets without knowing who they are beforehand and having to identify them in the field. One requires you to eliminate your targets and then sneak into a secret facility and hack a machine that can only be accessed once both targets are dead. One lets you eliminate whoever gets in your way, which is a big departure from the structure of the franchise.

HITMAN III gets creative in its objectives and format to really shake things up and keep the formula feeling fresh. Nothing does this more so than the new Freelancer mode. I didn’t try it out until I had completed the campaign for HITMAN III and learned a general understanding of each of the maps. This was the right choice because Freelancer requires you to know the maps really well if you want to succeed. What is Freelancer? A reductive summary is that it is a rogue-like mode that essentially lets you roleplay as an independent Agent 47, but there’s a lot more to it.

Upon first starting up the Freelancer mode, you are dropped into 47’s secret hideout. It resembles a secluded base straight out of John Wick or James Bond. There are numerous rooms you cannot yet access as there is a level progression exclusive to this mode. There are also numerous walls where the weapons and tools you might acquire on missions can be stored. The first thing you’ll do is select from a list of random case files that have details about various crime syndicates that 47 intends to take out. Each of these case files outlines the types of bonus challenges you might have to earn you more cash upon completion. They also list out the various locations you’ll be traveling to, which consist of all the different maps from the last three HITMAN games. After you select a syndicate to focus on, your campaign map opens and you can select your next mission.

Each syndicate has a set of missions based on how far you have progressed through the Freelancer campaign. Upon completing enough of the necessary missions within a campaign segment, the main target of that syndicate and all of their identifiable details will be revealed. This mission then requires you to identify the syndicate leader in the field based on the clues provided about their appearance and behavior. Hidden amongst the crowd are lookouts and assassins who are not as clearly marked as various guards who might recognize 47 in his disguise. After doing a few of these missions, it gets easier to tell if someone is an assassin because they are always relatively close to one of the potential targets, despite being in casual civilian clothes. When I took out a target with one of these lackeys nearby who witnessed it, they rushed me and nearly took me out before I hit him with a baseball and fled the scene.

Completing the syndicate boss level moves you on to the next section of the campaign, which increases the overall difficulty and adds more missions for you to complete before the next primary-target mission. The more missions you do, the more money you earn which can be used to buy more tools and weapons while on missions that you can bring back to your hideout and then equip before leaving for the next mission. If you die while on a mission, you lose the items you were carrying and some of your money. Depending on the mission itself, if you fail, you also can fail the entire campaign and be forced to start from square one.

If it is not already apparent, I absolutely love the Freelancer mode. It essentially does the same thing as the Contracts from the previous games did but re-contextualizes them in a very satisfying way that adds a sense of progression to the mix. Contracts were mostly just slightly different missions taking place on the same maps that sometimes required specific weapons or costumes to be used. Freelancer takes that idea and makes your ability to complete the mission more meaningful because, if you fail, then you lose progress and resources. It also forces you out of your comfort zone. Ever since I unlocked it in the 2016 game, I have always taken a lockpick with me on a story mission because it was extremely useful in allowing me to navigate the maps, even if I was unfamiliar with them. Likewise, I would always bring a silenced pistol with me because it was indispensable in being able to silence witnesses immediately or take out security cameras from a distance. Since Freelancer takes everything away at the start, including a gun, you have to acquire your tools over time and in the field by completing missions. Nothing made me realize how dependent I had become on having a silenced pistol and a lockpick in my inventory when starting a mission faster than playing the Freelancer mode. And when you lose those crucial tools after failing a mission, it hurts, especially after a mistake from becoming a little overconfident.

I made it all the way to the end of a campaign and failed the last mission almost immediately because I stopped blending in at the start point without noticing a lookout was right there. He spotted me as 47’s animations completed and all the potential targets began fleeing the level. I had a short window of time to hopefully salvage the situation. I killed the lookout out of spite and then ran towards the exit where most of the potential targets were running. I killed all of them, but I was unlucky in that the real target escaped on the other side of the map. It was a bummer, but a lesson learned on how to handle these missions.

Freelancer forces you to approach the maps in new ways and allows people who like to always go for the Suit Only/Silent Assassin rank (like I do) to break out of their restrictive shells. Most of the time, the different goals and bonuses available to you in a mission are not tied to being undetected or staying in your Agent 47 suit. There are still bonus objectives you can add to a mission that makes it a requirement for that payout, but your primary objective in Freelancer should be completing your mission, retaining the weapons you acquire, and getting as much payout as you can without compromising your situation. As you complete more missions and fill up your collection of gadgets and guns while also building out your hideout, it really feels like you’re roleplaying as 47, taking down one crime syndicate at a time.

If there is a general criticism I can point at the Freelancer mode, it has to do with the bonuses for the missions themselves. Regardless of whether you’ve done dozens of Freelancer campaigns or if you’re starting it up for the first time, you are given the choice of 10 different syndicates to tackle, which all have their own sets of bonus objectives. These objectives can be simple like killing with poison, knives, sniper rifles, etc. Sometimes they’re restrictive of how many disguises you can use as well. I don’t have a problem with these objectives, but if you do not yet have any money or access to the tools necessary to accomplish them, you have to hope the weapons are somewhere on the map. However, many of the maps that would normally have those items are often altered to remove some of them, forcing you to buy the items from the merchant. Hopefully, you can earn enough money on the mission to be able to buy them from a merchant, but they may not even have those items. Obviously, if you manage to be successful enough to acquire a collection of these different weapons and tools, the randomness of the objectives is less of an issue, but I think it should have been just a little more focused than it is. For instance, the additional bonus objectives that you can select outside the mission itself can sometimes conflict with those of the mission. You can get the option of getting a bonus payout for achieving a Suit Only/Silent Assassin rank, but you might be playing a mission that requests you to swap disguises or shoot your target with a gun for a bonus payout, which negates that selection. If these additional bonuses weren’t quite so random that the ones that appear wouldn’t conflict with the mission’s objectives, it would be a nice improvement.

I feel obligated to mention that I had a moment in which one of my hardcore missions failed simply because the briefcase that carried my weapon I needed to use in order to complete the mission just fell through the floor for no reason. So, that sort of annoying thing can happen as well and really screw up the rogue-like experience. Hopefully, it will happen early in the campaign and not towards the end and you’ve invested so much.

If Freelancer isn’t your thing, there are still other modes from previous games available in the World of Assassination. This includes the sniper mode from HITMAN 2, the Escalations which are restrictive assassinations that take place on the same maps, and an arcade mode that gives you access to the various elusive targets of the series. Even though simply going through each level and trying to find all the different ways you can complete the mission will certainly take a long time, especially if you go from the start of the first game to the end of the third, there is still plenty more for you to do in these various other modes.

Presentation

The Hitman franchise has long been a series of games known to really push the limits of graphical fidelity. The last three games have all looked good, including the heavily budgeted HITMAN 2. This release, while not a massive leap in graphical improvement over its predecessors, does a lot to create a wow factor with its levels and all the components that are going on. The first level which takes place in a tower in Dubai immediately grabs your attention with its striking design and with how many NPCs there are walking around. It’s an absolutely massive level with many different floors for you to traverse with a lot of shiny and reflective floors to blow you away. In contrast, the second mission takes place in an English manor that greatly resembles James Bond’s home in Skyfall in design and appearance. It’s not as tall of a level, but it has a very large map that stretches out in significant directions. The levels often have a significant amount of detail to them and the NPCs themselves have enough detail to separate the targets from the nameless ones.

Since HITMAN III was given a bigger budget than the last game, the cutscenes have a lot more to them than the previous game. This includes the very dynamic introduction to the targets, but also the story scenes that take place between missions. They don’t look quite as good as the videos from the 2016 game, which had probably the biggest budget to make the characters look as realistic as possible with some impressive shading and textures in the cutscenes from nearly a decade ago, but HITMAN III still looks good. The only spot where the presentation dipped was in watching the introduction to the Freelancer mode which was heavily compressed. You’re better off finding the same video on YouTube if you want to watch a high-quality version.

The music still functions the same way as it did in the previous games. It’s mostly just ambient in the background but intensifies more when you get close to your target, enter a restricted area, or do something of note. If you’re just walking around the level and not committing any crimes or trespassing, any music you might hear is taking place on the level. As soon as you put on a disguise, knock someone out, hide a body, or hang off a ledge, the music changes and gets more dramatic. As you approach the exit of a mission, the closer you get, the more it swells with the same song that has been playing since 2016 to make you feel like a badass assassin. The music on its own isn’t necessarily amazing, but it still works in context just as well as ever.

TL;DR

If you didn’t enjoy the last two games in the franchise, HITMAN III will not change your mind as it does not really change from the fundamentals that have been established thus far. It adds a few tweaks to the formula to shake things up and give you new avenues to pursue, but the core gameplay mechanics have been the same since 2016. If you have been a fan of the games since then, as I have, then there is all the more reason to jump into HITMAN III. I took a long time to play this game due to my own fatigue and stubbornness, but I’ve been happy to return ever since. The new levels add a lot of layers to their design, with some specific maps providing hours of fun to explore and master. Once you have mastered all the levels and their secrets, the new Freelancer rogue-lite mode is a great way to approach each level in a different way and with new respect for their design. We may not get another HITMAN game for a long time, but this is one hell of a way to send off the franchise for the next generation of games.