IO Interactive’s

Hitman 3

serves as a satisfying finale for a trilogy spanning five years. With new locations and a narrative wrapping up the trilogy’s story, IO Interactive succeeded in making a game worth while. In my opinion, the last good Hitman video game was

Hitman: Blood Money

. While I did not care much for the story, I enjoyed the sandbox-esque style of the game and the endless possibilities on how to perfectly assassinate a target. The following game,

Hitman: Absolution

, introduced new mechanics into the series that was in different ways both a step up and a step down from

Blood Money

. The rebooted

Hitman

series combined the best of both

Blood Money

and

Absolution

, creating a one-of-a-kind game.

Hitman 3

picks up where

Hitman 2

left off. Agent 47 and old friend Lucas Grey uncover the puppet master behind Providence, the Constant. He has escaped and your mission is to assassinate the targets who have a connection to Providence in order to get to the Constant and take him down. That is the only plot summary I am willing to reveal. The best experience will come from playing the entire trilogy.

If I am going to be frank,

Hitman

plots do not mean much. Rather, they serve as faint threads interwoven into the game that connect the locations chronologically but will not be missed if taken out all together. However, with

Hitman 3

, the plot serves as an emotional goodbye to characters we have grown to know since the release of

Hitman 2016

five years ago. I have been playing the rebooted series since my freshman year of high school, so concluding the series makes everything feel bittersweet.

Enough about my sentimental feelings, let us talk about gameplay.

Hitman 3

introduces six brand new locations: Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Dartmoor, United Kingdom; Berlin, Germany; Chongqing, China; Mendoza, Argentina; and Carpathian Mountains, Romania. IO Interactive traded the large maps for condensed locations, but included more complex story missions and many new things to discover. All six locations feel refreshing with both a gorgeous and unique map design and new opportunities for fun kills. Similar to the last two

Hitman

games, I spent hours exploring each map, discovering new paths and tricks to the map and getting lost in such a beautiful world.

Hitman 3

introduces new story missions that are bigger and better than the previous entries. Specifically, Dartmoor, United Kingdom’s

Knives Out

inspired plot was interesting enough to keep players occupied for at least an hour if they were willing to explore. Similar to the last

Hitman

games, the story missions give us both information on

Hitman

’s lore and unique opportunities to kill the target in either the most sophisticated or elaborate way possible.

Like all

Hitman

games,

Hitman 3

follows the same gameplay formula. First, you are given a mission debrief as well as information on your target. Next, you explore the map, using it to your advantage to kill the target. Finally, you assassinate the target. Additionally, a Hitman is never caught. However, like all

Hitman

games, the series is known for both its serious stealth element but also its weird sense of humor. Be prepared for random NPC lines and the ragdoll physics that comes with every kill. Continuity wise, the game is meant to be played seriously as you are tasked with crafting the perfect assassination. Like the previous entries,

Hitman

’s use of disguises, blending in with the crowd, and sparing use of gunplay makes a return. There is no such thing as a

Hitman

game without these mechanics. Despite the harsh criticism of instinct (Eagle Vision equivalent from the

Assassin’s Creed

series), it makes a return again for

Hitman

’s finale.

The targets in

Hitman 3

are unique because IO Interactive chose to incorporate more of the storyline into the missions. A few of the maps begin with some dead space before quickly ushering the player into the actual mission itself. Some of the missions are unique in which the formula for assassinating targets has been shuffled around. For example, rather than focusing on the traditional two targets per mission, some missions opt to approach a contract with five hidden targets or to assassinate the target and steal the objective files. This new formula shakes up the series and makes it feel new and refreshing rather than old and recycled.

New to Agent 47’s arsenal of tools is the camera, something that is heavily used to find clues in Dartmoor or to hack windows and doors everywhere else. I found myself rarely using the camera and finding different and easier ways to bypass the locks. Again, IO Interactive designed these tools to be more of an option rather than the only solution to unlocking new pathways. Additionally,

Hitman 3

introduces us to shortcuts that permanently open once unlocked and keypads that require actual codes. These functions force the player to do more exploring and pay better attention to the visual and auditory clues in the world around them. Players are required to explore the world in order to find codes or even listen in on conversations to pick up any hints. Whether it is more tedious or immersive is strictly up to the player.

Unique to the

Hitman

series is its replayability. Despite only having six maps, the point of the game is to backtrack, bring in new tools, find new shortcuts, explore the map, and much more. Each map takes roughly an hour to complete without a walkthrough. Each session can last anywhere from three to six hours, depending on how much exploring you are willing to put in. I personally prefer to do the “kill everyone challenge,” a challenge coined by YouTuber BigMooney06 and of course, wipe out every NPC on the map. Regardless, no walkthrough is going to look exactly the same and that is the beauty of a sandbox game.

Returning to

Hitman 3

is “contracts mode,” “escalation maps,” and “elusive targets” which will release periodically throughout the year. Contracts serve as a way to replay maps with targets selected and created by the community. Escalation maps allow players to kill the same targets over and over again with each stage becoming more difficult. Finally, elusive targets are temporary targets that only remain active for a certain amount of time and must be killed in one perfect run. Returning players will get a chance to transfer their progress and purchased maps from the previous game onto

Hitman 3

so there is no need to worry about losing any progress or rewards racked up from the last five years.

Overall, I found that IO Interactive did a phenomenal job with their conclusion to the

Hitman

series.

Hitman

was never meant to be extremely serious, often having funny moments and strange ragdoll physics to counteract Agent 47’s moody attitude. This game is worth checking out if you are interested in stealth but also some action and adventure. Currently, it is available for PC through Epic Games, Xbox, PlayStation, and PlayStation VR.