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Hitman 3 – the third and final installment in the soft reboots trilogy launched with IO Interactive’s Hitman (2016) – can be summed up by a saying: If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
With a solid foundation, Hitman 3 sets the stage for a triumph in stealth video games. The basics are familiar – as an experienced Agent 47 assassin, you go in, go out, use various disguises, enter restricted areas, evade enemies and kill your target. But through subtle experimentation and great imagination, IO has managed to produce a crescendo that subverts expectations.
The whole new world
The levels in Hitman make or break the experience. They are virtual dollhouses, complex games and sandboxes in which to organize your darkly comic improvisations. Hitman 3 has almost succeeded in providing five of the six maps with an excellent level of design (if not, later).
The supreme glory, of course, is the level you reach in a dusty country house in Dartmoor, England, where you are a private detective trying to solve a mysterious murder. Of course, it’s Hitman, and Agatha Christie’s water nut quickly turns into a Judoonite as you try to kill the target while conducting an investigation.
In other missions, Agent 47 crashed into a beautiful basement in Mendoza, Argentina; infiltrated a high-tech data warehouse in Chongqing, China, where he got soaking wet from the rain; escaped assassins by mingling with customers and bartenders during a rave at a warehouse in Berlin; and climbed the Burj Al Ghazali (the fictional Burj Khalifa) in Dubai.
But the finale-a linear mission that relies more on the bombed-out framework than on the tortuous freedom of others-is almost a waste of a good device.
Overall, Hitman 3’s levels are well designed and full of interesting ideas, yet give you unprecedented freedom to get your act together. Instead of an average of ten “mission stories” per map in the previous games, here there are three per map: that means a lot less hand-holding.
Attack the emotions.
Maps are animated with graphics and sounds.
Again, don’t expect a review. This is the third game in five years, so it should be considered a third episode rather than the final part of the trilogy. Nevertheless, the updates are present and noticeable.
The engine has been improved with screen reflections, which means that even levels from earlier games shine with more beautiful surfaces. An example of this is the Paris fashion show from the first game, which now has a fully reflective catwalk. The textures have been improved, and you only have to look at Agent 47’s costumes to see that.
If your system allows it, the game should run smoothly at over 60fps 4k with as many settings as possible. If it doesn’t, there are many graphics options that can help you out. If a handful of glitches and bugs ruin the illusion, it will never sabotage the experience.
One of the most underrated facets of the previous games was the sound. Hitman 3 excels with its outpourings, interludes, and bite marks that make the verticality of some levels almost palpable. Musically, too, the game has its own rhythm, from the opening track that would match a Mission Impossible movie to the recurring electro-orchestral swaying as missions open and end.
Together, the visual and sound effects raise the level to deafening heights.
At Dartmoor Manor, long dark corridors lined with beautiful oil paintings open onto lush squares. In Berlin, pumping techno and strobe lights make the heart beat faster. And beneath Chongqing’s neon-lit noodle bars, grimy alleys and sinister apartment buildings lies the futuristic wonder of the data center.
Instruments and trade
But what good are beautiful playgrounds if they’re not fun? Hitman 3 continues the traditionally strong gameplay of its predecessors. The levels are filled with matched NPCs, interesting and frenetic chatter, and plenty of opportunities to kill.
The game forces you to plan and reschedule your approaches, but never puts you on the edge. Everywhere you look, there are problems with stealth, and maybe a security camera or an overzealous guard! The placement of enemies, the makeshift weapons you create, and the drop points for unconscious bodies (or worse, corpses) add a touch of spice to the gameplay.
Those looking for a change of pace will be disappointed. Agent 47 features a camera that is clearly more in the direction of the detective systems made famous by the Arkham and Watchdog franchises. The simple AI also remains easy to use, with spiritual but cheap distractions. And some animations – especially in combat or fast maneuvers – are still terribly stiff and unresponsive.
Another setback is the plot, which continues the story of Agent 47 and his handler Diane Burnwood. You (supposedly) come to the end of the saga with arms dealers, petrochemical tycoons, shady organizations and pressure groups, but you’re left with only a buffer between missions. But it’s not all bad. It’s not overly complicated like Metal Gear Solid, nor an absolute step backwards like the old Hitman games. Anyone looking for a light, action-packed spy thriller like Netflix should take it.
But, as they say, who plays the game of hitman for the story? The real stories remain in the misadventures the players have collected for themselves! Which brings us to the possibility of a reread.
Let’s come back to that.
The Hitman series has become the benchmark for replayability. Sure, you can race through levels, kill targets quickly and let the credits roll with a sense of emptiness. But the nature of the Groundhog Day game is truly engaging for hours.
The more you learn about the level – its shortcuts and blind spots – and its various subsections, the more you’ll download it and try to improve your mileage. For each environment, there are specific unlock challenges that limit you to completing missions with certain requirements or equipment. There are several starting points and tools to help the player experiment. At the very least, you’ll want to replay the game just to immerse yourself in a variety of landscapes (return missions 1 and 2 make good use of this to play through).
But the online portion is quite boring. The competitive Ghost mode and the cooperative Assassin Sniper missions are missing. And the fact that you have to be connected to the servers for the various features to work properly almost makes Hitman 3 a service game.
Judgment
Again, Hitman 3 is more like Hitman. To some extent, this means that there is also some frustration here with the AI, animations and storyline of the previous games. But all in all, it’s a sensational installment in a series that has defined stealth in video games. It is highly creative, immensely playable, and contains some of the richest levels ever designed.
Hitman 3 – Hitman is in top form, and if this is the finale, Agent 47 has delivered a stunner. We would have given it a 9/10.
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