Hitman 3 gameplay preview: Dubai and Dartmoor levels are a fantastic start

Through two of the six missions in Hitman 3, the game is already taking IO Interactive’s World of Assassination trilogy to incredible new heights. I am not just referring to the stunning locations that Agent 47 infiltrates or the extra toys and tactics at his disposal. Perhaps the most surprising element of Hitman 3 so far is how well IO Interactive has developed the story and characters of the series – whether 47 and their teammates or the targets they are hunting.

Now, I bet the vast majority of Hitman players don’t come to the franchise to tell stories. Of course, IO Interactive was trying to add some elements of the narrative here and there over the course of Hitman 3predecessors of, 2016 Hitman and 2018 Hitman 2. But it was only in the middle of the second game – after some massive revelations around the past 47 – that this vortex of a world conspiracy tale came into focus.

The triumphant end of Hitman 2, in which 47 and his team managed to capture the leader of the grim global cabal known as Providence, also dug up a time bomb or two. And about a third of the way Hitman 3, the story took some explosive turns. I won’t spoil them here, of course, but I will say that, at the end of the second mission, I really felt invested in the story. Until now, the narrative elements of this Hitman trilogy seemed mostly an excuse to put the series’ meat together: its extensive levels and clockwork, and the strategic stealth gameplay underlying it all. But at this point, the shit hit the fan and I’m all-in.

In a nice nod to the episodic nature of Hitman (2016), the Hitman 3 features a previous video to keep you updated on the events of the two previous games. When the third begins, Agent 47 and his companions – his ICA parent, Diana Burnwood; his long-lost childhood friend (and co-trainee in the art of murder), Lucas Gray; and Grey’s hacker associate, Olivia Hall – are on the trail of the three Providence Partners, seeking to end the organization by cutting off the snake’s head.

Hitman 3The opening mission, “On Top of the World”, begins with Gray and 47 jumping out of a plane over Dubai. They are targeting Burj Al-Ghazali, also known as the Scepter, which, in game fiction, is the tallest building in the world. (The cutscene in question comes from a Paris-based sequel to the latest Mission: Impossible movie, and while it’s not that impressive here, it’s still a breathtaking introduction from Hitman.) taking off from the skyscraper – that of Alexa Carlisle, one of three partners. This leaves the other two, Carl Ingram and Marcus Stuyvesant, as the targets of the mission.

The Hitman trilogy was marked by missions in extensive locations, such as the city of Sapienza, on the Amalfi Coast, in Hitman and the streets of Mumbai in Hitman 2. The first two maps in Hitman 3 – the Scepter in Dubai and Thornbridge Manor in Dartmoor, England – are more compact experiences, with only three “mission stories” (guided assassination attempts) embedded in each, although the locations are no less complex in design.

Ace-level designers at IO Interactive have some new tricks up their sleeve this time around, most notably a shortcut feature. On your first move from a location, you can find some stairs and doors with yellow metal locks that cannot be broken into, which made me think of a boot placed in an illegally parked car. Instead, you’ll have to figure out how to reach them on the other side (ie, the top of the stairs or the opposite side of the door), where you can break the lock.

These shortcuts are designed to encourage repetition of a level; once unlocked, they will remain available in future moves. Veteran Hitman players are used to returning to locations in an effort to increase their level of dominance, and in Hitman 3, they can use persistent shortcuts to save precious minutes in their completion times. I also appreciate them just for encouraging me to explore every nook and cranny of the levels, even if this is the type of player I already am.

Dubai, right at the beginning, presents another feature that is new to Hitman 3: Agent 47 has a high-tech camera now. You can use it to take pictures, but although it is possible to apply some filters to the images, the feature doesn’t really qualify as a photo mode in itself (that’s why IO Interactive doesn’t consider it that way). Instead, it’s used for certain challenges, like one on Dartmoor that asks you to take a picture of two people flirting with each other, and for scanning. In Dubai, you can scan some locked windows to open them; in Dartmoor, where a murder mystery occurs, you can scan for clues a la … well, lots of games.

As a murderer, 47 must remain hidden; as such, many levels of Hitman give you the opportunity to hide behind the scenes of some type of event. It is no different in Dubai: when 47 arrives at the Scepter, Sheikh Omar al-Ghazali is conducting the building’s opening reception. The backstage of an art installation is full of narrow corridors, multi-level scaffolding with walkways and stairs, and many large chests perfect for storing equipment – or bodies. And after getting a cover for a guard, waiter or maintenance worker, you can freely explore the building’s various floors. But there is an interesting twist: as 47 parachutes fall on the Scepter without your usual intelligence and equipment, you will not have access to the game map until you reach an information kiosk and download the building’s floor plan.

As with many Hitman levels, Dubai targets tend to be in their own separate areas; Stuyvesant wanders through the reception, while Ingram is accommodated in his master suite on the roof. Part of the fun, of course, is discovering the key (s) that 47 can use to make your targets cross. This phase offers an ingenious double murder that could end up being one of my all-time favorites in the franchise. I will just say that it involves skydiving and that the interconnected layout of the public and exclusive areas of the Scepter team makes it a lot of fun to do, regardless of whether you use one of the shortcut stairs mentioned above.

[Ed. note: If you’re unconcerned with spoiling yourself and you’d like to watch the skydiving assassination in question, scroll up and check out the 12-minute gameplay video near the top of this article.]

The final scene of “On Top of the World” is where 47 and Gray’s mission begins to go south. Constante, the leader of Providence, escaped Diana’s custody – and it turns out he orchestrated everything all the time! (As I said, it’s a spy story with more twists and turns than a Twizzler.) Alexa Carlisle, the third partner, ran away from the Scepter because she found out that all her billions have disappeared. And she is the target of “Death in the Family”, the second mission from Hitman 3.

The mission is set at the English country mansion Thornbridge Manor, owned by the Carlisle family. IO Interactive did not want the media to reveal details of the plot about the mission or details about the murder mystery. So, I’m just going to say it’s a brilliant and fascinating blend of an Agatha Christie-inspired adventure with the traditional Hitman formula.

There is the expected dose of family fights and intrigues, as well as an element of family history that gives the process a tragic air. Of course, the fiefdom has a role to play, with secrets that resemble the board game Track and a fun nod to Knives Out. And the way the case unfolds – if you choose to play Sherlock, instead of simply fulfilling the mission’s conditions – is integrated into Hitman’s existing “intel” system. When you find clues, they will appear in your Intel menu. As you discover more of them and get closer to solving the case, the item descriptions expand with information gathered from the sum of two and two, as if 47 were filling in details in your detective notebook. (If you’re also not a detective, Diana’s voice helps make the connections out loud.)

And if you can find all the clues … Boy, there’s an incredible ending waiting for you when you report to the private investigator’s client. It involves the first choice of dialogue of this kind that I can think of Hitman, and it stopped me halfway – which is impressive, considering 47 is notoriously a cold-blooded killer devoid of human emotions. I am very interested to see where Hitman 3the story continues from here.

Hitman 3 is scheduled to launch on January 20 on Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. cloud-based Nintendo Switch version has no release date yet.