Hitman III review: let’s call it Hitman 2.5 and be fine with it

O Hitman series of games peaked in 2018 with Hitman 2, technically the seventh in the series – but, hey, the seventh time can be charm. Everything we liked about the return of the 2016 series just got better in this sequence, and IO Interactive nailed its “murder puzzle box” concept with huge and macabre playgrounds, all built to encourage a killing core of several ways.

Three years ago, IO Interactive still had compelling directions for taking its level design and plot composition, and the resulting sequence doubled in black humor and inherent video game bullshit – while also gaining better control over how to compose its levels. Walking through crowded scenes like a slow killer who mixes the scenes, looking for clues and opportunities, just feels better in Hitman 2.

This week, Hitman III arrives on consoles, PCs and streaming platforms with five new chaos arenas – the smallest yet in a numbered entry – and an annoying list of new tweaks. It looks very, very familiar – even more than the jump of 2016 Hitman for 2018 Hitman 2. It arrives at an interface almost identical to the last game, with the same XP progression gauges, the same objective-based system, the same unique “escalation” missions and the same “custom contracts” sandbox. And its graphics engine revolves around an apparently identical core, with an admittedly beautiful fit.

A sequence or an episode?

The worst part about Hitman III, then, is the title number. It betrays the true nature of the game as an expansion pack rather than a standalone game that can be easily enjoyed in isolation. This is not a bad thing! If all you want is “more Hitman restart the levels that are at the level of excellence of the series “(and that was the original” episodic “plan of the game), then III it will lodge perfectly in your brain. IO Interactive completed the “World of Assassination” trilogy excellently, although its inability to live up to the heights of Hitman 2 it led me to wish immediately that this was a more ambitious sequence.

If you’re new to the series, however, your path is clearer: set up a sales alert at Hitman 2, if not a package that combines Hitman 1’s and twolevels in the same package. They’re great, and you have no reason to ignore them on the way to Hitman III.

This week’s sequence makes it very clear by inviting new players to play the 5-year tutorial Hitman 1. This teaches you to sneak into a boat and kill a target silently. Along the way, take the guards to isolation; drop them and steal their clothes; use your suits to blend into inaccessible release zones; then, grab keys, access cards and deadly implements while sliding towards your target, trying to avoid a shootout.

After finishing the training, go back for the same mission, with a guide pointing to other paths towards the same target. You will accumulate more experience points by doing this, and these benefits will be unlocked for specific missions (new starting points, new places to hide weapons and devices within the map) and weapons and cosmetics for the entire series.

Two new systems in a family game

The fact that this dated tutorial applies so well to Hitman III says a lot – this is a serious “not broken, don’t fix it” energy – although the new game includes two new tweaks. The first is a “shortcut unlock” feature, which should immediately comfort fans of the series.

Your repeated visits to levels to discover new ways to kill your primary targets or fulfill objectives are sometimes accelerated when you unlock a new shortcut starting point, but you can still find yourself marching the entire length of the level to find and complete certain goals. This year, clearly marked yellow doors can be seen on each new level, and you can unlock them inside the buildings. That is, after crossing, say, a motorcyclist hideout on your first move, you can permanently Jimmy opens the front door with a biker barricade to reduce boredom whenever you return. IO Interactive is concerned with placing them rarely and deliberately, and they are a great fit.

The other new system is a smartphone camera, which works as a scanning and hack tool to, say, turn on a TV or darken a security window. You have to use this on the first mission to open the first closed access point … and then the camera is kept for most of the game. This is not something like Metroid Prime, where you must constantly scan the environment for clues and analysis. Instead, it is only used at times clearly marked by the game, such as when a voice in your ear recommends that you scan a specific colored logo to open a door or when a questgiver asks you to take a photo of a secondary target as soon as you ‘I knocked them out.

The camera includes a 4x zoom to survey the world when you’re without a sniper rifle, and that’s a welcome blessing, but I expected more fun and camera-based tricks than this sequence offers. In addition, Agent 47 is never penalized when he is seen taking pictures in heavily protected areas, particularly a high-security gaming-level laboratory in China. Pull a pistol and you will be shot; take dozens of photos that somehow magically open and close doors, and it’s no big deal. Talk about a strange disconnect.