Hitman 3 is here. The World of Assassination trilogy that started with the Hitman reboot in 2016 is one of the great achievements of modern games – but while critics love the series, it looks like the IO Interactive series will never really get the credit it deserves from a wider audience broad. These three stealth games make you the ultimate killer, targeting you in a tailored location, but allowing you to take it down in your own way.
Will you dress the protagonist Agent 47 as a waiter and poison your target’s food? Or are you going to pretend to be a barber and cut your target’s throat during a wet shave? Maybe you go to a race track and push a target to death on the circuit, using your body to crush another target that is passing in a race car. Hitman somehow makes these situations somberly funny, with substantial rewards for the player’s ingenuity.
While the three Hitman games have no real flaws when it comes to their locations – except perhaps Colorado from the first game, which no one seems to like – some levels of the trilogy stand out above the rest. Below, TechRadar’s Samuel Roberts and James Peckham reveal their collective favorites from this phenomenal game trilogy.
10. Sgail Island: ‘The Ark Society’ (Hitman 2)
James: Have you always wanted to go to a Eyes Wide Shut party, but without all that sexy part? Hitman 2 makes this possible with the Isle of Sgail level, inviting you to an exclusive party in a castle on a remote island near Scotland. I found this level difficult to navigate at first, with its high security areas and a wide range of clothing options, but as soon as you get the hang of Sgail, you’ll find yourself walking around the big castle and committing murders in every way possible.
9. Mumbai: ‘Chasing a Ghost’ (Hitman 2)
James: I’m not sure if Mumbai is Hitman’s highest level to date, but it certainly seems so. This extensive map includes a semi-built skyscraper and narrow, busy alleys. There are three targets scattered throughout the map for you to hunt, and just seeing how far some of them are at the beginning of the mission, you realize how big this scenario is. I spent hours walking into each small store to explore every inch of this city, and while tracking Maelstrom in later moves can be frustrating, it is still remarkably repeatable.
8. Berlin: ‘Apex Predator’ (Hitman 3)
James: I lined up for Berlin’s infamous Berghain nightclub on the outskirts of the city and couldn’t get in – Hitman 3 finally let me through its doors (or, more precisely, Club Hölle) and then let me go to the DJ decks. The mission of Berlin’s history is experimental – you need to take down five targets, but first you need to identify who they really are before making your move. But I found that this level is even more fun when you return for a second move, and you can see all 10 potential targets through your vision of Hitman from the start. They’re all circling from the dance floor to the top of the club structure, and figuring out how to eliminate them in quick succession is one of the series’ biggest challenges.
7. Miami: ‘The Finish Line’ (Hitman 2)
James: This reintroduction to Agent 47 at the beginning of Hitman 2 could have been a weaker choice, since you just returned to the game format, but this is actually one of the best levels in the sequence. I think this is the most kinetic level in the entire trilogy, with many moving parts to discover. The introduction of a target that is buzzing along the racetrack as you try to assassinate it adds an extra level of excitement to the process. Either that, or I was blinded by the fact that you can dress like a big flamingo before committing murder.
6. Whittleton Creek: ‘Another Life’ (Hitman 2)
Samuel: A beloved Hitman-level spiritual successor: Blood Money, Whittleton Creek takes you to American suburbs to track down a tightly guarded former KGB agent who lives in witness protection. In addition to having the opportunity to explore the homes of the families who live in this picturesque spot – and participate in a lovely garden party – you can blow up your main target by planting explosives in the mole holes that spoil the grass in your yard. The feeling of place in this place is fantastic, and the American suburban vibe is very different from any other in the three Hitman games.
5. Hokkaido: ‘Situs Inversus’ (Hitman)
James: What a way to end the first part of this trilogy. Everyone loved those vast open spaces like Sapienza and Paris that are full of NPCs, with large-scale public events and plenty of space to run. At this level, IO Interactive has completely changed course, changing them into narrow corridors with hard to reach places and many tiny interconnected rooms to explore. Hokkaido is one of the most difficult levels to navigate in the entire series, but after clicking on it and understanding how it all works, it can also be one of the most satisfying.
4. Dartmoor: ‘Death in the Family’ (Hitman 3)
Samuel: It is too early for me to say if this one is as reproducible as some of the others below on this list – I suspect not, although I am eager to try the escalation contracts in more detail – but your first attempt at this Hitman level is almost unbeatable. Most players will take on the role of private detective from the start and help find out who murdered an old, reclusive member of a wealthy British family – before murdering the matriarch yourself. Finding the clues around this gigantic country estate is something you can only enjoy once, but it is perhaps the most memorable mission in the entire series. I would play an entire game focused on this type of detective work.
3. Mendoza: ‘The Farewell’ (Hitman 3)
Samuel: I personally think this is the best Hitman 3 level for replay value, because it is a huge location divided into many different areas of feeling. It is basically the only one in the new game that looks comparable to players like Sapienza, Miami or Mumbai in its extension. You’re essentially attending a party in a huge vineyard that hides a villainous James Bond-style lair – and some of the ways your two targets might die here are genuinely hilarious. It looks like a winning lap from IO Interactive to see the trilogy, a perfect example of what this sandbox simulation approach to stealth game design has done to elevate Agent 47’s adventures.
2. Paris: ‘The Showstopper’ (Hitman)
Samuel: The first Hitman level launched in the World of Assassination trilogy, and probably the most intense when it comes to timing everything correctly. I love this level – this grand Paris mansion where a fashion show is taking place is beautifully done, with beautiful ceiling textures and incidental props around the mansion. Upstairs, however, an auction is taking place, with a room full of bastards bidding on sensitive military secrets. It set a high standard for other levels to come and gave you countless fun ways to infiltrate space – including becoming a male model and going to the catwalk.
1. Sapienza: ‘World of Tomorrow’ (Hitman)
Samuel: The king of Hitman’s levels, even though I know that some stubborn ones consider him a little overrated these days. The Sapienza level is a small Italian coastal town, where the relevant mission area is mainly limited to a single large mansion with a villainous Bond-style underground lair – except that the multiple opportunities around the map give you great reasons to explore. While repeating the final leg of the mission in each race may be a bit annoying, this is my favorite place to revisit for miles in the Hitman series. It’s a stunning slice of an open world, with 10 absurdly ambitious mission stories to unravel. Sapienza is basically a complete game in itself.