Game Review: Hitman 3

Hitman 3 serves as the definitive conclusion to IOI Interactive’s Hitman Trilogy. In a lot of ways, it takes all of the positives and negatives from the prior two entries and works to define a game which reflects the very best that this series has to offer. In my previous reviews of both Hitman 1 and 2 I noted that while the core gameplay experience is what easily drew me in, the game’s narrative component was its weakest element in particular. That criticism followed from 1 to 2 with little improvement so it makes me happy to note that on top of levelling up all the other gameplay principles, that the narrative is smartly woven into this game and in many ways shines as the game’s biggest improvement. Hitman 3 in a lot of ways is the amalgamation of everything that has preceded it, the gameplay and narrative join together to deliver one hell of an experience which truly delivers on what the Hitman franchise is capable of being.

For the first time, Hitman 3 was not only developed by IOI Interactive but also published by them too. Serving as their first major game as a self-dependant publisher; IOI were out to prove to the gaming landscape that they had what it takes to charter the course for this series on their own. In retrospect it’s interesting to consider how being self-managed may have been the best thing to happen to IOI and the Hitman franchise itself. Without any corporate stipulation or interference on gameplay, narrative or overall marketing; IOI had the creative freedom to deliver this game in whatever capacity they wished. I took some time to look into the behind-the-scenes stuff for Hitman 3 and you can clearly tell from developer interviews that these folks were so much happier to be managing the series themselves with no caveats anymore. Their desire to experiment with the gameplay experience and deliver something fans hadn’t seen before was on the forefront of any conversation they had. That creative freedom given to them is in part what made Hitman 3 as good as it ends up being, so it felt necessary to acknowledge how that came about. 

Hitman 3’s story follows directly on from Hitman 2’s ending. Realising that Providence has been manipulating Diana and Agent 47 to try and kill 47’s childhood friend Lucas Grey aka The Shadow Client; the trio team up to take down the leader of Providence known as The Constance. After initially capturing him at the end of Hitman 2, The Constance finds a means of escaping captivity and sets out to put the final stages of Providence’s grand plan into motion. With Diana serving as your handler, it’s up to 47 and Grey to hunt down and assassinate the last major powerhouses in Providence to incapacitate the organisation once and for all. This will be no easy goal however, as The Constance is out to upend their efforts at every opportunity and the events that follow this games narrative showcase how unpredictable he is with the lengths he will go to wipe Diana, 47 and Grey off the playing field. 

As far as narratives go, you can see from that description alone why I consider this game’s story to be the best of the trilogy. It doubles down on making this personal for all parties involved and incorporates a lot of what you’ve been working towards from Hitman 1 and 2. Diana and 47 have been led along by Providence from the very start and to finally be in a position to take them down for good is what makes this feel so climatic. You have had two prior games to develop a strong enough relationship to Diana, Lucas Grey and The Constance to feel the weight of their impact on the story as well. The stakes have never been higher and taking down Providence is the true endgame of it all. That’s not the only thing that makes the narrative compelling either. While Hitman 1 and 2 the story felt like it existed separate from the gameplay, in Hitman 3 I feel the story appropriately influences the gameplay in the smartest of fashions. You’re out to assassinate targets yes, but not without purpose or story-based fluctuations that add a real sense of variety to your core objective throughout each mission. What you’re doing in these levels feels integral to the ongoing narrative and you finally feel like you’re advancing the story through it.  

Story is not the only component of this game that feels like it’s been developed further though. In terms of gameplay this game has taken a major stride in nearly all departments. The levels themselves are the very best they’ve ever been. Built with scale and fluidity in mind; all of the levels offer you grand locales across the globes to play about in. You’ll be navigating the tallest skyscrapers in Dubai, huge mansions in England, desolate power stations in Berlin and vineyards in Argentina. Variety has never been an issue when it comes to Hitman’s level design but you really feel the developers pushing themselves here to make these locations truly iconic. The design of these levels invites you to experiment on a level you’ve never done before. You have a multitude of avenues to complete your objectives and the game wants to encourage you to explore and pick up on everything you hear and see. New elements like Shortcuts are a much-appreciated addition as they allow you to make accessing the level on further replays easier by permanently unlocking new routes to utilise. Challenges are more interesting as well as they require a lot more consideration this time around but their payoffs are even more rewarding. As I noted earlier though, one of the biggest and most compelling additions is how the assassination targets work in this game. You’re still out to kill a target, but the means and methods of how you do so change based on the level’s narrative. You won’t just be in a simple cat and mouse scenario every level, some levels will require you to actually ID targets, while others will have you needing to escape them. The way the gameplay objective changes up each level makes the game feel less repetitive and far more engaging and it’s an added bonus that it all incorporates the ongoing narrative into its function beautifully.

Hitman 3 is easily the best-looking game in the series too. Serving as a cross-gen game between Xbox One, PS4 and Series X and PS5; you can truly see IOI had put every effort into defining a visual experience across all consoles. The locations themselves highlight a lot of that technical work. Dubai specifically stands out to me as one of the game’s most compelling locations just for its scale alone. Each locations feels designed in a way that displays its inherent beauty. There’s a smart use of lighting and ray-tracing reflections to give further detail to these locales as well. The amount of AI mapping in each level is beyond comprehension too. Just on the basis of the scale of this game to see so many people inhabit areas, all following set rules and routines without the level crashing or my PS5 burning is beyond impressive.  It makes immersing yourself in their environments so much more fun because you have so many details to pick up on this time around.

In conclusion, I am so happy that Hitman 3 was able to conclude this trilogy in such a satisfying fashion. It perfectly addresses all of the criticism labelled at it from the prior instalments and deliver an experience that respects all the investment players will have given to the series at this point.  It also goes to prove IOI Interactive are the stewards of sandbox-orientated experiences and despite being done with Hitman for the time being I am very much looking forward to seeing how they take their design principles and apply it into the world of their next game; Project 007.