Hitman 3 Review

Your mission 47 is to infiltrate the ICA, bring down the ring leaders, and destroy the Constant. With the release of Hitman 3, Agent 47’s story comes to an end, and it’s a magnificent ending to this fantastic game franchise. They’ve really nailed it on this one, so please stick around, hit subscribe, get your favorite flamingo costume on, and let’s get into it.

If you haven’t played Hitman before, I suggest that you do before embarking on Hitman 3. The game centers around assassin for hire and fun guy about town Agent 47 and his handler Diana Burnwood. Gameplay-wise, it’s all about stealth, changing into increasingly outrageous costumes, and sabotaging the environment to cause accidental deaths.

Hitman 3 begins with Lucas Grey and Agent 47 infiltrating an enormous Dubai skyscraper from the air, and it’s an exciting beginning. They’re dodging helicopters, parachuting in, and making their way in like some sort of Daft Punk video clip. It’s a really thrilling opening to this game, and the action doesn’t let up in those cut sequences.

What I love about the Hitman franchise is that they manage to pack in so much storytelling in these little six-minute cutscenes, something that many 100-hour or more games sometimes fail to do well. The first level might seem nothing more than an extra Hitman 2 level, but its appearances are deceptive. I think it does two things in the gameplay. It sets up fans for the expectations, so this is a Hitman game, and this is what you’re getting. It does feel like a Hitman 2 level, but as soon as you start playing through the other levels, you’ll see why they’ve done that, and that’s because it kind of anchors the player in what is a familiar thing and then begins to tip it on its head.

So one of the greatest aspects of Hitman 3 is that it really plays with the expectations of gamers who have come to this through the Hitman franchise and says, “What can we do different, and what can we subvert about the whole substance of gameplay in this game?”

Now, while the Dartmoor level does kind of achieve this twist on its head by making Agent 47 participate in a locked room murder mystery a la Knives Out, it’s levels three and four where this game really shines. And for that alone, I think this game is worth the cost of admission. These two levels get up to game of the year technology because the way they utilize the environmental storytelling, the element of surprise, and some of the complexities and nuances in the ways and methods of assassination in these two levels is just top-notch and 10 out of 10.

As with all Hitman games, it doesn’t take a long time to play through the story arc itself. There are only six levels, and that’s part of the beauty of the Hitman series; it’s concision. I love how every piece of dialogue in levels actually serves both the narrative but also uncovers new uncanny ways of assassinating your targets.

The Hitman franchise has always been at the top of the ladder when it comes to environment design, and this is no exception. All of the levels have exceptional lighting, especially Dubai with all the reflections on the water. These levels look spectacular on PlayStation 5, and they’re taking full advantage of the capacity of the console to render beautiful reflections, beautiful lighting effects, and you won’t be disappointed should you buy Hitman 3.

I think if you’re a long-term fan, you will absolutely love the conclusion to this game. Agent 47 and Diana’s story get some very complex twists without going into sentimental or sappy territory that wouldn’t be consistent with the characters, and I’m glad that they didn’t go there.

Understandably, Hitman isn’t for everyone. Hack and slash gamers will get frustrated with the stealth gameplay, but for me, a stealth gamer who has a love of point-and-click adventure games, I really enjoyed Hitman 3. I think it is worth the price of admission for.