Hitman 3 Review (Xbox One) – A 1000 Ways to Kill

After a chaotic week for Wallstreet, we are surprised that no one has hired a Hitman. For those who have been living under a rock or just missed the chaos, wild things are happening. Earlier this week, Gamestop’s stock blew up; a stock that was four dollars increased significantly. Sadly, higher powers were not pleased about average people buying stocks that short sellers were dumping and increasing their value. Just like the evil organization in the Hitman: World of Assassination Trilogy, Providence, the people in power will do anything to hold onto their power. In Hitman 3, prepare to kill in a variety of ways.

On January 20th, 2021, IO Interactive released Hitman 3; the game is available on Xbox One & Series X, PlayStation 4 & 5, PC, Google Stadia, and Nintendo Switch. Before Hitman 3 was released, the last Hitman I dove into was Hitman Absolution. That experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I swore that I would not give the franchise a second chance. Prior to the Absolution debacle, Hitman Blood Money was one of my favorite games. Now nine years later, IO Interactive has more than redeemed itself. The Hitman reboot and Hitman 2 returned Hitman to what fans of the series loved. In the World of Assassination Trilogy, the player can choose how they want to execute their target; there is no linear path and many ways to kill your prey.

Gameplay

Agent 47 is back and out for blood. With the help of Diana and Grey, Agent 47 is hunting down the remaining members of Providence. Throughout Hitman 3’s story, Agent 47 will travel to Dubai, England, China, Argentina, Germany, and Romania. At the start of each mission, you can watch a short briefing cutscene that explains what the upcoming mission is about. The objectives tab also shows the player their targets. When online, you are able to see a variety of challenges that will earn you experience. As you master the level, by finding new locations, killing in different ways, opening shortcuts, and completing mission stories, you are rewarded. These rewards make it easier for Agent 47 to take out his target.

Before Each mission, the player can go to the planning tab to prepare for the mission. At the start of the game, you are only able to equip Agent 47 with the base gear. As the game progresses, and you discover new weapons, gear, objects, and locations, you are able to modify your starting line-up. Based on your level of mastery, you can start each mission at the beginning area all the way up to the final area where your main target is located. You can also choose a location to hide a smuggled-in item, Agent 47’s suit, your concealed weapon, and carried gear. Altering these can make the mission easier or harder. The player can see their level of mastery by going to the far right tab.

Sadly, the game does not allow Agent 47 to smuggle in any alternative weapons beyond the silenced pistol. This lack of weapon inclusion feels rather disappointing especially after picking up varying sniper rifles, submachine guns, and assault rifles.

Difficulties

In addition to alternating the mission’s starting details, the player can choose which difficulty they want to try the mission on; the three mission difficulties are Casual, Professional, and Master. Casual difficulty allows the player to save multiple times, guides them to story guidelines, disables cameras, minimalizes the security, and makes the AI less observant. On Master difficulty, the player must adhere to their surroundings and blend in; this difficulty only allows for one save, no guidelines, extra enforcement, and more observant AI.

Depending on which difficulty you choose determines how easy the mission is to complete. At launch, the game would spawn the targets close to the starting area. This made it easy for the player to assassinate both targets quickly. After videos of fast assassinations emerged, IO Interactive moved the targets’ spawn locations. When in the mission, the player has the option on how they want to execute the mission. If you want to shoot every enemy that comes in your way, you can. If you want to be stealthy and play through each levels’ missions, you can as well.

The player can choose to go the run and gun approach, but in doing so makes Hitman 3 feel rather lackluster. Yes, shooting people in a game can be great stress relief but you will turn an 8 to 12-hour game into one that takes less than 3 hours to complete. Why buy a new game, just to rush through it? Instead, players should undertake each level’s missions to eliminate their target. Hitman 3 offers a variety of mission options to eliminate each Providence member. Want to disguise yourself as the Undertaker and bury your target alive? Do it! Want to play Sherlock Holmes and help your target discover who killed their relative? That works too!

Story with Gameplay

No matter which path you choose, Hitman 3 can offer an enjoyable time for stealth and shooter gamers alike. Missions within each level help the player to understand their target while allowing them to get close to their target. Aggravatingly, some missions within different levels require that you sneak through a restricted area to continue the mission. Some of these restricted areas can be next to impossible to sneak through without getting spotted. This makes being perfectly stealthy rather difficult and frustrating. Even on casual difficulty, the guards tend to be highly observant.

Jumping into Hitman 3‘s story without playing the prior two games did leave me at a disadvantage. Thankfully, IO Interactive has included a story so far trailer to help the player catch up slightly. Sadly, this trailer does not go into depth about the story of the prior two games. So if you are going to jump into Hitman 3‘s story, it would be a good idea to look up videos of the prior game’s story. You do have the opportunity to purchase the expanded version of Hitman 3 which includes Hitman 1 and 2.

At no point during the playthrough did I go, “This is an amazing story.” Yes, there are some funny and shocking moments but no wow this is so innovative or unique. This could be due to coming into the rebooted franchise without playing its predecessors. Instead, the game felt a bit hollow.

Executions and Kills

Yes, we get to play as the Agent 47 we know and love, but what really makes each mission unique. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great execution options but nothing made me feel the same way as I did playing through Hitman Blood Money. Maybe I missed something because I am still playing through the different levels trying out the different executions but nothing has compared to playing Santa to kill your target or dressing up as a giant yellow bird during Mardi Gras. Don’t get me wrong, melting someone’s mind, playing Sherlock Holmes to discover a family conspiracy, and electrocuting someone with their own art can be amusing. It just lacked the wow factor.

Hitman 3 offers a variety of ways to kill your target. Each level offers some unique executions and some basic ones. Want to kill someone with an explosive golfball or cute their parachute? Why not? Want to snipe your target from across the map go ahead. IO Interactive has done a great job offering a variety of ways to kill your target. Sadly, some executions can be buggy. The game’s AI can fly into the roof, stop in place, or even continue to move after dying. On multiple occasions, the game had to be reloaded due to something bugging out. When Agent 47 goes to snap someone’s neck on the ground, the animation rarely goes through properly.

Graphics and Sound

Outside of the sheer amount of options to kill your target, Hitman 3‘s soundtrack is its second-best feature. At various times during the playthrough, I would just sit there and listen to the game’s music rather than focusing on the mission at hand. I can easily say that I have sat on Hitman 3‘s menu screen and listened to it for hours while doing work; it’s no Ava Maria but it is still enjoyable.

Hitman 3’s graphics can be breathtaking at times. The graphics do struggle a bit on the Xbox One. Certain objects would be a low resolution until getting closer to the object. Other objects would just randomly disappear while passing by. Certain kills and executions will cause the AI to bug out; there is nothing like choking an enemy out and having them fly up into the ceiling. The world surrounding each level is probably the most interesting thing. Seeing how each object is designed and put together can be more interesting than each character’s design.

At times, the AI would be able to see things far away just by staring in that direction. This would at times cause Agent 47 to blow his cover despite the AI being over 100 feet away. Nothing like trying to be stealthy and each AI having Eagle Vision.

Controls

Hitman 3′s controls are by far its weakest element of our review criteria. Like other shooters, LT and RT are used to aim and shoot any weapon Agent 47 is holding. Despite offering aim assist, aiming at your target can be rather difficult. The game’s starting aim speed feels too fast so we lowered it for accuracy. Inventory is controlled by the directional pad and it is very easy to accidentally pull out a weapon or illegal object. When an item is equipped it is possible to drop the item; however, in doing so, if the object is an illegal object it will cause the AI to become alert. Unlike other shooters, the left bumper controls Agent 47’s running whereas the right bumper control his instinct; the right bumper is also used to reload Agent 47’s gun.

Hitman 3’s right side controls are easier to use than its bumper and directional pad controls. The Y button is used to interact or pick up objects. Holding Y would be a more effective and reasonable option to go through your inventory than the directional pad. The B button is used to take cover or drag a body. At times you will want to hide against a wall but accidentally start dragging a body instead; the opposite can occur as well. Yes, the player can invert the X and Y Axis, however, you are unable to remap the controller for efficiency.

Replay Value

Hitman 3’s replay value ties into the game’s story. Players have the opportunity to undertake each level in a variety of ways. By altering the game’s difficulty and starting loadout, each playthrough can be unique. With a variety of ways to kill, each playthrough can be as unique as you desire. With Hitman 3 offering players the opportunity to combine Hitman 1 and 2 into Hitman 3, the player has a lot of missions they can undertake.

Wrapping Up

The fact that Hitman 3 is the final installment in the World of Assassination Trilogy feels a bit underwhelming. The base game only offers six levels with the final level taking place on a train. That train offers very linear movement and only a few ways to undertake the mission. For players who own Hitman 1 and 2 or buy the deluxe edition, the ability to consolidate all three titles into one menu is wonderful. Sadly, we were not able to experience the VR version of Hitman 3 like our PlayStation counterparts; if we were able to, it would bring a whole different perspective to Hitman 3.

Hitman 3‘s controls made the game feel more like a chore to play than something that you can emerge yourself into. You do eventually get used to it but it does take time. The game still has quite a few bugs despite being out for almost two weeks. We do applaud IO Interactive for changing the AI’s spawn points making the mission more difficult. The Game’s controls feel like a hindrance rather than easy to use and the fact that you can not remap them makes it even more aggravating. The game’s environmental graphics can be a sight to see when rendering properly and the game’s soundtrack is something you can listen to while working or trying to unwind.

Should you buy it?

Overall, Hitman 3 is an enjoyable game but feels like a lackluster installment to a renowned trilogy. It is easy to see why other outlets have scored the game highly; however, it does feel like some of the high scores are inflated due to nostalgia or release hype. The game is a good installment but does not feel like an end title. Hopefully, in the future, IO Interactive will fix some of the bugs and allow players to alter the controller layout.

So should you buy Hitman 3? The easy answer is yes but not immediately. Hitman 3 is a solid game but it doesn’t feel worth its 60 dollars asking price. Why pay 60 dollars for a game you can perfect in 12 hours when there are games that can offer you over 40 hours of gameplay for the same price. 30 to 40 Dollars seems like a fair purchase price for this game, but it ultimately comes down to how you value the game.

If you do intend on streaming Hitman 3, you will need to use a capture card to broadcast to Twitch or Facebook. Streaming from the console directly is blocked.