One of the biggest video game announcements of the year so far has been Hitman 3, which despite the number ‘3’ is actually the tenth game in a video game series which launched back in the year 2000.
But this is actually the third game in the “World of Assassination” trilogy which began with 2016’s Hitman reboot, a fabulous game which took the game’s protagonist Agent 47 to locations all over the world.
And Hitman 3 will also feature a variety of locations for you to exercise your trigger finger in including Dubai, where Agent 47 will infiltrate a towering skyscraper in order to accomplish his mission as was seen in the Sony reveal event trailer.
Video game developer IO Interactive spoke more about the game in a recent developer video, highlighting that this will be “the end of a journey”.
Also interesting is the fact that Hitman 3 will be a “more dark, and more brooding than the other two chapters” according to main writer Michael Vogt.
This is something that those who prefer a more serious tone in games will welcome, especially taking into account that the previous entry in the series Hitman 2 let players knock out people by throwing a fish at them and also dress as a clown and a flamingo… But of course, Hitman’s gameplay has always been more humorous while the story cinematics have always had a darker tone, but I wouldn’t mind if things were a bit more serious overall here than in the previous games.
But if there are any doubts that Hitman 3 will be as much a labor of love as Hitman 2 was, IO tries to erase those doubts in the video, with executive producer Forest Swartout saying that this upcoming Hitman game will be “a love letter to our core fans”.
Read more: Hitman 3: release date, gameplay trailer and PC system requirements
Something it’s likely to please those who have been playing 2018’s Hitman 2 for a while now is the fact that IO is “enabling progression carryover” from the previous game in the series as one of IO’s developers explains in the video, while it’s also encouraging to hear community developer Clemens Koch claim that this latest instalment in the long-running series will be “the best Hitman game”.
Big, bold words for sure, but for this game to top 2016’s brilliant Hitman reboot (arguably the best entry in the series to date), it will need to feature even better locations and also bring back the superb motion captured cutscenes which were so enjoyable to watch in the first game.
Unlike the first game, though, Hitman 3 won’t be released episodically. Something which made Hitman 2016 a great experience for many was the fact that it was released episodically from March to November 2016, giving people plenty of time to explore each of the game’s massive locations and get the most out of the game. With Hitman 3 the full experience will be available from day one, although hopefully additional content will be put out by IO, including likely a paid expansion pass as was the case with Hitman 2 and the enjoyable and nerve-wracking Elusive Target missions which were so much fun in the previous games.
Thankfully, all of the levels from both 2016’s Hitman and Hitman 2 will be playable from within Hitman 3 if you already own those games or dish out for an upgrade pack, giving players access to an enormous amount of content from within Hitman 3. And taking into account that progression will carry over from Hitman 2, it’s likely both fans of the series and newcomers could be devoting an ungodly amount of hours to this game when it hits the shelves early next year.
Note: Hitman 3 will be released in January 2021. Available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.