I held off on playing this for some time because it was an Epic Games exclusive for a while and after that it was confusing how they folded everything under the World of Assassination umbrella. Even figuring out what to actually buy on Steam if I only wanted to play the Hitman 3 campaign was something of a chore. I love the series so much I was also going to play it of course but it was probably a good idea to give it a bit of time because I can still get burned out by playing too much of something I enjoy. This final installment of the trilogy got off to a rocky start for me as the Dubai map was underwhelming but the rest are so very good with some interesting variations of the existing formula. I am however upset by the unreliable availability of the servers as it has an online requirement even though I’m only interested in the single-player experience.

Following directly from the events of the previous game, agent 47 and his handler Diana Burnwood ally with former mercenary Lucas Grey and break from the ICA. The Constant Arthur Edwards has escaped but 47 and Grey work together to take down the partners who make up the Providence group of the world’s movers and shakers. Beginning in Dubai in what is obviously a knock-off Burj Khalifa, 47 eliminates the partners. However Edwards uses the opportunity to seize the assets of the partners for himself, gaining full control over Providence, and is able to track down Grey. Burnwood too falls into Edwards’ hands and he shows proof to her that it was 47 who murdered her parents long ago in order to recruit her as the next Constant. Soon, the entire ICA is turned against 47 and sends a kill team after him. 47 is forced to consider the ICA as his enemy and that Burnwood may have betrayed him as well. The main plot has never been the series’ selling point and I could have been just as happy if the game consisted of a series of disconnected missions with nothing holding them together. But it does work well enough and brings 47’s story to a satisfying close.

There aren’t many new mechanics in this third installment. You now have a camera which can be used to scan for clues and interface with certain devices. Combined with the security dongles of varying access levels, this makes for a new type of electronic locks that can’t be defeated by the existing electronic key hackers. Then there’s the Berlin map which like the previous Mumbai map starts with the targets being unidentified, making it a different type of challenge than the usual missions. The Mendoza map includes Burnwood herself in it. 47 is required to keep her alive but it doesn’t matter if she witnesses him killing or knocking others out so it makes for a novel dynamic. Otherwise, this is pretty much like the previous games with guided mission stories, plenty of ways to kill the targets and large, rich areas with plenty of interactive elements.

The first of the Hitman reboot games wowed me with how good it looked but I have to admit that by now that same engine is starting to feel long in the tooth. Its bland, low-resolution textures are particularly unappealing and the lack of detail on its character models makes it so that you don’t really want to look too closely at their faces. Still the maps are as expansive as ever and this game cleverly masks some of the shortcomings of the graphics with very dark areas. For example, the Dartmoor map includes a large, stately manor with a very dim interior. It’s crammed full of paintings, ornaments, luxurious fixtures of all kinds and the dim lighting not only feels natural but also hides its less than perfect fidelity. Similarly the Chongqing map is set at night and in the rain, giving it the perfect cyberpunk atmosphere. Far off buildings in the distance effectively create the illusion of a much larger map than what really exists and the shadows ensure that there is no need for sharp textures.

As always, it’s the design of the maps themselves that determine how good this game is and this entry in the series doesn’t disappoint. The very first Dubai map is underwhelming to be sure. I was looking forward to exploring this fictional version of the Burj Khalifa myself but it’s a fully interior space of several levels. Only by looking outside the windows do you see that you’re high up in the sky. Fortunately the subsequent maps are much better. Dartmoor itself isn’t that interesting a place to explore but the stories in it, including a murder mystery that you need to solve, are just fantastic. Berlin puts 47 in panic mode, alone with no resources and against multiple enemies. But the title of the mission aptly puts it, no matter the numbers against him, 47 is the Apex Predator. Mendoza is more or less the epitome of what the engine can do, a wonderfully large and complex map with many moving elements, complex scripting and a beautiful illusion of space. Finally the Carpathian Mountains is just a very short sequence that allows 47 to go all out with combat, using the full arsenal of what is included in the game but is never really used if you’re playing as a proper silent assassin.

I do note that as much as I love this style of gameplay, it’s probably a good idea to end things here. Whereas once I would have found it challenging to do a silent assassin run, by this point I’m so familiar with the mechanics that even a perfect silent assassin, suit only run seems straightforward once I’ve learned a map. The building blocks that make up the game also feels outdated by now. As the Chongqing map shows, there ought to be drone patrolling high security areas and taking them down should be non-trivial. A new game in this genre would need more complex alert mechanics. Taking down cameras should not just be a matter of shooting them and knocking out guards who are supposed to be in communications with one another should have more serious consequences. Certainly they will also need a better engine with updated graphics capabilities. There are times when the Mendoza map feels somewhat janky when some of the scripts don’t seem to fire correctly.

Anyway, I’d pronounce this a worthy conclusion to the trilogy. The Hitman franchise truly is a game series like no other, offering an expansive virtual playground that allows the player so many more ways to interact with it than just combat. I am however disappointed by the unreliability of their servers as there were at least a couple of occasions when I sat down to play and just couldn’t because they were down for maintenance. It’s probably because they’d just released a new update but I’m not interested in it at all and yet offline play isn’t really possible due to the unlocking requirements. It’s no wonder the players worked out a way to set up their own offline server to mimic the functions of the official one. Anyway, IO Interactive’s next game is supposedly a 007 one and so will undoubtedly be more combat-centric. It might be interesting if it weren’t just another shooter but I’d have to wait and see.