The conclusion of the murder world trilogy leaves us with a title that keeps the bar for quality. Hitman 3 offers another dose of replayable sandbox.
We reached the end of the trip. Agent 47 faces his last tango in this trilogy from the world of murder. It has taken us almost five years to complete the creative perspective of IO Interactive, a reboot whose main attraction was to fulfill the desire of the fans: to create the sandbox experience that does justice to the nature of the character. In other words, take your roots and take advantage of the possibilities offered by today’s technology. Something to be thankful for, given how different the path he had taken with Absolution.
The purpose of Hitman 3 is not to evolve the formula, far from it. The Danes have chosen to follow the outstanding trend of the previous two, maturing a formula that ensured the success and recognition of their community. In short, lay the foundations of what becomes the final platform for the three in discord. We are facing a game that goes beyond being the closing of some events; It is the right place to experience the elements that define Hitman at his best. Too bad that the business model has led to a scarce title in novelties.
Close the wound: bet on the narrative
We had to wait until 2021 to witness a greater narrative effort than we were used to. In the previous ones, the information pill consisted of a brief scene before and after finishing the turn scenario. Here the division is maintained, except that it now has significance at the levels themselves.
The introduction of most levels will now take a short narrative stretch.
It’s something we’ve talked about in our prints. Dubai, without going any further, includes a section of just 5 minutes, which extends the start while we know in detail the situation of the objectives. The trend continues practically at all levels, except in exceptional cases. In some they are more obvious; in others, not so much. Dartmoor, for example, dispenses with the plot introduction, while Berlin does the opposite: it packs the scene.
These changes that affect the playable area are special circumstances from the first time you start the mission. Once you complete it, an alternative entry will appear that will put you at the beginning of the real level, although the plot option is maintained in case you want to relive it again. In any case, that narrative push is mainly transferred to the videos between missions, where there is more useful footage, which makes us know in greater depth the situation of each part.
The reports are more relevant throughout the levels.
There are subjects in practice. First of all, the narrative conveys a feeling similar to that of previous works. Sometimes he jumps, his speed is high compared to what the viewer picks up. In some moments there appear characters whose role you do not know. “What exactly is he doing here?” We often ask ourselves. And second, the perception that the objectives are a mere formality. The relevance of the objectives of Hitman 3 is high for the assassin’s universe, and at the same time you do not connect too much with his motivations, especially after the circumstances we will go through. Fortunately for IO Interactive, this small bump is better crossed after knowing the rest of the game.
There is room for surprise
Perhaps that is one of the headlines that he leaves us. There is room to surprise the player. There have been many experiences that we have gone through since 2016. Bombay, Miami, Hokkaido, Sapienza… We were involved in movie situations (and pun intended). In that scenario, it is difficult to squeeze the string of ideas on the table. Their greatest achievement as a team has been precisely that, pushing the creative limits in some of the scenarios.
Two locations make us fall in love. Dartmoor, as you may have seen during the promotional period, is one of them. The main story hangs us the detective badge, in which we must unravel a mysterious death in a mansion in the southwest of England. Although the final objective is the same as always, to kill a person, the course of the mission involves us in a real investigation. We are introduced to two new mechanics: interrogating the suspects and collecting clues in their rooms.
A mansion, a family and a corpse. The perfect cocktail for any mystery story.
That’s where the smartphone comes into play, the new tool with which 47 will always start. The camera it incorporates has different uses. On certain electronic surfaces, you can modify them at will (a window, for example), in addition to collecting information that is added to the rest of the report. Basically we will have to scrutinize the environment by placing the missing pieces in this complex puzzle. We will not go into revealing sensitive details about its progress (we insist: it is very worth it that you see as little as possible), what we can say is that you will have the same freedom as always. Do you prefer to take other alternatives? You can, without a doubt. The greatness of the Dartmoor design is that it works in any way, be it as a traditional Hitman level or by experimenting with this new line.
The second location that we must highlight is Berlin. It took us three games to find ourselves immersed in a level that does justice to the nature of the brand. We will be ambushed by a group of enemies in a giant entertainment venue just outside the heart of Germany. The complex is divided into several areas, among which the abandoned factory stands out, which is home to a hard house disco. We do not know who and how many we face, we only know that they will not let us escape alive. At that moment the game of cat and mouse begins, only now we will be the prey.
From prey to hunter. You must be relentless in Berlin.
Our mission in the mission is to reverse the situation. Stay attentive to the stage, listen to all the conversations and deduce who has put a price on our head. That is to say, gradually become the hunter, all while trying to maintain the tranquility of the place. You can imagine the calico: there are hundreds of people giving their all on the dance floor and surroundings. At night he runs everything, which requires unusual security activity (in case it wasn’t already a challenge). All the elements are produced there in an explosive mixture. Instantly passes between the classics.
Experiment and tradition, the two sides of Hitman 3
We could define these two locations as the experimental part of Hitman 3, which is accompanied by the epilogue, another of the levels that break with the rest. The other three remaining (Dubai, Chongqing and Mendoza) follow the tiered structure of the traditional side inch by inch. It’s not bad at all, far from it, just that we can look forward to the sandbox experience from start to finish forever.
In the trailer at the beginning of January, we talked about the progression of Dubai as we played it. Despite the coldness of the first visit, as we scratched the surface we found a perfect level to fit in with user contracts. There is a lot of fabric to cut on it. If we put it in the comparison, it resembles Paris, since both follow a design that takes advantage of the vertical division of security levels.
The streets of this Chinese city hide more than they show.
Chongqing, on the other hand, is totally asymmetrical. A crossroads in the Chinese city hides laboratories of the highest technological level. Towards the top, a makeshift research complex. Towards the bottom … Better that you discover it yourselves. The start of the level is misleading, because you can expect a kind of reinterpretation of Marrakech or Bombay. Nothing is further from reality. It is a level focused on two very specific areas, full of interiors, nooks and so on. In fact, it is the level that best uses the smartphone, next to Dubai.
When you get to the second area, it’s hard to imagine how to get there for a suit only game. Given the security of the complex, the best way is to pass yourself off as one of them, to gradually progress up the chain of command. Mission stories continue to have their place in most scenarios, which allow us to play following a specific plot that takes advantage of the special peculiarities that we encounter. They continue to maintain that unusual point as we approach the target. Although the number of main stories is usually around three, we have detected a significant increase in secondary arches.
Hitman 3 explores a greater number of secondary arcs. There is life beyond the main stories.
It has never been so important to be attentive to the rest of the characters (Berlin, especially). When we approach a character that looks different from the rest, the event, the window of opportunity, will be activated. These are not added to the main boxes, but are passed on to the mass of reports received. Veterans will not be taken by surprise; When following these routes, you must represent the role as the real person would, so do not expect any mark or help (as there would be in a professional following a main one). Mendoza is an example of what we say. This beautiful Argentine vineyard is the miniature Sapienza from Hitman 3. Its design is enjoyed at all levels.
Maturing a successful formula carries a price to pay
Hitman 3 lives in the middle of a fine line. On one side are the reasons why the concept of this delivery is clear. The study prefers to bet on the present, to play it safe. If something works, why should it change? But there is a grayscale to that argument. The scale that dictates that a successful formula can coexist with novelties at the level of a complete product, justifying the presence of a continuation.
Unfortunately there is nothing of that in the playable plane. Neither the smartphone nor the shortcuts mean changes in weight. There is less progress between its predecessor to this one than from the first to the second. It is the game that we have already known and squeezed these years ago, only with another catalog of unpublished scenarios. Within the plan of the Danish team is what we have been talking about: experimentation. The news orbit on the design of some scenarios, not on the playable scheme.
Shortcuts create permanent escape routes. Fulfill its requirement only once and take advantage of the scenario in future games.
The limited launch content doesn’t help either. There are only a couple of escalation contracts from day one. Outside the main levels, motifs are missing to remove the six main structures, as was the case in previous works. Post-launch support plays a relevant role in this regard. Barely 2 years and a couple of months separate us from Hitman 2. It is a short time, too. It cannot achieve the same impact as before.
On the other hand, we understand the motivations that accompany the decision. With the arrival of PS5 and Xbox Series X | S, Hitman 3 has become a perfect opportunity to have the trilogy in the same game that takes advantage of the hardware seven years ahead. If you have copies of the previous ones in your profile, you can play them from a single application, with the graphic and playable news of 2021. The same happens on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia, only the appeal changes for obvious reasons.
The number of people in the mass stages is counted by hundreds.
What has been discussed in these last paragraphs will splash veterans. And it is normal. Those who have accompanied Agent 47 in this section, know very well what there is. They love the formula, feel it is one of a kind and do not seek changes that compromise the experience. It is a totally valid argument. As valid as thinking that with an extra year we could have had more significant news, which really pushed the end of the trip. Which does not detract from the value reflected in the scenarios of this release.
Greater uniformity
Not everything could be disadvantages. Maturing the present has allowed the game to polish certain aspects, such as artificial intelligence. In our video Reviews, which you can see at the top of the text, we gave an example of an event that had happened to us. During the exploration, we found a sniper rifle in the attic of a rural house. Fate made the window of the room have a privileged view of the rest of the scene, which coincided with the route of the target to be assassinated. When he was shot and shot down, the noise generated by the bullet caused security around the body to form groups to take the house and investigate the origin of the shot.
Death lurks around every corner.
What a sandbox-created moment in the Hitman formula may mean actually gave off greater consistency in the behavior of enemies. It is a change that will not go unnoticed among fans. Polishing these types of edges makes us find a solid, rocky product that works like a real Swiss watch. The classic levels have improved their image by being accompanied by the visual changes of Hitman 3. There are small modifications of certain objects, but not enough to change the perspective we had on them.
In terms of visual muscle, secondary NPCs have gained visual quality. The models have better textures and the lighting has received a noticeably noticeable update. The Reviews has been carried out on the PC version, in which the optimization is at a point similar to that of Hitman 2. We have used a team composed of an RTX 2070 Super, an i7 8700K and 16 GB of memory. It is always above 100fps in a combination between ultra and high at 1440p. There are only few cases in which, when gathering a significant mass of people on the screen, it falls to 80, approximately. We must emphasize that the texts are located entirely in Spanish, not the voices, which remain in English.
CONCLUSION
The quality of Hitman 3 is undoubted. The scenarios that accompany this installment are divided between experimentation and the traditional line marked since 2016. Dartmoor and Berlin stand out for the first. They are risky levels, which offer another point of view as valid as the rest. Mendoza, Chongqin and Dubai introduce you to the typical sandbox from start to finish, which does not mean that it is bad, far from it, just that they fail to surprise like the other duo. Maturing the formula carries a price to pay. There are no playable news of weight. The formula moves away from risks to propose what it knows how to do well, but neither the smartphone nor the shortcuts shake it at the controls. Veterans will find the quality experience they received in the rest of the trilogy. We can only think about what would have happened when extending the time frames between deliveries. As, for example, in intensification contracts, rare launch. Regardless, Hitman 3 offers the ultimate platform for the murder world. Of course, if you have the rest.
THE BEST
- Dartmoor and Berlin, two settings that pass between the classics of the trilogy.
- Keeps the bar for quality: exceptional design in all settings.
- The murder platform. If you have the above, relive its contents with the graphical and playable improvements of this installment.
- Nice contrast between tradition and experimentation.
- Graphic update: it performs very well even with a high number of people on the screen.
WORST
- Limited in content. Just a couple of launch escalation contracts.
- Maturing the formula has a price to pay: there is a lack of important playable news.
Very good
A game with a remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good buy, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.
