There’s no denying that Io Interactive has done a great job of rebuilding the Hitman franchise with the recent reboot trilogy. Hitman 3 will be the last game in this trilogy, before the developer moves on to do something slightly different. Last week we got a good look at the game modes that this final release will have at launch, and it’s a bit like a greatest hits of the reboot trilogy to date. Let’s dive in.
Campaign
The rebooted campaign that we know and love will be part of Hitman 3, obviously. It will follow the final part of this version of Agent 47’s story, and I think we’re all excited to see how it plays out. This mode promises to pack in more stunning areas, more open world sandbox gameplay, and way more opportunities for silly murder. I think that there will probably be a few gameplay innovations too, but we’ll probably hear about those closer to the game’s launch in January 2021.
Elusive Targets
Elusive Targets are as much a part of Hitman as the campaign is. These targets show up for a weekend, and you have one single chance to take them down. They’re often extremely difficult, but they’re always fun to play around with and try out. I love the way they mix up the areas that you’re familiar with from the campaign as well.
Escalations
I now can’t imagine a hitman game without Escalations. These contracts begin easy, with a single objective. After that’s done though, you’ll need to complete it again with two objectives, and so on until you have four or five. The final objectives always play with the way you’ll have been completing the rest of them so far, forcing you to rethink and change how you complete the rest of them.
Contracts Mode
This mode has been a staple since it was added in Hitman Absolution. you play through a mission, kill a target with certain parameters, and then set that as a mission for everyone else in the game. I love looking through the Contracts Missions to see which are the toughest, and trying to complete them. This is where the Hitman community is most creative, and I think that it’s amazing that this mode will be returning so early in Hitman 3.
Sniper Assassin
From the sounds of it, all previous Hitman Sniper Assassin missions will be coming to Hitman 3. It will also be possible to take down targets in Sniper Assassin missions in the Hitman 3 levels, which will be completely new. These are a proper highlight of the reboot trilogy, and will definitely draw a lot of players back into the game.
Those are all of the modes that will be in the game at launch. It has been confirmed that Ghost Mode won’t be, and I think that’s because most people don’t bother with it that much. There’s also a VR mode that will be coming to the game at some point. Whether it’s at launch, I don’t know yet.