There are creative games and games that put creativity to work: if the former are often related to something artistic or otherwise linked to imagination, the latter are many more and work not so much on shaping something from nothing, but on the use of your mind to make the most of what you have. Hitman has always been, since its first release, one of these games: a sandbox title - when it was really difficult to be - where the cards on the table were unlimited and the possibilities of killing your target, although not really infinite, were really many . All this has not changed over time, on the contrary it has always improved with countless solutions to commit the perfect murder, arriving at the recent Hitman 3.
"Freedom" however, often does not rhyme with "plot": we know many games that manage to reconcile an intriguing story with a non-linear gameplay, but when the plot presses, especially in the cutscenes, the player's choices are reduced to the bone . This obviously is a price to pay if you want to give the user an emotion of a certain type. Hitman 3 more or less takes this concept, works around it, and manages to offer a fantastic compromise, generating bread both for those who want to continue in the journey of Agent 47 towards its goal, both for those who are in love with the brand for the freedom granted.
Hold my Piano Wire
Before we move on with all the interesting news, let's talk about the basics of this game: Hitman 3, like its predecessors, puts our favorite hitman (Agent 47) in search of his target to kill. In doing so, he will be able to count on his skills as a killer, his skills of disguise (which will allow him to wear most of the clothes of his victims) and his skills in knowing how to mix with people. Often starting with standard equipment (silenced gun, piano rope, coins to distract the guards and the brand new smartphone), you will then have to work to find the most suitable way - in your opinion - to close the contract. The World of Assassination platform, which in this third chapter reaches its peak allowing you to import the missions of the first two chapters, also adds the possibility of replaying the missions in the various locations by changing the entry point, equipment and so on.
Hitman 3 in his 6 new locations proposes a decidedly more vertical plot: this obviously does not mean linearity, but simply that if the various missions of the first two chapters allowed to have ample room for maneuver, without any scene "forced" by the story, this time the case is different. The six missions, each in its own way, propose "twists" of the basic concept of Hitman's mission: we will not go into details, but you just need to know that for each of them you will have to learn to take advantage of a different approach. As mentioned, however, in the middle your freedom will always be the same, but if you need to do a certain thing to get the plot going, then you will be forced. At least in the first run.
In fact, the game "imposes" its rules only the first time you do the mission: this means that there will be events, scenes and even dialogues created ad hoc for the first run, but that will disappear in the following ones. This dynamic is very exciting: it seems to witness a meeting between Hitman Absolution and the new trilogy, where the concessions given by the sandbox system are exceptional, however, giving the right space to the narration. Here then is that the 6 missions, each in its own way, take the game system we already know from 2016 and use it as a mold to adapt to 6 different types of gameplay, each different from the other and capable of giving an interesting twist to the classic. “Murder on commission” when you first do the job. Accompanying it all is a more accurate study of the design of the settings, always of the highest level, but which this time seems to be able to propose more details and more facets (also thanks to the finishing touches made on this third chapter).
The innovations introduced in the game, after removing the technical refinements related to textures, sound and action dynamics (which includes improved movements and a more fluid system), are finally reduced to smartphone, which in the new missions will allow you to activate and deactivate certain devices, which perhaps could have been done differently but which in the end does not affect the game at all. The real novelty, at the cost of becoming repetitive, however, remains the skill that IO Interactive has demonstrated in making these 6 missions full of pathos: every single action, even if minimal, will have its meaning and will give that "plus" to the missions that some fans have been asking for for some time. If in fact the first two iterations of this trilogy used the plot as a simple means of transport between one mission and another, here is a whole other story. What does not change, however, is the AI, for better or for worse: if in fact the interesting dynamics created by the fact that some of the guards will be able to recognize you according to the disguise and role they play will remain, often sneaking them or cheating them in some way all too simple (once you have learned the game systems).
Now what?
Hitman 3 closes the World of Assassination trilogy: this means that the plot, which began with Hitman and continued with Hitman 2, is ready to close this time. We will not spoil the ending, but the race towards this goal will be only the beginning: in fact the game offers many additional modes that fans will know well. Here then is the return of Live Content, missions that you can complete from time to time as soon as IO Interactive adds them Escalation (consecutive missions that add variables and new targets to the already existing ones) and obviously all that series of additions that the software house has accustomed us to see, but that to try we will have to wait for the launch. Also interesting is the addition of perennial shortcuts, real passages to be unlocked which, once opened, will remain such even in subsequent missions (thus giving more reason to explore from the first time you carry out the mission). Finally, the icing on the cake is given by the VR mode on PlayStation, which will allow you to play the title in virtual reality with the PS VR.
Leaving aside the greater emotional charge within the missions, it must be said that also the growth of Agent 47 within the game is well defined, offering interesting insights into his character, what he does and how he manages to do it and even his past. The desire of IO Interactive in fact to definitively close a chapter (and we are not referring only to World of Assassination) is evident, and the way in which it was put into practice is textbook.
In short, in front of you not only do you have the best possible combination of history and playability seen in a Hitman, but also the final chapter of the trilogy, the chapter that pulls the strings of all the plots related to 47 and above all a perfect platform. to be able to play all the missions of the previous two chapters with improved graphics engine and refined game system (free for those who already own the game, for a fee for those who do not have them). Whether you are newbies or lovers of the brand, this Hitman 3 offers many of those things to make it a must, but above all the best of its kind.
