With Io Interactive moving on to produce the next James Bond video game, the studio has set up a rather comprehensive send-off for its most iconic franchise - Hitman. Following its 2016 revival, Hitman has enjoyed substantive appraisal and critical acclaim, and though it seems like the developer is just about ready to move on from the IP for a while, there’s much for everyone to enjoy in the new World of Assassination.
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It’s been known for some time now that Hitman 3 would receive a new content update early in 2023, but Io Interactive surprised its player base when it announced that the upcoming changes would be even more substantial than was previously believed. Io Interactive’s latest trailer highlights the re-branded Hitman 3’s biggest draw: the fact that it effectively combines the entire new Hitman trilogy into one massive package. As an added bonus, fans can now also leap headfirst into Freelancer Mode, which generates randomized one-off campaigns for virtually infinite replayability.
As the announcement of Hitman 3’s official rebranding had previously revealed, all owners of the latest game in the trilogy now have access to effectively all the content featured in Hitman and Hitman 2 games from 2016 and 2018, respectively. The two older titles will subsequently be removed from sale, though it’s worth pointing out that this doesn’t include the games’ respective DLCs, which will stick around for those who end up wanting to expand their experience further still.
Veteran players are likely to have already had access to Hitman and Hitman 2 content in Hitman 3, of course, but even they have something to look forward to now that World of Assassination is out: the aforementioned randomly generated Hitman Freelancer Mode. This special piece of post-campaign content presents Agent 47 with an upgradeable safehouse from which he can operate with impunity, and with persistent progression systems and unlockables, the mode underlines the franchise’s finest qualities.
All things considered, it’s clear by now that the newly rebranded Hitman: World of Assassination is one of the best stealth games of all time. The new release might, of course, be bittersweet for some, as it does seem likely that the game might soon stop receiving its steady stream of all-new content updates. Io Interactive is yet to confirm that it’s focusing its efforts entirely on the upcoming 007 game, but at this point in time, it does seem like the new Hitman trilogy is just about wrapped up.
Hitman 3 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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