Hitman: World of Assassination

Much like Agent 47, the star of the long-running Hitman franchise, IO Interactive is full of surprises. After successfully rebooting the franchise in 2016, the studio went on to release two more well-received sequels, both with a major company and as an independent publisher. Not content with overwhelmingly positive reviews and the legions of new fans, IO surprised everybody by rebranding the 2021 game Hitman 3 as the much more inclusive Hitman: World of Assassination, transforming the sequel into a hub full all of the content and levels from the first two games. And just to keep us on our toes, IO Interactive had one more big surprise up its sleeve in the form of a new mode called Freelancer, a roguelike experience that shakes up the way you play Hitman in some interesting ways. That’s a cool addition, but will this mode be enticing enough to bring long-time fans back to the two-year-old game? And for those who have been sitting on the fence, will the addition of the Hitman 1 and 2 content be what it takes to attract new fans? These questions and more will be answered when I review: Hitman: World of Assassination.

When it comes to Hitman, my experience is a bit ... limited. While I had seen some many of the older games at various conventions throughout the years, my first time really playing Hitman was with the 2016 reboot. And let me tell you, it was love at first sight. With its large, overly detailed stages and non-linear missions, I was completely and hopelessly hooked on pretending to be Agent 47. But for as much as I loved that reboot, I somehow managed to sleep on both the 2018 and 2021 sequels. I always intended to play them, but somehow never managed to work them into my busy schedule.

As you can imagine, I was pretty damn excited to get my hands on the newly rebranded Hitman: World of Assassination, as it not only gave me a chance to play through the two games I slept on, but also came with the brand-new Freelancer mode. I figured that if ever there was a time to catch-up, this was it. So, I grabbed my passport and set a course for the ultra-violent World of Assassination.

The first thing you need to know is that anybody who owns (or buys) Hitman 3 will see their game transformed into Hitman: World of Assassination. This works as a catch-all hub for the trilogy, giving you access to the levels, missions and challenges found in all three games. Even if you have never played or owned Hitman 1 or 2, you’ll get the locations and stories for free. World of Assassination makes it so that you won’t have to jump between three different games, because it’s all there in one place. You’ll even earn levels and unlockables that will carry over from one game to the next. Without a doubt, this is the cheapest and best way to own the entire Hitman trilogy.

In some ways, these games are incredibly easy to describe. You play an extremely tall hitman named Agent 47 who is as bald as a cueball and has a recognizable tattoo on the back of his neck. Somehow, this robotically stoic action star is able to blend in and sneak around, all while tracking down (and eventually killing) a series of marks. Once you’ve completed the job and made sure nobody noticed, Agent 47 will track down one of the exits and fly to his next destination, where he’ll do the whole thing all over again. In other words: Kill the target and scram before anybody notices.

Of course, it’s not going to be as simple as it sounds. In order to even get close to the targets, you’ll first need to change clothes and impersonate other people, which usually means knocking out a janitor, security guard or behind-the-scenes worker. This will give you access to new parts of the sprawling level, though you’ll still need to watch out for people who will be able to see through your disguise. An average level will see our favorite hitman switch outfits two or three times, sometimes more. Whatever it takes to get close enough to the mark to take them out.

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What’s great about the Hitman series is the freedom it gives you to kill these targets. This is a series built on the foundation of giving you control over how you execute these missions, and there are a staggering number of ways any level can play out. You can get up close and personal, but snapping their neck or just stabbing them with a knife. For those who want to be a little showier, you can go through the steps impersonating a famous tattoo artist or sabotage an especially powerful fan on the set of a movie to take out the boorish star. And these are just a few of the dozens (if not hundreds) of ways you can tackle the missions.

If some of this feels a little overwhelming, don’t worry, the game makes experimenting extremely easy and fun. For starters, a lot of the more creative kills are tied to the optional stories you can select at any time. These will have you fetching certain items and investigating clues, intel and information regarding weak points of the level. These stories almost always result in some sort of spectacular death, sending the level out with a real bang. Of course, you don’t always have to follow the story. For those who simply want to experiment and test the open-world waters, the game allows you to save at any time, giving you a chance to undo any mistakes you made along the way. I found that the liberal save option freed me up to experiment more than I normally would, opening up the game in exciting new ways.

The reason all this works so well is because of the stunning level designs. Even as somebody who sharpened their teeth on the Hitman reboot back in 2016, I was not prepared for how big and exquisitely detailed the locations would be. Take Miami from Hitman 2 as an example. This is an absolutely gigantic stage that takes place during an important race at the speedway. It’s crowded with fans and has multiple buildings connected to the race, including a VIP section, a huge backstage area and even stands overlooking the action. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, there’s a separate technology building that is completely unrelated to the race going on. With so many areas to explore and both people and objects to interactive with, it can feel like you could tackle this level in an endless number of ways. And from a replay perspective, that’s really exciting.

What’s even more exciting is that Miami only represents one kind of level. The 21 locations found in World of Assassination are all varied in fun and exciting ways. For example, you’ll be stuck on a moving train in Romania or exploring one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers in Dubai, a level that requires you to hang onto tiny ledges and scale small pipes. In another stage you’ll be attending a masked party right out of Eyes Wide Shut or infiltrating a far-right militia group. And it’s not always exotic locations, as one of my favorite levels has you assassinating people in the American suburbs. I love the juxtaposition between the people grilling in their backyards and the dark violence happening right next door. Every level is a treat.

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Of course, none of this is news to Hitman fans. Me raving about the greatness of the Miami level is old news at this point, as that was originally featured in Hitman 2, which came out five years ago. Why bother reviewing a game that is, at best, two years old? The answer to that question can be summed up in two simple words – Freelancer Mode.

The reason you’re suddenly seeing more buzz around Hitman is because IO Interactive has recently updated the game with a brand-new mode that completely shakes up the trilogy and gives long-time fans a reason to return to the franchise. Freelancer Mode essentially turns the trilogy into one big roguelike, where Agent 47 has to play through a bunch of levels with only one life to live. There are no checkpoints or save slots, so you have to go into every mission with the training wheels off and no safety net to catch you. If you die, you’re dead and have to start the string of missions all over again from the start. The stakes could not be higher.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because this is more than just a remixed version of the story mode. The idea is that you’ll take contract missions where you’ll go after a random target (or targets) in one of the familiar stages from the Hitman trilogy. We can go about this in countless ways, but you’ll earn extra points for completing the various challenges, which can include everything from killing a target with a specific item to silently subduing guards to limiting the number of costumes you wear.

The mode is split up into four syndicates, with each one having you work through three to six missions of increasing difficulty. We now have a headquarters where Agent 47 collects weapons and gadgets, allowing us to customize our loadout going into each mission. What makes this mode tricky is that you can very easily lose those weapons and items if you fail a level. The good news is that you can buy new gear from suppliers while on a mission, but if you don’t complete your task, the goods will be lost forever. As you can tell, the stakes are incredibly high.

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And because the stakes are so high, I would say that this is not a mode for beginners. You really do need to know the locations you’re going to before trying to take out a target with no saves or checkpoints. Freelancer mode is made specifically for those who have already completed Hitman 3, or at least have played through most of the levels. This mode starts out hard and unforgiving, and only becomes more challenging the further in you get. At the same time, I found these missions to be both satisfying and exhilarating. I felt like I actually accomplished something every time I completed my mission and got back to HQ alive.

At its best, this Freelancer mode gives longtime players a good reason to revisit the trilogy. By randomizing the targets and changing the way you deal with weapons, this mode makes the already great game even more replayable. Best of all, it expertly shows off just how amazing the level design has been throughout the entire series. The fact that you can go into the same stages multiple times and have completely different experiences is a testament to what makes this series so good.

Hitman: World of Assassination is one of those packages that has something for just about everybody. Longtime fans get a brand-new mode that shakes up the game in some incredible ways, while new players get a staggering amount of must-play content and 21 of the best video game stages ever made. No matter if you’ve been sitting on the fence or know the Hitman trilogy inside and out, World of Assassination is a great collection that manages to make all three games even better.