There's also a wonderful feeling of isolation, with the house standing alone in an expanse of barren, overcast moorland that stretches infinitely into the distance. And behind the walls there's a labyrinth of secret passages to discover with peepholes for spying on people. Long, dark corridors lined with oil paintings open up into bright, lavishly decorated drawing rooms. The mansion itself is brilliantly constructed. It's a gimmick, but a fun, unique spin on what is otherwise a fairly typical assassination mission. One level set in a dusty old mansion in Dartmoor, England sees Agent 47 posing as a private detective and solving a murder mystery straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. At its core this is still very much a classic Hitman game, but in many ways a more playful, experimental one.

They just aren't as clearly signposted this time around, forcing you to engage more with the environment around you. The opportunities are still there: elaborate traps to set up, people to pose as, shortcuts to take, keys to swipe. And in the other levels there are, surprisingly, only three Mission Stories per map, compared to an average of about ten in the previous two games' levels. The complex, open-ended Berlin level is the most the studio has ever trusted a Hitman player to take the lead and figure things out for themselves. I could just shoot them and run away, of course, but that's no way to play Hitman.Īlthough Hitman 3 builds on the solid foundations laid by the first two parts of the trilogy, sharing the same AI, stealth systems, and user interface, IO has also taken this opportunity to experiment a little with its tried and tested formula. Now all I have to do is figure out how to kill them without anyone noticing, in front of thousands of witnesses, in the middle of a rave. When I catch one talking to their handler in instinct mode-which highlights targets, points of interest, weapons, and so on-their cover is blown and they're marked permanently on the map.

To identify them I have to steal an earpiece and listen in on their conversations. To complicate matters, the assassins are also disguised. Now all I have to do is figure out how to kill them without anyone noticing, in front of thousands of witnesses, in the middle of a rave This encourages you to experiment with the sandbox and dream up your own methods.

There aren't even any Mission Stories in this level, the in-game hint system that usually suggests entertaining ways to kill your targets. It's a totally different dynamic, and one of the challenging missions in the trilogy as a result. Most Hitman targets are cowards hidden away in a fortress behind a wall of armed guards, which makes these guys so thrilling to go up against.

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