It's difficult to know how to rate Hitman 3. Each game in this recent trilogy has not so much been a game unto themselves, but rather contributes to the larger picture of the trilogy due to the way each game's levels can be transferred forward. When I play Hitman and Hitman 2 levels in Hitman 3, I am playing Hitman 3, so should they not factor into its evaluation? Beyond this, Hitman 3's campaign works with the others to strengthen the whole; despite inconsistent presentation across the trilogy which sees the most lavish cutscenes frontloaded, the story feels very cohesive and compelling now that it's finally complete. Individually disappointing plot-driven missions play a LOT better as part larger game; I actually quite liked ending on what is essentially an Absolution mission as I felt it gave the ending a sense of momentum and reframed the mechanics to suit a different narrative purpose, whereas I might have enjoyed it less if I were to evaluate Hitman 3 purely based on the new levels it brings to the table.

Regarding the actual content, I'm honestly not sure what there is to say that hasn't already been said. The fantastic reviews and analysis videos from Super Bunnyhop and Writing on Games get easy recommendations from me, so I guess just go and watch those! All I'll say is, there's been nothing like this before, not on this scale. The social stealth that only Hitman has ever really been at the forefront of is taken to such ludicrous heights here, with a newfound level of polish that is a far cry from the Euro-jank label that the series used to be stuck with. I too share Super Bunnyhop's concerns over the always-online element of this trilogy, and I hope once IO decide to move on from supporting it, they do a massive update to make sure progression can be achieved and saved locally. I hate the thought of a future where this masterpiece is unavailable.

In an attempt to say something unique, I'll point out the fun mirrored progression we see between the classic and modern iterations of Hitman. Codename 47 was a mediocre game which set the mechanical framework for the series. Silent Assassin made significant mechanical improvements, rethought which types of level-design to prioritise, and then boom, a good game, followed by two more good games in Contracts and Blood Money which ran with Silent Assassin's general framework. Absolution then comes along and completely retools the mechanical framework of Hitman for the modern era, but botches up basically everything else. Hitman (2016) then does for Absolution what Silent Assassin did for Codename 47, taking a slightly adjusted version of Absolution's mechanical framework and putting it in a whole new level-design context. And just like that, we get a good game, once again followed by two more games building on it before we put the modern era to rest. Not exactly a substantial observation, but I don't know, I find a nerdy satisfaction in how similarly both iterations progressed.