(Reviewing the trilogy as a whole as I played the entire story for the first time in Hitman 3)

The moment I fell in love with this game was during the very first level of Hitman 1 (you can play all the levels of Hitman 1 & 2 in 3 through DLC access packs) in Paris. As you take control of 47, a news crew starts filming a piece and so, of course, I had to walk right in front of their shot to see if they reacted. They did. Aggressively. So I kept doing it and after the third interruption, they both cussed 47 out and walked away. It's so simple and yet, it perfectly encapsulates what makes this game so great: Anything and everything you can think of, the game has accounted for and its world will react accordingly.

Hitman 3 awards creativity unlike any other game I've played: You can follow the Mission Stories to setup a somewhat contrived but fun scenario to kill your target quietly or you can devise your own plan. The more ways you kill, the more challenges you complete - which unlock new tools, starting areas in each map, outfits and other unlockables, making the game nearly infinitely replayable.

Now, it isn't a perfect game: The always-online requirement forced me to reboot the game on several occasions after it lost connection to the servers, it can be somewhat janky with characters dying and the pricing for the entire trilogy + DLC is The Sims-levels of insane but none of those detracted from the utter blast I had playing through it.

I've only beaten the main campaign of the trilogy but there's still so much I've got left to do: The side missions, player-made contracts, sniper missions, Elusive target missions and I cannot wait. Unless a very late contender appears at the last minute, I believe I've found my game of the year for 2022.

While it falters in some aspects when compared to the rest of the trilogy, HITMAN 3 sticks the landing and does the series justice.

Firstly, there is a much larger focus on the story in this one and it mostly pays off by the end. If you have been around since at least HITMAN 2016 and are caught up with the current story, it satisfies and tells a very intriguing story about betrayal, relationships, and of course, assassination.

The gameplay is as fun as ever, with plenty of ways to plan out your missions and eliminate targets. It has been tuned up a bit and expanded through each title, though it is basically same old. Compared to the first game in the trilogy, contracts can be played methodically with deliberate decision-making, or you could just shoot everyone and/or save-scum your way to victory.

The levels in HITMAN 3 are pretty good as a whole but the design of some levels is hindered by this game's greater focus towards the story, with some sections in certain levels consisting of forced walking and talking with the mission commentator or important NPCs. Regardless, all of the locations are quality, but maybe not up to par with most levels in the other two games. Without spoiling anything, the final mission is unfortunately disappointing as a HITMAN level.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with HITMAN 3 immensly. While it doesn't reach the heights of HITMAN 2 at its best, the sequel does improve on the core gameplay decently and I had a great time with the new locations and the narrative. IO Interactive put their all into this trilogy and you can tell by how well just about everything has turned out. I recommended buying HITMAN 3 via the HITMAN Trilogy bundle when it is on sale. With this bundle you gain access to the entire trilogy within HITMAN 3, which is very convenient and, at least on Steam, goes for under $40 now. These are some of the best stealth-action games in recent years. HITMAN 3 is well worth it on its own but majorly enhanced by the prior two games. It is a great time.

Hitman displays that its foundation is fundamentally solid as Hitman 3, despite being the weakest entry in the trilogy, still proves to be a fantastic game.

Everything you expect from the previous games is still there - well-thought-out map design, clockwork NPCs that are fun to exploit and a wide array of options to either get the perfect stealth kill or create absolute chaos. There's one major new item in your inventory: a camera that lets you scan select objects in the game to get a bit of commentary from your handler or to hack doors. I seemed to keep forgetting it was there unless directly prompted to use it, as it felt a bit out of place as a way to interact in the world versus more understandable tools like lockpicks, keycards and crowbars.

Rolling all the previous games into a single launcher is a massive boon. Those old levels are still a lot of fun to dip back into, so not having three separate games installed is super helpful.

However, Hitman 3 doesn't quite get there in capturing the same memorable feelings of the first two games. Two missions lack any of the usual Mission Stories to help guide the player around for their first few runs, making the game feel a little smaller in scope than in previous entries. Hardcore players may prefer to run every level ad-hoc but I've always been a fan of the hijinks that the Mission Stories let you get up to so the lack of them gives me less reason to go back to some of those levels for repeat playthroughs.

Despite these shortcomings, Hitman 3 is still a lot of fun. The maps are detailed and intricately designed and there are plenty of opportunities to take out targets in bizarre and creative ways.

I feel like IOI just can't help themselves with adding at least a spoonful of shit into a cauldron with liquid gold that is this game. I can only praise the game itself, the amazing level design, wide array of opportunities and astonishingly snappy and responsive controls, compared to previous games of course. Yeah, for some reason, IOI keeps bringing their beloved jungle level everywhere they can. It was obnoxious in Codename 47, it is even more obnoxious now. Glad to see some things don't change.

Great to see that all those previous Hitman games actually are canon and happened before the start of this story. Except for Absolution, because we don't talk about it in this house. Knowing all those iconic murders like the fat bastard in the basement were actually acknowledged brings a smile on my face. And I'm interested what will IOI do with this story, considering that ICA and Illuminati are no more. Say what you will, but I still like this franchise story.

I have nothing but good things to say about gameplay, but what I can bash is godawful interface. This shit could easily go into my top-10 most unintuitive UIs ever. The main menu is a mess of square blocks which represent everything you actually don't want to press. Instead, you want to use small horizontal menu at the top of the screen because fuck you. Do you know where the exit button is? In the fucking settings! You want to check challenges in-game? How about we always switch off all your filters so you'll need to make three extra clicks just to open the menu you want? And that inventory screen. How many godforsaken years has it been since Blood Money where it first appeared? IOI, I am a game kleptomaniac, I can't let the hammer or a bust just lying around minding their own business. I NEED them in my inventory. And why after ten minute run through the location I need to scroll my inventory for half a minute to find what I want? Even Hitman 2 did it better. Just give me a grid or a list to choose from. I don't need that horrible wheel of shit.

Level designs also show how tired the team becomes with time. It was the same with London and Hawaii and it is now the same with Mendoza and that jungle level. There are just not so many things to do there and everything feels like team was more focused on their 007 game rather than continuing with this. Guys, you did a great work already, you don't need to keep pumping levels when you know you don't want to. We still love you and will wait for your next project as long as it needs. But I guess this is where the management comes in.

Ah, yes, the management. I don't know how unhinged you have to be to make a single player game always online citing some shit nobody cares about like leaderboards and cheaters. Come on, bastards, bring this game offline. I don't give a shit for elusive targets I have to wait 12 hours to try again or leaderboards so I know I'm 640509040147th in that particular level. I just want to play the goddamn game. But wait, customer, there is more! What about a hundred different ways to buy our game? You only need a bachelors degree in storefrontology to figure out what do you NEED to buy to have full experience. Well, fear not, as we updated our latest game and merged all editions into one even giving you an opportunity to bring stuff you already bought to the latest entry. Ah, wait, that opportunity passed, sorry, you now have to buy two fucking levels that are not even that good to begin with but still come with bits of story so you definitely need them again for only ten bucks. What a bargain, amirite? No, IOI, you're everything BUT right.

Well, all I can say is this is an amazing game like none other marred with batshit insane business decisions. But I still love it because it's just that good.

Hitman III ups the production values just a little bit more than it's predecessor, and while the total level suite may not be a strict improvement over Hitman II's (Is there anything as good as the F1 Race in Florida?), they are certainly up to par in scope and replay-ability with most of the previous entries, and feature even more unique story mission tidbits.

While the narrative of these game's is by far the thing that least catches my interest in these games, I was surprised by the end how invested I was - Honestly, still really not a whole lot, but more than I would have expected.

At the end of the day, Hitman III is another top notch billionaire killing simulator in which you play as the world's funniest assassin. There's not a whole lot more you could ask for here.