A few days ago, this presentation of the new content was announced. I had to wonder what we’d see. Technical improvements and PC VR had already been announced as things coming for this second year of content to Hitman 3, along with Elusive Target Arcade and the fact there’d be new modes, maps, stories, and other things coming as part of it.
Thanks to this presentation, we have details on some of those new modes and stories as well as a tease of yet another new map we’ll be travelling to at some point in the future. Year 2 is starting on the 20th of this month, where all three games of the World of Assassination trilogy will become one in the new release of Hitman Trilogy, which will come to all platforms the third is on, along with being added to Game Pass for both Xbox and PC.
On that date, the third game comes to Steam with all the technical improvements that will soon be implemented into other PC versions of the game. The PC VR mode also comes on that date, which is implementing some control changes to better make the player a part of the experience. Meaning both hands are used for motion, which brings a lot in terms of combat flexibility. The other thing coming on the 20th is Elusive Target Arcade.
Elusive Target Arcade should prove to be a challenge. Take the usual limitations of the Elusive Targets, make it so three of them have to consecutively be completed, and make it so each challenge is harder to overcome. That’s Elusive Target Arcade, and I am ready for it. Should you fail, it’s not the end of the world. Just wait until you have access after 12 hours are up and try again.
To start with, there will be three of these challenges, each with targets from a particular part of the trilogy. New ones will be added over time. A good start, then. But the future holds much greater things. Sometime in the Spring, the game will see Freelancer added to it. What is Freelancer? By the sounds of it, what could easily have been a whole separate game.
Starting out at Agent 47’s safehouse, he’s now a free agent, so it’s time to take on some contracts with no motive other than getting paid. There’re numerous small campaigns to start, which all involve taking down criminal enterprises. To do so, you’ll track down members of that enterprise in locations around the globe to force the leader of it to show themselves. Then simply take them out the same as everyone else.
But things are different in these locations, now. Regular pedestrians can offer help or be a hinderance. Guards can be well hidden, waiting until the time to act. Suppliers will be waiting with weapons and other items that will make things easier – especially now that you can lose everything you have on you simply by dying.
Planning is certainly a thing you’ll want to be doing, then. Taking things slow, keeping watch, and maybe taking out a guard or two when you feel you can. Freelancer is offering up a campaign with more stakes and more replayability, allowing for experience that will be unique to the world of Hitman. And that includes customising the safehouse to suit your style.
To end on, IO Interactive teased yet another new map. Codenamed Rocky, it looks like a jungle. Just what we’ll be doing here remains to be seen, but from the few images we’ve seen on it, it will be another great location to explore. And potentially heavily guarded. One thing I’m certain of is that these new maps will be part of another new story coming to the game. It just makes sense.
Year 2 of Hitman 3 is shaping up nicely from what has already been shown, and there’s more to come. After Freelancers arrives, I fully expect another of these showcases to reveal summer and autumn content, where the new maps should hopefully come into play. I’m very excited for both new modes and the challenges they will bring. But I can also continue having fun being an idiot when I want to relax, and that’s the open freedom I love with this World of Assassination.
Images Taken From:
Hitman 3 – Year 2 Reveal Stream
