The main Hitman trilogy started with the first game “Hitman,” which was released in 2016. In 2018 and 2021, “Hitman 2” and “Hitman 3,” respectively, would be released. They were all remastered and released in one game called “Hitman: World of Assassination” in 2023. All these games went on to receive many awards, and for good reason. The Hitman games not only allow people to somewhat accurately live a life as a hitman, but also goof around as much as they want with no real consequences.
Each game has a variety of missions that take place in many different parts of the world. Each mission has one to four targets, with some having a special objective, like Dartmoor’s case file or Sapienza’s virus. After planning where the missions begin and what items they take, the player will be spawned on the map with any way of completing the mission at their fingertips. From following mission storylines to speedrunning to literally killing everyone on the map, how a player completes the mission does not matter as long as the mission is completed. Of course, killing innocents and not being smart about how the target is dealt with will subtract points from mission mastery, however, most levels have little restriction besides that.
Mission mastery is an experience level that is different for each mission. As mission mastery is achieved, the player will unlock a variety of things, like new mission start points, items they can take on other missions, or places where they can bring a fourth item that will be picked up during the run of the mission. As a concept, mission mastery is genius, but in practice, it becomes one of the worst parts of “Hitman.” It is completely understandable that a player would unlock more things as they play a mission, but it is very tedious to grind out mission mastery to better Silent Assassin Suit Only (or SASO) the mission or get the full mastery achievements.
Most of the fun from in-level gameplay comes from beating a mission for the first time. Any subsequent enjoyment of the mission will come from doing challenges for each mission, like mastering every level, or sticking to special (but unofficial) goals, like the very popular “Kill Everyone” challenge. Doing these things extends game time and leads to a lot of fun, but some may eventually feel a sense of burnout with the game. My personal burnout came at about 50 hours sunk into the game. This will be different for everyone, and I even admit that outside factors like a busy life schedule can affect how I play the game, but there is no escaping that eventual burnout when there are other games to play and 70 gigabytes of storage being taken up.
Price is one of the most important factors in game enjoyment. There are a couple of different ways to buy the remastered versions of the game trilogy, which is under the name “Hitman: World of Assassination.” There is the $30 option that only includes “Hitman 3,” the $70 option that includes all three games (minus a couple of missions from the second), and the $100 option that includes the missing missions and a campaign DLC. There are also many DLCs that will either give a new campaign or new cosmetics. I personally bought the $70 option when it was on sale. I feel this option gives the best value, and that a player can buy the other campaign DLCs separately when they are on sale if they really enjoy the game. There are also DLCs that only include cosmetics, which I view as a severe waste of money. Note that these prices come from the online computer game store Steam. Prices on other platforms may vary.
The “Hitman” series is really fun for all types of gamers, from strategists to brute forcists to content creators. I would recommend buying it while on sale if one is not sure they would like the game, as that allows them to try it out while keeping the costs down; however, if one knows they like the game, a larger investment may be better depending on how much content is available in the edition. I give this series nine ICA Goldballers out of one didgeridoo.
