Hitman: World Of Assassination Review: Meticulous Murdering

It’s no secret at this stage that IO Interactive’s soft reboot of the Hitman series has been an absolute triumph. Starting back in 2016, the World of Assassination trilogy restored the series to its former glory, returning to the murderous sandboxes that the series originally prided itself on, but eventually began to stray from with later entries.

As unanimous as the agreement is that the World of Assassination trilogy was a revelation of the series, also unanimous is the agreement that as a package of games, it had started to grow extremely unwieldy. By the time Hitman III rolled around, between the core episodes of all three games, various DLCs, cross-progression between all three titles, and the ability to bring content from the first two games forward as playable episodes within Hitman III if you had access to various legacy passes, it had become a nigh-on impenetrable product.

Enter Hitman: World of Assassination. Rather than continue to add to the mess that the trilogy had become, IO Interactive has decided to opt for a relaunch of sorts. Hitman III has now simply become Hitman: World of Assassination, and anyone who purchases (or already owns) Hitman III automatically has access to all three base games and free DLC that was made available since 2016. Paid DLC has also been tidied up, with everything, including all additional paid episodes, now only available for purchase in one neat and tidy add-on pack.

With all that in mind, we thought this seemed a great chance to jump back into the neatly collated World of Assassination and review the package as a whole, which not only makes existing content easily accessible but also adds a new mode that has the potential to become a franchise mainstay and reinvent the franchise.

A World of Opportunity

I feel like I need to open with what a breeze it was to install World of Assassination. With the various legacy passes and DLCs that previously cluttered storefronts, it felt positively refreshing to enter the code for World of Assassination, hit download, and soon be greeted by a vastly tidier menu with all content readily available at the click of a button. It had gotten to the stage where it was genuinely difficult to know what you needed to install to get the complete trilogy experience available through one app, so in terms of rebooting the user experience, World of Assassination is a resounding success.

Looking at the main menu, it also becomes immediately apparent what an incredible value proposition World of Assassination has become after three games, even without including the optional DLC. The core campaigns are all present, with the additional bells and whistles, such as the time-sensitive “Elusive Contracts” and “Escalation” missions, all included on top. Add into the mix the robust progression, challenges, and achievements that spanned all three titles, which are now neatly incorporated into this singular package, and World of Assassination is a title that is certain to keep stealth fans busy for months to come.

Meticulous Sandboxes

By reducing the barrier to entry, IO Interactive has ensured that players can focus primarily on one thing, and that’s the stealth-based mayhem and murder that the World of Assassination trilogy has honed to perfection.

As players assume the role of Agent 47 in his crusade to bring down shady organization Providence, what they will get to engage with are some of the very best stealth sandboxes ever developed. Traveling between all manner of more familiar locations, such as Paris and Dartmoor, to more exotic and remote places, like Dubai and the Carpathian Mountains, World of Assassination excels at affording players freedom in how to approach the many, many targets on Agent 47’s hit list.

Fancy taking out information brokers by posing as a model who bears a startling resemblance to Agent 47 while attending a high-end Parisian fashion show? You can do that. Feel like living out your dreams of being a world-class DJ, hiding in plain sight behind the decks in a Berlin nightclub as you stalk your prey? Knock yourself out. Alternatively, if you want to just go old school and hit the Mumbai skylines, skulking atop a skyscraper with a sniper rifle as you wait for the perfect moment to make those heads pop, be my guest.

I’m not even beginning to scratch the surface of the art of the possible within World of Assassination’s tightly crafted levels. Every mission is a dense den of opportunity begging you to explore every inch in search of increasingly creative ways in which to take out your targets. In fact, it can be downright overwhelming at first, as you realize that every conversation, every item you can interact with, every route through a level, and every disguise may present a new opportunity for you to engage with. As you master a level, that scope for variety only ever increases as you unlock new starter disguises, entry points, and items to add to your initial loadout. Just when you think you’ve seen all a level has to offer, IO Interactive chuck more toys your way that will blow a level wide open again in terms of possibilities.

Thankfully, since they launched the first entry in the trilogy back in 2016, IO Interactive clearly recognized how overwhelming the amount of choice they presented players with may be, so there are various difficulty settings you can mess around with should you want a more focused experience that help you cut through the noise each level presents. Mission objectives, for example, can be hidden by default, but, should you so choose, you can opt for additional assistance, which spells out clear as day how you should proceed should you wish to trigger some of the more elaborate set-piece assassinations that are available in each level. My advice would be to turn off all assists, as this is truly an experience that thrives on player curiosity and the thrill of venturing into the unknown, which are both lost somewhat by enabling the assists. However, the help is there for those that require it, and I’ll never knock a game for giving more options in how it can be played.

The Future of the Series?

While World of Assassination is largely a collated package of existing content intended to serve as a platform for IO Interactive to build on going forwards, fans who have already played the trilogy to death will be delighted to hear that along with this update, a new mode has also entered the fray, simply titled, “Freelancer.”

When I initially heard that Freelancer was going to be a rogue-lite mode, I assumed it would be a small throwaway effort designed to bulk out the package and give existing players a reason to return. How wrong I was, though, as Freelancer has become perhaps my favorite way to play Hitman.

The premise is simple; Freelancer is made up of various campaigns, each asking you to carry out a series of eliminations, culminating in a final assassination job to take out the head of the syndicate. Missions take place across the existing campaign levels from each of the three games in the trilogy, with levels increasing in difficulty as you progress. In a stroke of genius from IO Interactive, who clearly realized that many players are going to be overwhelmingly familiar with these levels, they’ve introduced new enemy types into the mix.

I can’t overstate how much this simple change mixes things up. Knowing a level may have lookouts who can see through my disguise, or that the target may himself be surrounded by assassins, creates a level of tension that is unparalleled for the series. Factor in that you don’t know what your target looks like and must piece together clues as you progress. With a couple of minor changes, the developers have created an experience that makes World of Assassination feel like an entirely new game when playing in freelancer mode.

Kiss goodbye to persistent load-outs as well. Freelancer requires you to pick up a gear as you’re going and extract with it, meaning, if you die or botch your hit, you’re starting the next mission from scratch. This lack of persistent gear leads to incredibly emergent gameplay moments, as you have to adapt your playstyle on the fly based on what you add to your inventory as you go. The constantly changing plans of attack, mixed with the new NPCs and the threat of losing all gear completely turns the Hitman experience on its head. Gone are the meticulously planned hits of the campaign, where enough time spent with a level will see you glide through it, and your targets, like a knife with butter as you master your surroundings, and arguably, this feels like the purest, most authentic take on the life of a hitman to date.

Adding to the sensation that you are assuming the role of a genuine assassin is the Safehouse. As you progress through Freelancer, Agent 47’s home becomes a hub between missions. It’s not only customizable but also serves as a place to manage your loadout and details on upcoming assignments. It’s a truly beautiful space, and as it expands and you customize it into a place that feels entirely your own, it becomes your haven; a place to enjoy a moment of respite before heading back out into the hostile world of Freelancer. It doesn’t serve much in the way of gameplay purpose, but it adds immensely to the sense of immersion and the illusion that you are Agent 47.

Conclusion

Hitman: World of Assassination takes what was already an incredible trilogy and makes it even better by removing a lot of the barrier to entry and adding in a new mode that may provide the best and purest gameplay of the entire series to date. The core gameplay loops remain as incredible as ever, and seeing all three games packaged together, one can’t help but think that in its current form, Hitman: World of Assassination may just be the best, most complete stealth experience available. Add in the nerve-wracking yet incredibly addictive Freelance mode, and what you have is a package that not only welcomes newcomers but also will delight veterans of the series.

Final Verdict: 5/5

Available On: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC; Publisher: IO Interactive; Developer: IO Interactive; Players: 1; Released: January 26, 2023; MSRP: $69.99; ESRB: M for Mature

Full Disclosure: A review code was proivded to HPP by the publisher.