The scope of the series level design is so far beyond what has been seen in other stealth games including Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid. Levels require thought and patience and players can spend hours exploring the intricacies of each mission to find the best ways to eliminate Agent 47’s targets and achieving the Silent Assassin rank at the end of each mission.
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Fans of spy and assassin films will be pleased to know that the games have taken inspiration from several movie sources like James Bond, Mission Impossible, The Day of the Jackal, and Leon: The Professional. While some games in the series have been instant classics for fans there are some entries that failed to hit their mark.
Updated by Michael Llewellyn on 26th January 2021: Hitman 3 has finally hit the shelves completing the World of Assassination trilogy. The reviews and fan response have been good aside from some teething problems at launch which have all now been resolved.
Despite the series launching all the way back in 2000, fans haven’t been bombarded with sequel after sequel in the Hitman series. However, almost all titles have either improved on their predecessors or offered something entirely new. This includes game modes that function like standalone games themselves and a brand new entry for the PSVR.
13 Hitman: Sniper
Hitman: Sniper was released in 2015 for IOS and Android systems. It’s a spin-off title that works similarly to the Hitman Sniper Assassin mode in Hitman 2 and the stand-alone Sniper Challenge mode for Hitman: Absolution.
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Hitman: Sniper plays like a gallery shooter with several objectives for the player to complete their mission. The player can create openings by setting up traps, using distractions, and other mechanics that Hitman fans will enjoy. However, the touch screen controls are often at odds with the zoom function and players will find themselves frustrated by accidentality shooting their gun when trying to use the scope.
12 Hitman: Codename 47
Hitman: Codename 47 was released in 2000 and is the first game in the series. It laid the groundwork for what would become a great series using several mechanics like taking and using disguises, the concealed sniper rifle, and the need for stealth.
Just like its newest entries the game rewards the most cost-effective methods to complete a mission and giving penalties for killing civilians or getting spotted by witnesses. Unfortunately, many of these mechanics feel antiquated by today’s gamer standards making the game feel unpolished as a result.
11 Hitman 2: Sniper Assassin
The Sniper Assassin mode that is included in Hitman 2 and now part of the Legacy pack in Hitman 3 is are standalone missions that place Agent 47 at a single vantage point using only a sniper rifle. While that may sound simplistic on paper, the missions retain their sandbox feel and allow 47 to cause as much chaos and distractions as possible.
In addition to the main objectives and targets, there are Challenges like causing environmental accidents like shooting suspended objects chandeliers, or heavy wall-mounted speakers to fall on a target’s head killing them
10 Hitman 2: Sniper Assassin – Knight And Stone
The Knight and Stone missions were part of Hitman 2’s standalone online co-op gameplay missions. Up to three players could take part in sniper missions where players take on the roles of Agent 47, Knight, and Stone.
Just like the Sniper Assassin missions, the characters have to remain in place but the environments are still sandboxes that can be manipulated to the character’s wills. The missions offer bonuses for synchronized kills and the new characters Knight and Stone are far more talkative than 47 offering players a new dynamic. Unfortunately, these missions are no longer available, as the developers focus on the single-player aspects of Hitman 3 instead but fans are hopeful that it will make a comeback.
9 Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Absolution was originally released in 2012 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was later bundled in the Hitman HD Enhanced Collection on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2019. It introduced a lot of new gameplay mechanics and features the series like Instinct Mode and Online Contracts.
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However, the level design felt more linear than ever before and the locations aside from "Hunter and Hunted" lacked a lot of variety or scope that is synonymous with the series. Furthermore, during the later stages of the game, Agent 47 will often find himself forced into frustrating and unavoidable firefights losing sight of why fans loved the series so much to begin with.
8 Hitman Go
Hitman Go was originally released on Android and IOS mobile systems in 2014 but was later released on the PlayStation 4 and Vita in 2016. Instead of a third-person perspective featured in the mainline series, Hitman Go was a turn-based, top-down game where Agent 47 moved around using grids.
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Despite resembling a board game, this mobile entry captured the puzzle-like gameplay mechanics of the mainline series in a more simplistic way that's perfect for mobile devices. There were, however, some elements of the series that were missing like completing missions without killing non-targets, as well as some inescapable linearity.
7 Hitman: Contracts
Released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC Hitman: Contracts and gave players a chance to catch with the events of the first game without having to endure playing it. Contracts featured many retold and reworked missions from the original game retold through the memories of a mortally injured Agent 47.
In addition, Contracts is much darker and more violent in tone than its predecessors which is immediately evident in its opening level at the Meat King's nightclub. The game takes players all over the world with locations set in Romania, Siberia, UK, Rotterdam, Budapest, Hong Kong, and Paris with an epilogue heavily inspired by the movie Leon: The Professional.
6 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Released in 2002 on the PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and the Xbox Hitman 2 offered players a true sandbox experience that became the standard for the series going forward. Where the first game in the series felt like a rough draft or experimentation of ideas, its direct sequel Hitman 2: Silent Assassin polished everything for it to become the series fans love today.
Using disguises and hiding plain sight played a big part in being as stealthy as possible. Additionally, Hitman 2 has a variety of ways to eliminate targets and achieve the Silent Assassin grade from poisoning drinks, setting up traps, or sniping from a distance. Players can even run in and use an aggressive approach but the reward comes in being the assassin Agent 47 is supposed to be.
5 Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth entry in the series and is often looked upon as a favorite among fans of the series and for good reason. As far as the narrative is concerned Hitman: Blood Money features the most compelling story in the series and is told through a journalist’s interview with the former head of the FBI.
The sandbox level design was more flexible than ever before, more so than its sequel Absolution. The game features some of the most varied and memorable missions in the series. In addition, enemy AI saw major improvements, and the newly introduced notoriety system added to the tense atmosphere.
4 Hitman 3 VR
On the PlayStation 4 – or the PlayStation 5 via backward compatibility – Hitman 3 also comes with a pretty fantastic VR mode which is currently exclusive to the PSVR. This mode allows players to play the game through the eyes of Agent 47 which is incredibly immersive.
Thanks to the VR mode, players now seem to have a new line of sight that allows 47 to observe the environment in brand new ways. Moreover, it’s one of the best-looking games on the PSVR, which surprising considering the size and scale of the missions.
3 HITMAN (2016)
Hitman was released in 2016 and worked both as a reboot for the entire series and as a sequel to Hitman: Absolution. The game went back to its roots with non-linear sandboxes with levels so large and filled with content and replay value that it could rival most single-player experiences.
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The game was originally released as episodic content which worked surprisingly well given the scale of each level. The structured release schedule allowed players to fully explore each level and see and do everything on offer.
2 HITMAN 2 (2018)
Hitman 2 is the second game in the rebooted franchise and follows on directly from the events of the last game. This time, developers IO Interactive ditched the episodic nature in favor of a full game and the levels are just as large as the first game but more refined and more detailed than ever.
Each and every mission will take players hours to discover and understand everything that’s going and where the openings are. Then there’s added replay value with new objectives unlocking at the end of the missions giving way to even more opportunities to experiment with the endless cause-and-effect scenarios that play out.
1 Hitman 3
The final part in the World of Assassination trilogy, Hitman 3 is arguably the best entry in the series. It’s a far more grandiose game than its predecessors and it's an epic finale to an already amazing library of Hitman games.
The Dartmoor mission is almost worth the price of admission alone with its Knives Out-inspired murder mystery. Even though the games have had a Mission Impossible and James Bond feel to them, Hitman 3 definitely feels like a teaser for things to come in IOInteractive’s future Bond game Project 007. Furthermore, if gamers own the previous two games in the series they will gain access to the Legacy missions with will allow them to replay the older games with the new features which also include improved visuals if playing the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
