The game combines all of the destinations from the latest trilogy (a grand total of 22 unique areas) and the various bonus missions into one complete package. In early 2023, Hitman 3 became known as Hitman: World of Assassination. It is with its final iteration that IO Interactive has created a true magnum opus. Each one of the missions is memorable, even if the ongoing storyline (which includes an endless list of twists and backstabbings) is needlessly convoluted and unlikely to garner any fans. Independently published by IO Interactive itself, the trilogy-ender delivered stunning set-pieces, from a Berlin nightclub where Agent 47 has to uncover his targets from the crowd to a gothic villa in Dartmoor where a picturesque whodunit is happening. However, 2021’s Hitman 3 got close to the full potential of the intoxicating fantasy of playing a chameleonic globetrotting assassin. The negative influence of greedy publisher Square Enix was felt through the first title, and the lower budget for its follow-up was visible through lacklustre locations and no animated cutscenes for the story. Their first attempt was 2016’s episodic reboot Hitman, with said business model abandoned for its 2018 sequel. The dream for IOI was to create the ultimate Hitman sandbox, a game that could be replayed nearly endlessly, with intricate level design and challenging targets to dispose of in increasingly colourful ways. The highs of Blood Money, with its unique mission structure and improved gameplay, were followed by the lows of Absolution, which was excessively linear. Danish studio IO Interactive birthed the bald, stoic character of Agent 47 back in 2000 with series-starter Hitman: Codename 47, and has since improved on the formula for better or worse. Few video game developers have been attached to a singular franchise from its inception.

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