Hitman 3 - Year 2

Hitman 3 was undoubtedly one of my favorite games of 2021, and one of the things I’ve been constantly impressed by is IO Interactive’s commitment to supporting the game with fresh content on an almost weekly basis. As the game enters its second year, that commitment isn’t stopping or even slowing down. In fact, it seems like it’s getting even better.

Not long ago, IO Interactive revealed that Hitman 3 was getting a second year of content support. Today, they revealed more details about that in a 13-minute livestream video.

Here are the highlights:

Elusive Target Arcade

Hitman 3 - Elusive Target Arcade

In the Hitman World of Assassination, Elusive Targets are limited-time contracts where failure is permanent. They’re usually available for about 10 days, and they rarely come back into rotation, locking players out of their rewards forever. While the high stakes make them an adrenaline-pumping experience, players have long wished for a way to experience them outside of their short time windows.

The solution to this conundrum is Elusive Target Arcade, a new game mode that will be permanently added to the game. In this mode, you’ll have to take out not one, but strings of Elusive Targets. While failure isn’t permanent here, you are only allowed to try each one a single time per day. If you fail, you’ll have to wait until the next day to try again.

This is honestly a brilliant way to bring Elusive Targets to the game on a more permanent basis without reducing the tension that makes them so much fun. Plus, this game mode will come with its own set of rewards, which carry over into the rest of the game. And you know how much I love my Hitman unlocks!

Elusive Target Arcade is free for all owners of Hitman 3 starting January 20, 2022.

Hitman VR comes to PC

Hitman VR on PC

PlayStation players have long had access to Hitman VR, which is a way to experience the entire World of Assassination trilogy from a first-person perspective in VR. However, PC players have been left out in the lurch… until now.

Yes, Hitman VR is finally coming to PC with some additional features. One thing the developers seem really excited to show off is just how good it feels to throw things in VR now.

I guess the biggest surprise here is that it took so long for this to happen.

Hitman VR will be available for PC players starting January 20, 2022.

Technical improvements

Hitman 3 - Technical Improvements

While this probably has less of a “wow factor” than new game modes or expanded VR support, IO Interactive is committed to making technical improvements to the game through 2022. Some of the things mentioned in the livestream include better reflections and better shadows, as well as ray tracing on PC. Plus, IO is continuing their partnership with Intel to continue to keep the bar high for PC players.

Hitman Trilogy

Hitman Trilogy

When Hitman 3 launched, players had the option of importing Hitman 1 and 2 so they could have access to the full package in one place. Starting on January 20, new players can just pick up the Hitman Trilogy, so they can get the full experience without that pesky import process. It’s a more streamlined way to jump into the series. While I won’t be taking advantage of it myself (I’ve already gone the import route), I think this is going to be an incredible boon for anyone who decides to pick up the game in 2022.

Oh, and Hitman Trilogy will be available on Steam, and it will even be coming to Game Pass for Xbox consoles and PC. This means there are more ways to get into the action than ever before. It’s truly a good time to be a fan of the Hitman series!

New Freelancer game mode

Hitman 3 - Freelancer

Before you start a mission in the main game, you typically pick a loadout, then drop into the mission with that loadout assembled. In the Freelancer game mode, you will instead have a safe house where you’ll have to prepare. If you want to keep an item, you need to safely return to the safe house to store it. Anything lost on the field is permanently lost.

The devs at IO admitted that this concept was inspired by roguelikes, and that they wanted the Freelancer game mode to add more consequence to your actions on the field.

This will be a fresh campaign, where you basically start off with low-level targets and work your way up to the grand finale, which is the leader of the whole organization. And this final target is somewhat randomized, so uncovering the identity of the leader will require some detective work, even after multiple playthroughs…

Look, I’m not 100% clear on exactly how this will play out, but I can’t wait to try it out for myself.

Freelancer mode is scheduled to come to the game at some point in the spring of 2022.

New Map – Codename: Rocky

Hitman 3 - Codename Rocky

In the livestream, we got our first peek at the new map, which is currently being called “Rocky.” We don’t have a lot of details about this yet, but we did get to see a few oh-so-brief shots of the environment. And it looks pretty awesome, if you ask me.

And more…

Of course, those were just the highlights. There are more details on IO’s website, and if you want to watch the full video for yourself, here it is:

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