What is the Difference Between Hitman World of Assassination and Hitman 3? A Passionate Gamer‘s Perspective
As a passionate gamer and content creator who loves delving into gaming insights, IO Interactive‘s decision to rebrand Hitman 3 as the Hitman World of Assassination compelled me to provide detailed analysis on precisely what this definitive package offers compared to the base Hitman 3 experience.
Sprawling Locations and Hundreds of Challenges
A key aspect that distinguishes the Hitman trilogy is the sheer wealth of content available across distinct, intricately designed locations. Let‘s break down some numbers:
Hitman 1 Locations and Missions
| Location | Story Missions | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Paris | 4 | 76 |
| Sapienza | 3 | 82 |
| Marrakesh | 3 | 73 |
| Bangkok | 4 | 74 |
| Colorado | 3 | 91 |
| Hokkaido | 5 | 65 |
Hitman 2 Locations and Missions
| Location | Story Missions | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Hawke‘s Bay | 2 | 14 |
| Miami | 5 | 132 |
| Santa Fortuna | 5 | 148 |
| Mumbai | 5 | 128 |
| Whittleton | 4 | 24 |
| Isle of Sgail | 6 | 105 |
Hitman 3 Locations and Missions
| Location | Story Missions | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | 3 | 69 |
| Dartmoor | 6 | 82 |
| Berlin | 5 | 107 |
| Chongqing | 3 | 71 |
| Mendoza | 4 | 115 |
| Carpathian Mountains | 1 | 12 |
As we can see, each location offers dozens of challenges that dramatically increase replay value. Fan favorites like Sapienza, Berlin, and Mendoza tempt gamers to creatively explore and experiment thanks to sandbox levels brimming with possibilities.
World of Assassination retains all this content while incorporating Hitman 3‘s upgraded Glacier engine for the definitive Hitman experience. Plus, new modes like Freelancer completely reinvent progression across the whole trilogy.
Major Visual Improvements With Each Installment
IOI leveraged incremental technological improvements with each Hitman release:
However, Hitman 3 represents the peak of the Glacier engine‘s capabilities. Just look at these visual improvements compared to Hitman 2:
By renaming Hitman 3 to World of Assassination, the entire trilogy adopts these graphical advancements. The materials, lighting, cloth physics, and dense crowds help the locations feel more alive than ever.
Expanding World Building and Storytelling
While the Hitman games first emphasized self-contained hits within sandbox locations, the newer trilogy features compelling overarching world building and storytelling:
For example, Hitman 2 fleshes out the backstory of the Constant, a shadow client who tasks Agent 47 with seemingly unrelated missions that ultimately interweave. The tragic storylines resolve in emotional fashion by Hitman 3 as pieces fall into place.
World of Assassination retains all these narrative threads, with the upgraded presentations adding more lifelike expressions and believable character moments.
Ongoing Post-Launch Support:
While Hitman 3 already offered a wealth of content out the gate in January 2021, IOI adopted a games-as-a-service approach by introducing major post-launch updates like Freelancer mode for free. Freelancer completely reinvented the progression system and turned the entirety of World of Assassination into Agent 47‘s own sandbox to explore.
IOI remains committed to enhancing the experience with new content updates down the road. Given the developer‘s meticulous craftsmanship, I have no doubt each update will meet the community‘s high expectations.
Hitman World of Assassination represents a masterwork synthesis of IO Interactive‘s globe-trotting stealth action trilogy. By combining the entire saga, it offers fans the definitive way to experience Agent 47‘s multifaceted missions along with incredible value thanks to vast breadth of content and limitless replayability. Meanwhile, the team‘s post-launch support indicates thrilling new twists likely await in our protagonist‘s future.
