Here’s the thing: you can’t detach Hitman 3 from the World of Assassination Trilogy as a whole. IO Interactive has created something unprecedented across two console generations here: a collection of stealth playgrounds, each intricately designed and brimming with murderous potential. Not getting caught has never felt this good – and we checked by consulting with a number of famous philanderers.
Even on its own this is a devilishly good slice of tongue-in-cheek espionage action. New locations include a glittering tower resort in the Middle East, purpose built for oil tycoons and the types of toffs who blow their noses with dollar bills. Then there’s a futuristic robotics lab nestled underneath a rain-slicked Chinese street, and even an illegal rave in an abandoned German factory.
Every mission has a distinctive sense of place, perhaps none more so than Dartmoor, which doubles as an episode of Murder She Wrote. There may be better constructed levels in the series as a whole – Sapienza remains a high-point that’s hard to top – but IO Interactive playfully toys with the series’ established rules, making Agent 47 the prey in the aforementioned Deutschland disco, for example.
The fact that you can import all of your content from past releases and mix-and-match your kit as you see fit makes for a limitless sandbox with endless replay value. If you think you can do it, you probably can. Consider that the PS4 version also includes full, tailor-made support for Sony’s PSVR headset, and you have an unbeatable package here – not just one of the Games of the Year, but potentially, when the dust has settled, one of the Greatest of All Time.
You can read our full Hitman 3 PS5 review here.
Push Square's Game of the Year list is primarily decided by an internal staff vote. Our community Game of the Year poll is also taken into account. Feel free to agree or disagree with our list in the comments section below!
You can check out all of our Game of the Year coverage by clicking the link.
Comments 24
Isn't this game just "more of the same". Personally I find it hard to see how such a game is more impressive than what games like Disco Elysium and Hades do. I'd love to be convinced that this is more than a map pack.
So 3.Village 2. Rift Apart 1.Returnal 👀 Anyway I can't agree or disagree too much with your personal choices although I would have moved Hades higher and remove Knockout city altogether 🙂
Definetly lower on my list
I've played the first of the trilogy and that's really it. Never got around to playing 2 or 3.
@Kidfried First sentence, though: "Here’s the thing: you can’t detach Hitman 3 from the World of Assassination Trilogy as a whole."
Got to say, in the anticipation in seeing the top 3, this being #4 has me wondering which game will be a shock to be left out. Guessing either Village or Rift Apart won’t make it in. Whichever wasn’t will be third, guessing GotG at #2 and Returnal for GotY.
I mean, none of this to depreciate how great Hitman 3 is, of course. One of these days, I’ll finally sit down and get started on the trilogy since I’ve got all three of them!
@Kidfried Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, and gave your comment a heart because it's a fair question, but the fact that Hitman III acts as the ultimate refinement of what is frankly genius game design... it's enough, trust me. And I don't even have PSVR, so I'm still saying that whilst missing out on its most impressive party trick.
Love that this game got remembered in the rankings. It's on course to occupy a similar spot in my own personal list.
@Kidfried
In the case of Hitman making it different in any way would completely screw up what makes this series special. There's nothing else I've played quite like this series and the sheer fun factor, fantastic level design and endless possibilities means that yes I think the fourth place spot is warranted.
Deserves its place on the list but was ultimately a weaker offering than Hitman [2016] and Hitman 2, making it a disappointing end to the WoA trilogy.
My brother has been playing the trikogy exclusively for years now. I tried it when it was free with plus but it didnt click. Maybe some time in the future.
Absolutely amazing game. Easily one of, if not the best game of 2021. Oozes quality in every department and of course, the entire series (1,2 and 3) are all playable in PSVR.
@Kidfried As Rog says, the game improves upon the existing titles while baking them into the experience. In terms of sheer content if you own the other two games then this really is one of the greatest packages of all time alongside Metroid Prime Trilogy. The fact I haven’t even gotten to the Hitman 3 levels while feeling like I’ve gotten my money’s worth says a lot. I wouldn’t say it was ‘better’ than Disco Elysium or Hades but then I played both of them last year or even the year before so for me personally they aren’t the ‘best games of 2021’!
@RogerRoger I wish PSVR didn’t make me feel like I’m about to hurl because the game in VR is absolutely fantastic. I played Paris in VR and the scale makes you realise just how special the level design is. Whacking people with your controller never gets old either. I then played a bit of the tropical island one from 2’s DLC and that was proper beautiful. But again, it made me feel really ill! Alas, after I got my PS5, there was no point in having the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game installed so I haven’t gone back to the VR mode. If it’s made compatible with PSVR2 when it comes out then I’d totally play it then.
All Hitman games is always a good games.i love hitman absolution and this one is amazing.more hitman is always welcome.word up son
One day, one day I'll actually get around the modern trilogy. Loved the PS2 games, so I'm not sure why I've been so hesitant to play these newer games.
While I enjoyed the game, It wasn't memorable at all. But opinions are what they are, and that's what makes the world turn.
Saying that, I got the ps5 version and managed to install the PS4 version while selling the ps5 copy. Plus all the dlc for very little, I think in total I paid around £40 for all three games. Which was insane value for what you received.
Played nearly all of this game at my mate's house on his PS5 and what a game it is. It's the only game I can remember where I've thrown a feather duster at someone's head.
It’s still sitting in my backlog hopefully get round to playing it next year
Great responses to my comment, thanks, that's what I expect from a great community.
Also, my comment wasn't a slight against the game. I love IO and their approach to structuring this series, very visionary and smart. And I'll always love to play a Hitman level every once in a while.
@nessisonett I don't think that's really convincing to me. I'd be shocked if Push Square put Uncharted Legacy of Thieves in their GOTY too.
@RogerRoger I'm still playing Hitman 2 inside Hitman 3, so maybe I just need to be patient until I have reached the "new" levels. Was just a bit surprised is all!
@get2sammyb Must be me, but I've been playing every game and every level separately, one every month or two. I must be missing something big here, but for the life of me I can't see how they can not be detached.
Yea! Glad to see this, a lot of people forgot about it but this game was excellent.
i like the hitman series because i like stealth. hitman is kinda like hide-n-seek, but in plain sight. i still dont feel good about the huge open world maps where you take out different targets on the same map over and over. i tried to see the appeal but cant. i prefer the smaller-level, more-linear hitman games. absolution, which so many say they didnt like, well i liked it. the levels were large, but linear, i didnt have to walk all over the place just to set something up just to, hopefully, pull off my plan and get a challenge completed. it feels like more work than i want in a hitman game.
but, out of the 3 open world games, part 3 is the one i like most, as i like the locations much better. wish they'd do a sandbox style level creator where we take "rooms" and kinda lego-snap them together, letting us make our own actual levels.
@nessisonett I'm the same, in that I think VR might make me sick, but I'm also not prepared to try because I'm worried that the immersion will be too tempting, and I'll wanna live in videogames forever. I have watched a streamer play some of the levels in VR and, whilst it's obviously not the same, it still looks hugely impressive!
@Kidfried Some of the Hitman III levels are very clever, and others can be quite surprising. They're definitely designed to compliment what's come before. Playing them standalone as a separate game can feel a little hollow, no matter how superb they are. Hope you continue to enjoy your steady playthrough, and that you end up impressed by what's to come!
I'll allow this. You have my blessing.
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