Hitman 3: PS5 Review

Developed by IO Interactive

Platform: PS5

There's something insidiously addictive about IO Interactive's Agent 47 franchise.

The concept is a simple one - follow a mission, zero in on a target and take them out. It couldn't be 

easier. And yet, with just the hint of a wrong button pressed or a moment mistimed, it can all go devastatingly downhill in an instant.

But this is what makes the game so entertaining - and what rewards the patience of the player as well.

The dramatic conclusion to the World of Assassination trilogy is truly a thing to behold and a game to savour.Following the leaders of Providence, the secret organisation manipulating world affairs, Agent 47 is charged with taking them down and instilling a new world order.

From the likes of Dartmoor in the UK, Romania and China to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the game's settings feel truly magnificent, a sign that the developers are determined to ensure the world is not enough for Agent 47's would be Bond machinations.

But it's what happens in those worlds that makes it so engaging.

From NPCs having conversations that immerse you in the surroundings, or which give you more information, the game's readiness to make it feel real is to be applauded. Add in the likes of cupboards, bolt holes to hide, and plenty of disguises to use, Agent 47's journey feels naturalistic.

It's the environments which shine on the PS5, with areas glistening with richly defined contours and with possibility. Never, really, has pre-meditated murder been so much fun.

However, Hitman 3 is not without its flaws.

Very occasionally, the game will let you walk through people or in rare cases, walls, glitches which take you out of the game. And even though the DualSense pulses with a pounding heart rate as you're attacked, the lack of a health bar never really helps you knowing if you're 1 second away from death or can make it to another room to recover - it's a game flaw that's been in the franchise from the start, and it's a frustrating formula that's been adhered to.

Those are minor quibbles though - and it has to be said that the game takes the trilogy to a thrilling and relatively expected conclusion. But that's not to detract from what IO Interactive has achieved with this (and which sets the bar high for their proposed James Bond series) - more to say that the trappings are in keeping with the genre, and use the tropes extremely well as the game progresses.

There are vicarious thrills to be had from meticulously planning a death - and yet, weirdly for a stealth game, if you want to go on a beserker rampage, stabbing, shooting and throwing people off buildings and floors, Hitman 3 will indulge you as well. Granted, you won't get very far into the game doing so, and every time will end in death, but Hitman allows you to cut loose from some of its more pompous stealth and story edges if that's what you want.

Ultimately, Hitman 3 is a great end to a franchise, and a fitting launch for IO Interactive on the next generation. It remains to be seen if 007 will be as successful, but for now, this adieu to Agent 47 is an essential purchase and a thrilling waste of time for the coming months.

A digital code for Hitman 3 for the PlayStation was provided by Bandai Namco for the purposes of this review.