RAVE ON

RAVE ON IO Interactive gets experimental with HITMAN 3, its most creative and surprising assassination simulator yet.

- Andy Kelly

And so, here we are, we’ve finally come to the end of IO Interactive’s so-called World of Assassination trilogy, which began with the Danish developer’s first Hitman reboot back in 2016. These are some of the best systems-driven stealth games on PC, and Hitman 3 tops the series off with a superb collection of levels – some of which are among the best in the entire series. This is a spiritual and mechanical continuation of the previous two games, but IO still has a few surprises up its sleeve. And one level in particular might just be the studio’s masterpiece.

I’m in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Berlin. Spindly lasers and strobing spotlights sweep across a shadowy dancefloor, revealing a sea of bobbing heads hypnotised by throbbing techno music. The music is so loud, and the bass so deep, it makes my headphones vibrate. But I’m not here because Agent 47 has given up contract killing and joined the German rave scene. Nope, I’m here to murder a team of deadly assassins who are also trying to murder me.