Having played through the trilogy, I thought I'd take a shot at ranking the levels based on what I think makes a good Hitman playground. This is entirely subjective. Well, not entirely, I like to think I can be objective and measured in my assessments as well. But it really comes down to what I think makes it good or bad, and this will be different for each player. Excluding the epilogue, Carpathian Mountains, there are twenty levels in the trilogy. This list is based on the campaign missions, I am not considering escalations, contracts, bonus missions and other side content.

20. Colorado (H1) -- I don't think any levels in the World of Assassination trilogy are bad. But some are better than others. Colorado is in the bottom spot because it doesn't feel like Hitman to me. It's a farm where everywhere is hostile, and has multiple targets. It's still a good level in the absolute sense, but there are no safe spaces, no blend opportunities and disguise progressions to go through. Just a farm full of bad guys. Uninspiring.

19. ICA Facility (H1) -- It's simply a tutorial mission, a mock up of plywood and actors, all to train 47 in the subtle arts of the kill. Nothing wrong with it, it does what it says on the tin. But it is basic, small and temporary. Good to hone some skills, but otherwise not a proper Hitman level, and not intended to be.

18. Santa Fortuna (H2) -- Again, I don't think any of these levels are bad, but this one was a bit too sprawling for me. Hippo kills are legendary however.

17. Marrakesh (H1) -- About the same as Santa Fortuna. These two levels are set up so there are distinct, and what I feel may be disjointed, areas to tackle in turn. I didn't enjoy the infiltration on this one as much as other levels, and the whole school section left me a little cold.

16. Hawke's Bay (H2) -- A tutorial level, but it sits this high due to the setting and ambience. It was also my first real mission in the trilogy so maybe gets some points for that. I like how it is split between the free phase where no one is around, and the arrival of the guards and targets while you're in the house.

15. Isle of Sgàil (H2) -- It's a neat concept, and a striking setting, but this level felt a bit restricted and not as fun to play as others. Probably the level I've played the fewest times, and maybe some more runs would change my view.

14. Bangkok (H1) -- A prototypical hotel mission. It's a bit of a dichotomy, with the grounds even split in to two towers -- the public spaces on one side, and private on the other. One target is almost too exposed and easy to kill, the other is hemmed in by hostile areas, many guards, cameras and other impedimenta. And who knew 47 could beat the skins like Ginger Baker?

13. Dartmoor (H3) -- One of the smallest and tightest levels in the trilogy, and features an Agatha Christie type whodunnit that is one of the neatest turns I've seen in this series. Think the movie Knives Out in a Hitman game. Nothing wrong with this level per se, but it's this far down my list because beyond the whodunnit there's just not much meat on these bones.

12. Chongqing (H3) -- This level gets a lot of love and while I enjoyed it, it felt a little too convoluted. I could see the contrast they were going for -- the rain soaked neon-lit streets above and the cold, austere high-tech facility below. But with this level 47 is moving in to the black ops genre, and I want him back in Hitman.

11, Mumbai (H2) -- It's a fine level and has much of what I like about Hitman. Some very cool hit opportunities and mission stories. It's dense and a neat setting. I could do without the whole Maelstrom thing though.

10. New York (H2) -- Hitman's take on a bank heist. It works. But it's one I don't find myself keen on replaying. Not sure why. I should re-visit it.

9. Mendoza (H3) -- This level was beautiful, loved the setting. I also really liked the ability to trick a NPC in to taking out a target. I've only run through it a couple times. It gets a lot of praise but I only thought it was OK. Nothing extraordinary. Maybe because for the first time I didn't trust Diana. This probably should have been the trilogy's final level. Put your signature suit back on and dance with Diana as the screen fades to black.

8. Berlin (H3) -- Berlin is maybe the most innovative level in the series. Some rate it as the best level. I really liked the twist and had fun identifying and then eliminating the many targets, all in a pulsating German rave scene. But something about it keeps it from reaching the top of this list. Still, a great Hitman level that throws you out of your comfort zone and puts your full range of skills to the test.

7. Whittleton Creek (H2) -- A bucolic Vermont suburb is such a divergent setting for a lethal assassin like 47. And I loved it. I feel so badass knowing the power I have to decide fates among the backyard barbecues and door to door salesmen. This was the second map I maxed out mastery. A great level and a throwback to the classic Blood Money mission "A new Life".

6. Haven Island (H2) -- I love this map, the setting and how much concealing foliage there is! The weather change is a neat touch. Three targets, numerous kill opportunities, and even one USB-stick that leads to two kills if you play it right. A perfectly balanced Hitman map. Blowing up the jetski is one of the most fun eliminations in the series, watching the target fly off in to the jungle or out to sea lol.

5. Sapienza (H1) -- Top-five territory now, the best of what Hitman offers. This could be the best level in the trilogy, and many think it is. I might too, except for that virus you must destroy. This alone drops this level from the very top to fifth place in my list. Anytime the game moves from silent assassin territory in to the covert/black ops sort of stuff I bristle. I'm a cold, calculating killer. Send in another agent for that stuff, thanks very much.

4. Hokkaido (H1) -- This level took a little while to percolate for me. Levels where you start with nothing jarred me at first, but now I see the beauty, how it forces you to improvise and use all of your skills, rather than rely on your standards. Berlin is like this too. Top setting, a high tech Japanese hospital, and some extremely devious kill opportunities. This is high-art Hitman at it's best.

3. Dubai (H3) -- Not one other player will rank this so highly I don't think. But for me it's everything a good Hitman level should be, in many ways it hits the same notes Paris does. It's H3's tutorial level, but has fantastic kill opportunities, plenty of verticality, safe and hostile zones and you can make a target slip on a banana as he tries to leap off the world's tallest building wearing a parachute you sabotaged with a letter opener. Perfect.

2. Miami (H2) -- Fantastic level with so many dissimilar ways to approach it. All set around an auto-race, in which one of your targets is a competitor. You can kill wearing a mascot costume, become Florida Man, or take out both targets by making one fall on the track, crashing the other target's car and killing them both. This stuff never gets old. Pitch perfect level and game design.

1. Paris (H1) -- I don't think many players will rate Paris as top level in the trilogy, but for me this is the perfect Hitman level. it was the first one where I maxed mastery. There may be some nostalgia tinting my view. But it has it all. Great setting, opportunities and level design. Paris, for me, is the ideal Hitman level.

I returned to Hawke's Bay to put right my botched attempt the day before, and this time it went flawlessly to get the achievement for completing it on master difficulty in Hitman 2. I took a chance and lethal-poisoned the sugar, and as luck would have it that's what she wanted in her tea tonight haha. That's a fun, quick level. I took my time and still made it out in 18 minutes. Of course as you gain map mastery, you unlock new starting locations, many of which can cut considerable time off the mission.

I also gave New York another shot, as pondered in the ranking list above. It's a good level, but having revisited it, it remains in tenth place.

When I did the carry-over to import previous progress to Hitman 3, I had many, many achievements yet to get. Hitman 3 has far fewer, like 60 fewer, so I've been playing H2 alongside H3 to get more of them. One of the ones I wanted was Top of the Class, which requires beating the top leaderboard score on a Contract. I got that one after a number of attempts.

Achievement hunting is going great haha. I've gotten 20+ over the past couple of days. Some are quite simple, some are quite difficult, but I like this because it gives me goals and targets to hit. It also directs me to different paths, attempting eliminations that I not only wouldn't have done otherwise, probably, but wouldn't have even thought of. The Keep Your Eyes Peeled achievement in Dubai is a perfect example.

I completed the H3 epilogue (Carpathian Mountains) and my reaction is, what the hell is this sh!t? Did IOI fire the entire dev team with one level to go and replace them with ex-Call of Duty people? I just cannot wrap my head around the decisions that were behind this, to make the final level in the trilogy unlike anything that came before it, a level that feels nothing like Hitman to me. You're on a train, at the back of course. And the target is at the front. You must make your way forward through many cars, filled with guards, while you alternate between moving through the cars, on top of the cars, and hanging off the sides.

Silent assassin? Yeah good luck with that. I'm sure it can be done, but what a chore. Halfway through I finally just said screw it and starting lobbing grenades and killing everyone. I killed more non-target NPCs in this one level than I have in the entire trilogy to date I would say. Tedious, linear, and disappointing. It's impossible for me to fathom why this was chosen as the finale to an otherwise stellar series.

Replayed several levels. Did all missions stories in Dartmoor for Full House. Easy. Once you know how to reliably reach the safe and what the code is, this level is simple. The story missions are good, especially the murder mystery, but after that it falls a little flat for me. Maxed mastery will be a bit of a slog on this map I think.

Spent a lot of time in Sapienza. This is easily one of the best maps in the trilogy, and as I said in the ranking post the virus objective drags it down from potentially top spot for me. But I had forgotten it could be taken care of with a Silverballer and a stalagtite. Or is that stalagmite? Stalag-tite, right? T for top. Anyway, that's pretty easy to do and streamlines the whole thing. But still, I'd like this level more without it. I did a smooth professional SA run (solar system accident/silverballer headshot), and then a very messy Sniper Assassin run that went all to hell and I failed to get it because of non-target deaths and found bodies. Note to self. Don't use the Ruins stash unless you start there.

That messy run did have one of my newest favorite kills, the Eye for an Eye challenge. When this sort of thing emerges from the sandbox, completely unexpectedly, it reinforces what a great game this is. I won't spoil it for others, but I hope anyone attempting a sniper run clues in on the possibility.

And finally I gave one of the bonus missions a go, called The Icon. It's an alternate mission set in Sapienza, and I worked out a way to ghost it in 6 minutes, nabbing the Perfectionist achievement along the way. It was a lot of fun working out this plan, fail, fail and fail some more until each step falls in to place. Stayjng out of vision cones is especially challenging here and it requires perfect timing. Thankfully you can save in this one.

I was looking to mix things up so had a look through my inventory options to work with some new weapons. Somehow the Sieker emetic dart pistol had flown under my radar. Not sure when or how I unlocked it (Haven Island mastery?) but this tool is a game changer. One of the biggest challenges in the game is dealing with stationary NPCs that you need removed. Like a dude hanging out at the bar so he notices when you attempt to poison a whiskey or wine glass. He doesn't move, and is always looking in the wrong direction. This dart gun though makes the target sick so off he goes to vomit, removing him from the scene.

Normally you can't just choke out a roadblock like this, you have the body to deal with and you can't do that in a crowded bar. Until now a lethal poison vial was my most common stash item. But now I'm stashing the Sieker more. A great solution to some of the game's toughest spots. I bet it's great in Contacts too, where the target has no loop so you can get him moving and out of view.

For me, I'm working through Hitman 1... completed ICA Facility, Paris, Sapienza, Marakesh, plus Hawkes Bay from Hitman 2, which got me started with the series.
I'm currently just starting in Bangkok. I don't have a great deal of experience with the game yet so the stuff you are doing is a bit beyond my capabilities
Really enjoying it though...
Marakesh was a nightmare for me... I just couldn't find a way up to the second floor to kill the target, so I had to start again on casual to get the job done, but up till then I had been doing it all on the higher level setting above.
Oh, and thanks for telling me about the legacy packs!

Cool man, which level's your favorite so far?

I can't recall how I might have gotten upstairs in Marrakesh. Are you talking about the school or the consulate? I'll give it another go and if you are interested I'll let you know how, or if!, I solved it. Could there be a way to get that target to leave there? I'll replay it and see what's up.

it takes time to learn all of the tricks and skills in this game. And as you replay the maps you gain new starting and stash locations and unlock new items and weapons, and a previously difficult or time-consuming mission can suddenly become much more simple and fast. That's obvious to you I know, but it at least will be encouragement to give it another go with a different plan.

I gave A Gilded Cage a go. I should have done so in Hitman 2, but I did it in 3, wasn't thinking. I started from the default spot so we were the same. I did stash the Sieker which you won't have yet, but I only used it to kill the consulate target, not to infiltrate. Loadout was Silverballer, Lockpick and Coins on Professional

Kill Method: Straight Flush

Almost as soon as you start, a mission story pops up, about how the man living upstairs from the store used to be headmaster at the school. So I went up there, choked him out and stole his key. Still up in the area where you get this key, around the side are ledges you can scale, and then shimmy around the side of the building and drop down a pipe to bypass the guards at the entrance. Entered the school through a first-floor window. First time I shot the officer with the Sieker, and he went to vomit. I choked out the guard in the room, and then went to drown the officer, but he was throwing up in a garbage can, not a toilet or sink so I shot him in the back of the head. That was too easy, and since I already had the headshot challenge done, I reloaded to do it a different way. Turned on the intercom so that a couple of soldiers grousing about the officer were broadcast through the facility, which eventually led the officer to come berate them. I kicked a broken toilet through a hole in the ceiling from the room above and eliminated him with the accident.

The officer goes upstairs and downstairs and it's easy to get upstairs. The Consulate is not, so I'm sure the Consulate is where you got tripped up Troop. I left the school and through an alley which opened in to the area in front of the consulate where the protesters are. I stuck to the left, past a guard and some barricades toward a couple of civilians talking off to the side. Turned right and scaled the wall, and immediately turned left through a door that led downstairs to a garage area. I was wearing the camo fatigues from the guards at the school. That's what the guards here were wearing, and there's one officer who is an enforcer. He is blocking a key that unlocks an escape, but you don't need it. I turned on the radio nearby to distract one guard, then flipped a coin to distract the officer and grabbed that key, although I did not use it to escape the level.

In the center of this garage space is a stair case that leads upstairs to the consulate. I took these stairs while avoiding the camera and used instinct at the top. I could see a sitting guard, through the wall in what turned out to be the security room, and tried to take him out to get the disguise. Couldn't work out a way to do so in the security room, but outside was a copier that I turned on and hid in the box nearby. When he came out to turn it off I choked him out but got caught by a guard coming down the hallway. I reloaded and this time followed the guard who had caught me. He went in to the kitchen where I choked him out, took his clothes and hid the body. Just in time too, as seconds later a staff member came in.

Now I could walk in to the security room, where I coin distracted the guard, choked him out and disabled the security system.. Prowled around looking for a good opportunity and kill method I had yet to use in Marrakesh. In the end I shot him with the Sieker and as luck would have it the bathroom was ten feet away. Followed him in, drowned him in the toilet, hid the body and walked out. Silent Assassin, and took about 40 minutes. In case you didn't know there is a Silent Assassin HUD indicator that is turned off by default. If you care about this, turn that on to let you know when you break Silent Assassin. It's usually obvious, but sometimes you break it and don't realize it. It will also indicate when only camera footage is breaking SA, so if you can destroy the evidence you can reclaim SA status.

I made up the Straight Flush thing. But killing two targets, both with toilets but in different ways should definitely be called Straight Flush

Straight Flush beat out other top contenders like Skip to My Loos

After that run in Marrakesh I had a look around to decide what to do next. Honestly it's become like Europa Universalis, where what I do is guided by which achievements I have yet to get and sound fun and do-able. Sprinkle that with map mastery advancement and that's how I'm choosing what to play. So I fired up H2 and did that Icon ghost run again in that game, to get a second Perfectionist achievement.

What I really wanted to do though was unlock the Sieker 1 emetic dart pistol in Hitman 2. I wrote about how I used it in the consulate in Marrakesh (in Hitman 3), how valuable a tool it really is. It's a rule-set bender, and it's fun to take it in to a level you've played a number of times before with no similar capability and see the options it opens up. For example Dartmoor, where you assume the undertaker's identity and the target comes to inspect the preparations for her sham funeral (yes, really). She has a bodyguard that follows her everywhere, and he is tricky to take out so that you can get the target kill unobserved. But the Sieker makes it trivial. Stick him with a dart and off he trundles to get sick. Stripped of her guard, the target is easy work. That's just one of many possible uses for this weapon.

Turns out it is unlocked at Haven Island mastery level 10, which I have in H3, but not in H2. So I played it again to hit mastery 10. I failed to do so because I took so much time that most of the mission stories expired! Haha, so yeah, I had to improvise. I absolutely love this map, and the setting. Evidently there a triple kill opportunity on the map, but I've yet to work this out. No spoilers, since if I do work it out I want the satisfaction of figuring it out on my own.

I took nearly two hours to finish it and fell thisclose to level 10, but I need to give it another go, or maybe a contract. There are many ways to approach these maps and missions of course, that's part of the appeal of the series. But for players like me who usually go for Silent Assassin, the Sieker is gold.

Favourite level so far?... the one I'm on now I think in Colorado, Freedom Fighters. I've been thinning out the opposition. I have stunned guards that I've stashed all over the place, lol!
I'm gaining intel as I explore... I've already laid a trap in the lab for one of the targets and I'm working out the routines for the other three to decide how and where to intercept them.

As to Marakesh, yes, it was the consulate... but I managed to disguise myself as one of the interns on my second attempt and found a back staircase up to the second floor and could move around more or less freely to eventually kill the target in his office.
I did Bangkok after that, quite enjoyable that one!

That's interesting, as I placed Colorado last in my list. Horses for courses, eh?

I loaded Colorado up last night, but didn't start a run. I took a look at the level mastery and I see that a number of firearms are unlocked in Colorado. A couple assault rifles, a pistol, a sniper rifle and some demo. I think I'll pay it another visit, maybe get some of these unlocked and see if it is worthy of a higher place in my list. My mastery there is 8, so I probably only ran through it two or three times so far.

I did a few Featured Contracts, to get the New Profile achievement (did so in H2 & H3). Contracts are interesting, if a bit all over the place. Most have multiple targets, and on top of that the author can add 'complications', which are restrictions such as no pacifications, or don't get spotted, or all bodies hidden or use a specific weapon or disguise. So you have to sift through them to find the ones you like. This massively expands the content on each level, even if it is uneven in scope, suitability and quality.

I did Haven Island some more, and got the Sieker unlocked in H2. I believe I've spotted where the triple kill I spoke of would occur, now to decipher how to get all three targets there at the same time.

Definitely a quality game series... so much scope, variation and content...

Yes indeed. I'm mildly surprised more folks around here haven't gotten in to it, or at least, want to talk about it. Off counting their shoes I think

But this game is smack in my wheelhouse. Stealth-focused, sandbox and slick. The depth of the content is icing on the cake.

Last night I focused on Sapienza in Hitman 2. Did a suit-only sniper assassin run from the ruins, which I had finally unlocked as a starting location (mastery 17?). In and out in 11 minutes. Completed the Landslide bonus mission. Did a random contract too. Now I'm just 900 points shy of mastery 20, so whatever I do there next should max this map out, as long as I hit at least one challenge.

I also started the Patient Zero mission chain/bonus campaign, completing the first one in Bangkok. This series plays out with missions on several maps, with Sapienza, Colorado and Hokkaido coming after Bangkok. Let's see how it plays out.

Completed alI campaign missions from 1 and now working my way through 2, aaaand, caved in and got Hitman 3... ported all my Hitman 2 stuff across as per instructions.
Sadly, not everything followed over... I don't have access to Himmelstein, Hantu Port or Siberia for some reason?
Plus, only seven steam awards from Hitman 2 show up but not the rest of the 16 I had unlocked.
Still, it's a great game series and I'm having fun getting through it all.

It's only money



They've moved to Game Modes, check there



That may be because they don't share all of the same ones, and only achievements that are present in H3 would carry over. H3 actually has 63 fewer achievements, despite all of the shared ones. Like the 'complete level X on master' or 'use a starting location and agency pickup' ones aren't in Hitman 3. This is part of why I said I'm playing Hitman 2 alongside Hitman 3.

I had a look on Steam to compare achievements, but it looks like your profile is private. No worries there, but if you're interested I'll add you as a friend, and then my scores will show in your leaderboards and yours on mine.

Yes, you are right... In the other games I thought they were actually proper missions, not just the sniper assassins.
In Hitman 2 they were in the Destinations tab, but in 3 they aren't there.

Big update dropped a couple days ago, 1.7 gigs, but seems to be a graphics update, introducing or improving ray tracing and that sort of stuff. I have a 1660Ti which is Turing architecture but has no ray tracing cores so this stuff doesn't apply to me. If you have a better card it might be worth a look at what has been improved.

And also, the Freelancer mode mentioned earlier and which I am looking forward to, has been delayed until later in the year. This article says that Hitman 3 was a big commercial success, and good for IO. Might be good for us too as that tends to lead to new content.

https://www.polygon.com/23057480/hitman-3-freelancer-mode-delay-road-map

Another update has hit, this one adding a new level, Ambrose Island

https://www.ioi.dk/hitman-3-ambrose-island/

Free for owners of Hitman 3 and included in the latest patch.

Some big changes recently to this game. All three games are now one game, which is sort of how it was before, But H1 and H2 are no longer available as stand alone purchases. It's all combined as Hitman World of Assassination.

What I had been looking forward to is the Freelancer mode, which is a big shift in how the game works. As the name suggests it sets 47 loose on his own. No intel, no handlers, no mission opportunities. It's all rather free form. Weapons and kit can be lost permanently. Missions are created with random elements. The same maps that we've played over and over, but the targets change, the game loop is thrown askew and there are real consequences to failure.

https://ioi.dk/hitman/blogs/freelancer-you-are-in-control#the-last-word

The campaign play consists of a series of syndicate leaders that 47 must eliminate. In order to expose the leader, two setup type missions must be performed to take out his underlings. Once done, the main target comes out of hiding and it's your job to find a way to take him out in what is called the Showdown mission. Failing a mission loses all the gear you are carrying, plus half of your money. Failing a Showdown ends the campaign. There's a new safehouse for 47 and you can build up an arsenal over time, but of course you can lose it too. There are suppliers located on the game maps, covert black market types where you can pick up new gear with any money you've earned. You can also find plenty of stuff in the game world, like relieving a guard of his silenced SMG.

In the campaign selection you can choose from a number of syndicates to target, each with its own playstyle. One might have objectives like kill with poison, while another may be accidents and another silenced weapons. So you can tailor which syndicate you target according to how you want your approach to be framed. But the issue that pops out is that you have nothing at the start. I took the first mission armed only with a non-suppressed Silverballer and a camera. That's it. No coins, no fiber wire. It's up to me to acquire those tools through the gameplay.

As a result, my first syndicate choice was the one showing an objective to take out the target with an unsilenced gun. It's my only option right? Of course you can find other tools on the map, but that seemed like a good fit considering my limited carry options at the start. Each syndicate you choose has several maps the missions take place on, so you can also choose ones you like. In the one I chose to start off my Freelancing career, first up was Whittleton Creek. The target was just a random pedestrian, a woman who just walks up and down the sidewalk, stopping to talk on her phone occasionally. In the main game, she would be inconsequential scene filler, but now she's the target.

How to take her out with a loud pistol? I spent a while casing the joint, trying to work out a way to do it unseen. I couldn't. Just too exposed and my options too few. Her loop gave me no openings. She didn't eat or drink and never wandered off to a secluded area. Just back and forth from one end of the crowded street to the other. Finally I realized I could wait for her at the bus stop. One end of her loop was on the caddy corner. I could crouch by the bus stop. shoot across the street, pivot and hit the bus stop to end the mission. Sloppy, but should work.

As I put this plan in to motion, the mail man finished his route and came to take the bus home. He sat right on the bench behind where I wanted to shoot from. Now, if I drew my weapon, he'd screw it all up. Foiled by the mail man.

So I wandered off to maybe find some other means. I walked in to a garage and inside the house were armed guards, one had what looked like a silenced SMG. I decided I would choke him out, hide the body and take the SMG for my self. Did so, but got caught dragging him off. MIssion over. Pistol lost. Now I've nothing at all

So yeah, it's a neat shift away from the structured hand-holding of the main campaign. This mode looks hard. But it's a really neat approach, and IOI deserve credit for introducing it. It's a mode for good players, who can be creative, and who know the mechanics well. A way to put your skills to the test and most crucially, to test your ability to devise your own solutions to the problems you're given where failure has consequence. It will take more than one failed mission for me to know how I really feel about it all. But Freelancer is both different and more than what I expected. It feels like IOI are treating the veteran players with respect and rewarding those of us who have spent a lot of time in the trilogy, mastering the mechanics. This is the ultimate playground to put it all to the test. Whether the campaign begins to shine or stink as it progresses I cannot yet say. But I am impressed with what they've attempted to do here, and I appreciate the effort that has gone in to it. I really like the concept, but it will take more time to tell if the execution matches the ambition.

The consequences for failure can be brutal. As an optional mode I reckon that's what we sign up for eh? I retried that Whittleton Creek mission and this time got to the bus stop sooner so that I could carry out the plan while the mail man was still on his route. Pretty simple and I scored the cash for hitting one of the objectives. All the player needs to do is kill the mark (at least not on Hardcore), but that doesn't pay very well. Hitting the objectives, robbing safes and that sort of thing are how you rake in the money. These objectives can be all over the place, and some you may not be able to do regardless. At least at the start it's rather like playing a campaign on Hokkaido. You gotta wing it.

The second mission that came up for me was a hit on the android scientist in the Kronstadt building in Miami, I think his name is McInnis. A challenging mark as he never leaves the room and has two guards. This is where you want the Sieker or some way to get him moving and isolated, but I don't have much to choose from. I had gotten a nitroglycerin vial from a Diana crate and tossed it at him and split. Sometimes you can't be surgical or precise and have to bring the big stick. This mode forces the player to improvise and I bet in the end I'll see that as one of its strengths. It's already hard because there's no saving (I don't think) and as you progress from syndicate to syndicate it gets progressively more difficult, though I've yet to get there. But the game tells you this. So to get through a full campaign of four syndicates legit must be really hard. There's so much to lose when you fail.

I said it's a mode for good players and even then some won't like it. So far I like the sandbox vibe and the limited tools, but I'm at the easiest point. If I can figure out the best approach to building my arsenal, and keeping it intact, it could be key to keeping me keen. Constantly losing the stuff you are excited to have gotten back to the safehouse could be demoralizing. If you play well that won't happen, so if there really is no way to to save in the mission you have to nail it. I said it rewards veteran players because with no safety net you need to know the maps, the disguises and where they work, how to unlock exits and all that stuff that only comes from playing the maps many times. Freelancer isn't the thing to start out in Hitman.

Completed my first syndicate. Success is very rewarding playing Freelancer. It's hard, so to succeed feels good. But I've had to cheat a bit and drop Alt-F4 when things go sideways. I would have had to restart the campaign from scratch ten times by now. Insta-fail is a bit too harsh to allow me to test the mode's boundaries and rules. You gotta poke it and see how it reacts. So Alt-F4 is a shady way to keep the fail state at bay. But I don't care too much. If I have to start over too often I'll lose motivation I think. And I'll never build up my arsenal.

Eventually I can see settling into a comfort zone and not doing this. But at least at this early stage, Freelancer is too hard and too punishing to make real progress legitimately.

After completing the first syndicate I could choose another to target. I chose one with Sgail. And there I got the buried silenced pistol, which is a big score for the campaign. It's great for assassinations of course, but the real advantage is camera killing.

One interesting development now that I've completed four missions in Freelancer is how much my approach has changed. Or maybe more accurately, how much more open I am to alternative play styles. In the main campaign it's almost always Silent Assassin approach. I like to ghost the levels whenever possible. Unseen, unheard, undetected. But in Freelancer the only thing that matters to me is mission completion, and how that comes about is wide open. In the Sgail mission, which was an alerted territory, I had three targets, and took two out with bursts from an unsuppressed assault rifle. I don't know if I've fired an assault rifle at any point during the trilogy. Probably not. Not my style. But here? Yes, please.

I had thought only mission failure would alert a territory, but there must be a random chance any territory can alert? It didn't make much difference I don't think. The suspects become enforcers I guess, but that's not a big deal really.

So far I am really enjoying what Freelancer has brought to Hitman. It feels like an examination of my skills and ability to improvise. It makes me feel like all the time I've invested previously is paying off. A mode where mastery of maps and methods is necessary for success. There are no safety nets aside from Alt-F4 of course. It gives the rush of Elusive Targets but with a lot more freedom. The absence of saves leaves it all hanging out there, makes every action and outcome critical and final. I'd change a few things if I could to ease progression. But in a general sense it's a fantastic and welcome mode for veteran players. IOI didn't patronize, but respected the players with Freelancer I think.