With Hitman 3 on horizon, new details surrounding IO Interactive’s latest assassination sim have been steadily trickling out as we approach its January 20th release date.
With Hitman 3 being this month’s cover game for popular US gaming publication, Game Informer, we’ve been learning more about Agent 47’s upcoming caper.
One particularly interesting highlight from this preview coverage is the addition of a new Hitman game mechanic IO Interactive are calling Shortcuts. There’s nothing overly flashy or technical here – the devs have essentially added pathways and access points such as ladders to each map, allowing players to quickly hunt down targets without needing to quietly navigate a maze of rooms and corridors.
What’s clever about this system is that these Shortcuts need to be discovered and activated before players can use them in subsequent playthroughs of a level. It’s somewhat similar to what we see in FromSoftware’s Souls games and Bloodborne, rewarding players with convenient shortcuts once they’ve progressed far enough into a particular area.
The idea behind Shortcuts is that they will encourage replayability. Each Hitman location is built with replay value in mind though some assassination opportunities can take a while to wind up, usually requiring Agent 47 to interact with various NPCs in order to isolate his targets. Shortcuts will definitely help save some time in completing those mastery challenges and feats. It’s unlikely that IO will go back and retrofit Hitman/Hitman 2 levels with Shortcuts though they’ve yet to confirm.
Of course, we’re also looking forward to seeing where Agent 47 will visit in 2021. Hitman 3 will feature six locations at launch with Dubai, Dartmoor, and Chongqing having all been confirmed. Each one comes with its own targets and opportunities that extend well beyond the campaign. Once again you can take on side contracts, challenge yourself in Escalations, and hunt down those time-limited “Elusive Targets”. Hitman 3 will also be the first game in the long-running franchise playable in virtual reality thanks to PlayStation VR.
For more on Hitman 3 make sure you keep an eye out for our preview later this week.
Source: Game Informer (via YouTube)
