Hitman Freelancer Is The Best Release Of 2023 So Far

It's hard to believe it's been two years since Hitman 3 snuck into our lives with that stunning Dubai opening as the culmination of the World of Assassination trilogy.

Hitman 3 is the closest thing we've got to a Bond game - making developer IO Interactive the perfect choice for a licensed 007 title. The trilogy's close is great because it represents the "game as a service" model as something a little less cynical.

No season pass, no cosmetic store, Hitman 3 is an ever-evolving beast that adds regular new challenges, meaning you can even import your Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2 data into it.

If you've already got them all, that's a whopping 23 locations, painstakingly detailed and with a constant stream of targets to hunt down.

What is Hitman 3's Freelancer Mode?

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Freelancer is a great way to experience Hitman's locations all over again.

But I'm not here to wax lyrical about Hitman 3, so much as I am to talk about the latest Hitman 3 Freelancer update.

Originally intended for 2022, it launched on January 26 and has been worth the wait, adding a complex meta-layer and roguelike elements to Hitman 3's already well-tuned gameplay mechanics to form something wholly unique.

Freelancer tasks Agent 47 with picking a dossier of targets and working to eliminate them location by location. Take them out, and you move on to the next one. Get killed (or injured, as the game puts it) or fail your mission, and you'll lose half of your Mercers (a new in-game currency) and all of the weapons you took with you.

Honestly, IO's initial tutorial video puts it together better than I ever could:

After every few missions, you'll get to take on a Showdown. These are challenging missions with multiple "suspects". In one playthrough, I knew I was looking for a character with brown hair, glasses, and earrings, and their tell was that they'd be dehydrated and constantly drinking water.

I had to scope out each of the four targets in the New York location carefully, watching for the tell and trying to spot their characteristics from afar. It's tense, and while 47 doesn't draw attention to himself using the new suspect camera, Hitman Freelancer placed all of mine on different floors of the bank.

Adding to the tension, there are assassins looking for you hidden in each level, and if you fail a Showdown, the campaign is over.

Between The Missions

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It pays to start a campaign on a level you know well.

The Hitman series has always had a metagame. Whether it's earning cash to buy new upgrades between missions, or leaving too many witnesses and finding your next mission gets tougher because of it, Hitman gave you things to do between those trigger pulls.

Where Freelancer differs is that it reinforces all of it with player agency. As freeform as Hitman's World of Assassination trilogy has been, you're still unlocking the next item in a menu every time you level up.

In Hitman Freelancer, you're carefully plotting your next move from a hideout where each in-game crime syndicate offers different levels of challenge. It's still the same set of locations, but the added tension makes each mission feel like its own "illusive target" -- Hitman's series of difficult, one-chance-only limited-time modes.

Add in that you can earn loot within missions and bring it back to your base, and all of a sudden, the in-game economy becomes crucial for making the most out of your time in the mode. Do you spend your hard-earned Mercers on a back-alley sniper rifle during a mission, or do you try and find one and extract with it?

Hitman Freelancer adds so many strategic wrinkles and tough decisions to Hitman 3 that it almost becomes the de facto way to play.

Safe as Houses

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Agent 47's Safehouse is a bit swish.

When the killing has stopped, it's time to head home to 47's Safehouse. What begins as a large, but empty, location (he must be paying loads to rent so much square footage) soon grows to become an impressive murder factory.

Players can unlock a wardrobe, additional storage, and plenty more. It's not the most exciting part of Hitman 3, but it does start to build the mystique of being a digital boogeyman, and it feels like Agent 47 is moving up in the world.

You'll also come back to the Safehouse when you fail a campaign, and you will fail plenty - Freelancer is a tough time, and there are no save states to fall back on.

Persevere, though, and there's nothing like it - and it's well worth your time in 2023.