Hitman 3 New Modes Revealed

Hitman 3 developer IO Interactive announced that they will be altering and removing some of the franchise’s modes for the upcoming third installment in the rebooted series.

“When HITMAN 3 launches in January 2021, players will experience the dramatic conclusion to the World of Assassination trilogy,” reads a post on the IO blog. “Today, we are are happy to confirm that HITMAN 3 will feature multiple game modes, including the return of Elusive Targets, Contracts Mode, and more.”

Let’s start with Elusive Targets. IO says that Hitman 3‘s Elusive Targets will still require you to “track down a unique target, with little-to-no help from the HUD or Instinct,” but that the mode’s formula is being changed with specific alterations set to be revealed, “at a later date.” While IO did not expand on what those potential changes could be, fans are speculating that the limited time mode may become more generous by allowing you additional opportunities to complete failed missions.

While Elusive Targets will be going through some design alterations, another familiar Hitman mode (Ghost Mode) will not be returning at all.

“With our focus currently on other areas of the World of Assassination, Ghost Mode won’t be featured in HITMAN 3 and we have made the difficult decision to shut down the Ghost Mode servers for HITMAN 2 on Monday 31st August 2020,” reads a statement from IO. “We have learnt a hell of a lot from Ghost Mode over the last two years and we’ll be taking all of those learnings onboard for what we do in the future with regards to multiplayer.”

While Ghost Mode is being retired, IO noted that its exclusive unlock (The Phantom Suit) will be added to Hitman 3 as a separate unlock.

Additional Hitman 3 modes include Escalations (a collection of especially difficult challenges where “pretty much anything goes”), Contracts (which lets you create custom missions using existing tools that can then be shared with the community), and Sniper Assassin (a returning favorite which lets you participate in arcade-like challenges).

It’s a little disheartening to hear that IO seemingly couldn’t get Ghost Mode where they wanted it to be, but the quality of the previous Hitman games would tend to suggest that the studio is still at the top of their creative game. That being the case, we still have faith that Hitman 3 will feature most of the important qualities that make Hitman one of the best stealth franchises in gaming.