Another fabulous collection of maps, with tonnes and tonnes of room for experimentation. As with previous entries in the series, the first time I entered every map there was a giddy sense of awe. The size and scope of open world games continues to balloon, but basically no one can touch IO in terms of tantalising players with how densely packed its levels are. There's more creative mischief to be had in one countryside mansion in Hitman 3 than in entire sprawling cities in other games. This was also the first game in the series where, in my initial playthrough, I was able to off the targets without the guided 'mission stories' and still get a perfect score. It doesn't get more satisfying than that!

There's just the right amount of fresh ideas in Hitman 3 -- with some unique level design choices to differentiate from previous games, but not so drastic that the core appeal of the franchise is diminished. Only the final level is a gigantic departure, and while I can see that irritating some folks, I appreciated it as a dumb little novelty to round out the trilogy. My only gripe is the story, which has never really grabbed me -- in the older games or this new trilogy. Hitman 3 leans into the overarching plot a lot more and I don't think it benefits from it. It's convoluted but not in an intriguing way, and told via very ropey looking cutscenes.

Once again there are small quality of life improvements, most notably on the PS5 versus the PS4. Load times are zippy, performance is super smooth. I look forward to revisiting this for the rest of the year, to complete challenges and check out the always fun post release content from IO.