All game modes coming to Hitman 3

Hitman 3 arrives sometime in January 2021, but developers IO interactive wanted to give eager assassins a brief peek at what they can expect to jump into as Agent 47 with a blog post. The team outlined all of the available game modes players will have the chance to explore, with a large sandbox to test their assassination and disguise skills. Unfortunately, ghost mode, the multiplayer mode from Hitman 2 that had players facing off against each other to kill the same targets, won’t be making a return.

Campaign

The campaign mode will be a finale to the World of Assassination trilogy that began from the 2016 Hitman game. Agent 47 returns as the main character as he attempts a variety of contracts set all over the world. There will be various ways he can complete them, using nearly everything he can see in the environment.

Elusive Targets

Elusive target is a returning game mode where players have a limited time to take out an exclusive target. When players try it, they only have one shot at making it count. Should they fail, it’s all over. They have to devise a plan based on the knowledge they learn as they play. The elusive target has even been a celebrity, with Sean Bean having played The Undying, in Hitman 2. We’ll learn more details closer to Hitman 3’s release about how the game mode has changed, and if we have any surprise appearances.

Escalations

The Escalation contracts place increasing difficult rules on you as you make your way through the game. You may be unable to use certain disguises, or have to contend with additional security measures protecting your target. How these progressively stack against is not entirely clear, but it’s likely players have a timer to deal with as they try to take down their chosen foe.

Contracts Mode

For those who love to create their own adventure, you can create your own assassination. You choose the target, decide how they need to die, figure out what needs to happen, and then make it happen. Should you be able to complete all of the requirements and make it a success, you can offer up the contract to others online to see how well they fare. IO will pick some of their favorites from the community to place in the featured contract category. Think yours is good enough to make it?

Sniper Assassin

If you’re an assassin who prefers to keep their hands clean, there’s the sniper assassin game mode. It’s similar to the traditional game, except all you have is a sniper rifle. There will be distinct challenges you can complete during the contract to increase your score. Previously, a co-op mode was offered in Hitman 2, but this feature won’t be making its way to the third game.

While plenty of the multiplayer features won’t be coming over to the third installment, it sounds like there will be plenty of avenues for assassins to practice their killing creativity.