Hitman 3, the third chapter in IO Interactive's World of Assassination trilogy, launched last week. The stealth sequel rounds out the story-arc that began with 2016's Hitman, and connects to the original series from the early 2000s.
The story of Hitman 3 follows on directly from the cliff-hanger ending of Hitman 2. In that title, Agent 47, his handler Diana, and his pseudo-brother Lucas Grey waged war against the secret society Providence. Thanks to the capture of Providence's chief controller, the Constant, the pair managed to discover the identities of the three Providence Partners. However, the Constant escaped in the process, and began taking control of Providence's assets. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR HITMAN 3 AHEAD.
With Great Power
The first two Hitman 3 levels are concerned with the conclusion of Agent 47 and Lucas Grey's vengeance against the Providence Partners. After that, the tides turn against the pair, and Grey is killed. Agent 47 manages to dispatch the ICA agents sent to kill him in Apex Predator before leaking the existence of the shadowy assassination agency to the world in End of an Era.
At the start of the fifth mission, The Farewell, Agent 47 confronts his handler Diana. This is because, following their split from the ICA, Diana has joined Providence under its new leader, Arthur Edwards. This name is just an alias of the Constant, who is now looking for a replacement for his original position, and is considering Diana as a candidate.
Diana manages to persuade 47 that her only intention is to take power and dismantle Providence from the inside. However, at the end of the fifth mission, Diana poisons Agent 47 with a contact-based nerve toxin, allowing Edwards to capture him. She does this while revealing that she knows Agent 47 killed her parents, having been informed by Edwards.
Untouchable
Agent 47 begins the final mission of Hitman 3 in a drug-fueled haze before his genetically-superior metabolism manages to help him recover. He finds himself in a hospital bed on a moving train, waiting for the Constant's doctors to finalize a serum that will wipe his memory. The serum is based on a formula which has been used before in Agent 47's backstory, wiping his memories of Lucas Grey.
However, Agent 47 breaks out and makes his way to the front of the train to confront Arthur Edwards. Knowing that he stands no chance against the genetically-engineered assassin, Edwards seems to accept his fate. Despite this, he does offer Agent 47 a syringe of the serum. At this point players can either kill Edwards or inject him with the serum, wiping his memory. Whichever players choose, the ending of the game remains mostly unchanged. In the final cutscene, it's shown that Diana remains true to her word and dismantles Providence from the inside.
A year later, Agent 47 approaches the remote hut where Diana has been hiding, and finds it empty apart from a phone. He contacts Diana through it, and together the pair agree to continue working together to thwart those who consider themselves "untouchable."
The Third Choice
While most players will choose to either kill or memory-wipe the Constant, there's actually a third option that unlocks a secret ending to Hitman 3, with an easter egg for long-term fans of the series. If players pick up the serum in the Constant's train car, and wait for around a minute, they'll be given the third choice.
Despite Agent 47 rejecting the Constant's first offer of wiping his own memories and becoming a living weapon again, he can reconsider. The Constant will again attempt to convince Agent 47 to memory-wipe himself, and players can choose to accept.
Agent 47 will pass out, as the Constant promises to take care of him. This is followed by a brief scene in which 47 wakes up in a padded cell, with the Constant's voice saying "Wake up! It's the dawn of a new day, and you have things to do..." Fans of the Hitman series will recognize this as a word-for-word recreation of the opening scene in the very first Hitman title.
Hitman 3 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.