Hitman’s Freelancer mode makes it one of the best roguelikes ever

A modern hitman trilogy, or rather, assassination hitman worldas it is now known — always flirting with the roguelike genre. As a blank slate Agent 47, you dive into clockwork missions in remote locations, exploiting your targets’ routines and wreaking havoc as creatively as you can. In one run, it poisons the target, chases it to the toilet, and drowns it in the toilet in the middle of its nausea. Then, after unlocking a new infiltration point and corresponding disguise, he trades the golf ball for an exploding twin and watches with a laugh from the yard as the target meets an unexpected demise with his 9-iron. .

For over 22 years, developer IO Interactive has honed their knack for drawing joy from repetition. It’s almost perfected with a newly released mode that fully earns the roguelike moniker.

As free DLC progresses, Freelancer Mode becomes more of a “radical reimagining” rather than “additional content.” His trilogy on the base encourages you to do the same mission over and over, but it’s better to do the most original and hilarious kills, but Freelancer forbids repetition. Plan missions with limited information, improvise in the field, and move on to the next location.

This new gameplay loop revolves around defeating four Syndicates in an increasingly lengthy series of missions. In the first Syndicate, he must complete two missions before the Syndicate can lure his leader out. At that point, stop at the last location and patiently monitor the ‘tells’ to identify the leaders and eliminate them. To complete a run, or “campaign,” without dying he must defeat all four Syndicates his leader. In total, we’re looking at 18 locations. (This might sound complicated, but don’t worry: IO has created a simple tutorial video. here.)

Of course, this is a roguelike, so you’ll probably die — manyWhen you die, you start a new campaign from the beginning, shuffling targets, locations, items, and using tons of modifiers and random events. You also lose any lockpicks, tranquilizers, or explosives you collected from your previous run. your safe house.

As an obsession with video games.”hub world‘ continues to grow, and IO has built a Fortress of Solitude to rival their best. The bunker beneath Agent 47’s home is sophisticated, utilitarian, and surprisingly comfortable for the world’s greatest assassin. It reminds me of a house in Ex MachinaAs you progress through Freelancer Mode’s Mastery Rank, you’ll unlock new rooms, earn more decorations, and unlock gaps in the weapon walls that every spy worth their salt supposedly has. can be filled. Safehouses do not reset between runs, unlike tools, missions, or targets. Flesh out the House of Zagreus HadesBut there are many friends and family in that corner of the underworld, hitmanIn freelancer mode, Agent 47 is lonelier than usual.

Isolation is paramount in Freelancer, not only in tone but also in function. While Agent 47 was assisted by an international contracting agency for the majority of his trilogy missions, the reticent assassin has since gone…well…freelance. So while you’ll have to build your safehouse and arsenal from scratch, you’ll also have to sift through the intel yourself. (voiced by Perry) offering a guiding hand, praising successful missions and lamenting your intercourse. .

Here is the glorious fulcrum of freelancer mode. His eight randomized syndicates (represented as organized dossiers) each have randomized optional objectives that correspond to specific playstyles. Completing the goals of these options earns you a currency called “merces”. This currency can be spent at disguised suppliers scattered throughout each mission.

The goal of these options is both a boon and a way for IO to push you out of your comfort zone. For my third campaign, I decided to hunt the traffickers. This was my preferred playstyle in the base trilogy, and I had little trouble eliminating low-tier Syndicate his members with his bare hands, hiding them in the freezer, and vanishing without a trace. By the time I arrived on the Isle of Sgail to obliterate my leader, I had built up a handy assortment of lockpicks, wrenches, and non-lethal poisons, and completed the job effortlessly.

Also, I happened to be adding some guns to my weapon wall, so I decided to freshen things up with a second syndicate, a group of arms dealers. The optional objectives of these missions were, as they say, had to shout – kill three guards with a shotgun, eliminate a target with a sniper rifle, etc. These are my usual methods. Although it didn’t match, this syndicate took me to my favorite places (Whittleton Creek, New York, Berlin, Maldives).

how was it? No good, Bob! I fired the cannon at the first two locations, which startled the higher ups at the subsequent locations. These missions gained “alert” status, making it much harder to sneak through unnoticed regardless of disguise. It fell to the ground in a lead storm.

You’ll see various other modifiers and randomized events in each campaign, but frankly, I don’t want to spoil them here. Go through one syndicate, but just open the third dossier and realize how much your lust for mercy is messing you up. But we’ll stop by the next place anyway. Because improvisation is half fun and half comedy in this excellent series.

hitman‘s freelancer mode is unusual. It’s a captivating blend of challenge and familiarity. It plays on the arrogance of longtime players, but guides newcomers in with a thematic purpose and a clearer overall structure. I have. But it maintains a rapid momentum from the beginning of each run to its bitter, comical end. anything I missed it. I didn’t think IO would surprise me, but here I am.

assassination hitman worldfreelancer mode was released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on January 26th. The DLC was reviewed on Xbox. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.