Hitman Trilogy (2016-2022): Which game had the best levels?

[Kevin Shields]

I've been playing the Hitman Trilogy for all of January and I think my eyes are burned out on coins, rubber duckies and silencers. This is an amazing series and I think every game is fantastic. However, I decided to rank the levels as I went along. In my view, each games had major high points, but something else to bring it down. It is super hard to actually tell which game I would say had the best maps! What do you think?

Hitman 1?
Hitman 2?
Hitman 3?


Here are my ratings below

Spoiler: snobby level ranking inside

(spoiler Paris and Mumbai are the two masterpieces of the series imo)


Edit: after putting about 25 hours in Berlin and doing mastery 20 2 times in a row (I like progression, I'm weird…). This is an A+ level

it's a freaking masterpiece and it started as a C for me!!
Paris and Berlin are my two "untouchables" ;)

Mumbai and Sapienza right behind.

Paris - A+

Worldbuilding/Setting - A+ - James Bond, spy ring, auction, fashion show, FSB investigation, distinct villians... Amazing atmosphere that has several different vibes going on.
Map/Level Design - A+ - Vertical, dense, escape routes,
Opportunities - A - Helmut, Firework opps, so many angles...Perfect in my opinion. I could replay this forever and be happy

Sapienza - A

Worldbuilding/Setting - A- - I'm a sucker for spy vibes, so the underground lab was my jam. The competition between the two targets was fun to unravel as well.
Map/Level Design - A - Great horizontal design, nice connections, so many different approaches

Opportunities - A+ - Easily some of the best opps of the whole trilogy. Tons of them and most are good. Therapist, Detective, videotape,

Marrakesh - B minus

Worldbuilding/Setting - B -Political, high stakes, coups and betrayals... Good stuff, but most of it is not developed as much as some of the better levels.
Map/Level Design - B minus - I don't mind the school and the consulate all that much, but the separation of it between a bunch of nothingness in between is disappointing.
Opportunities - B minus - These are not bad, but the number of quality ones is much less than Paris and Sapienza which it followed. I still love the prisoner and the interview opps though.


Bangkok - B+

Worldbuilding/Setting - A (minus) Cross/Ken were eh targets, but the surrounding story had me interested about what happened to the girlfriend. I love hotel vibe, upper level music scene and the high life suits me well, what can I say?

Map/Level Design - B+ - A lot of nice areas and good design but some weird decisions bring it down. A little more free flow between two hotel parts would have been nice.

Opportunities - B - Not tons of options compared to other maps and Ken has probably the lamest opps of any target. Still like the bugman and drummer though. Nice mission stories, less openness for creative kills. SASO was a pain.


Colorado - C+

World Building/Setting - C Plot development is nice… Targets, set-up, atmosphere is kind of under baked

Map/Level Design - C+ Map is not as clever and lots of frustrating points. Yet it still provides fun stealth challenge with not a lot of downtime which is nice change of pace. Gosh some areas I never want to see again though

Opportunities - B - Not the most memorable, but because so many targets and so close, it makes the Opps action packed and quite a different feeling which is fun. Ram opp is great


Hokkaido - B+

Worldbuilding/Setting - B+ beautiful setting, unique setup, not great targets. Soders is boooring, and the lawyer is even more unmemorable. Gama is cool
though.

Map/Level Design - A (minus) Genius at times with the costume unlocks, but can be tedious at times

Opportunities - B+ Messing with surgery, yoga, heart… Great all around. However Soders is quite boring after the first couple times.


Hawke's Bay - B+

Worldbuilding/Set Up - B+ - Great espionage, location. Tutorials can't get any better than this in my opinion.

Map/Level Design - B+ - Again, it is super small, but for what it is going for it's great.

Opportunities - B - Not many, but it's a tutorial level ya know.


Miami - A-

Worldbuilding/Set Up - A (minus) While the USA racing is kinda eh for me (I'll take more spyish stuff), the scale, the villains and mixture of diverse environments are amazing.

Map/Level Design - A (minus) - Every bit as brilliant as Paris and Sapienza, but it is perhaps a tiny bit too big for two targets, and it could have been a tad more compact.

Opportunities - A - The race cars and the timing add a lot of flavor to a lot of these kills. It has more involved mission stories and some brilliant quicker kills that may make it some of the best kill opps in the whole series.

Santa Fortuna - B+

Worldbuilding/Setting - B+ - dismantling Cartel is fun… tie in with ether, budding romance, submarine espionage, the town music is mood setting (which there was more music in all of these levels). Villains are solid, with a lot of history for rico especially.

Map/Level Design - B+ - The cocaine fields are a stealth fans Dream (I could just sit in the tall vegetation forever making plans). It made an amazing first impression. Each area is distinct with many tools and easy access between the bigger areas, although it could be made even tighter. Martinez may be a little lame but it's small area makes it the easiest challenge.

Opportunities - A (minus) - Love letters, hippos, statues, tattoos, submarines, shamans. Lot of good stuff

Mumbai - A+

Worldbuilding/Setting - A (minus) - Lore, targets, relationships with one another are fantastic. Level is kind of ugly and uninviting at first, but once you dig in it's just massive and often super immersing.

Map/Level Design - A+ - Holy moly, this is entirely overwhelming, so I see people not giving it a chance, but if you are patient, the design here is magnificent. The studio and the train station are two excellently designed stealth levels on there own, but the genius is in how everything connects well. Vertical design, horizontal design. It's a work of art.

Opportunities - A+ - Kashmirian may be best kill setup in the whole series. The interaction between targets and the ingenuity level plus awesome scripted stories is off the charts. Best in the series in kill Opps.

Whittleton Creek - B

Worldbuilding/Setting - B - Janus is a great target. Setting is fun, but can be kind of bland compared to the rest of the exotic locales.

Map/Level Design - B+ - The different houses with clues and onlooking the neighborhood is fun. Small but effective. Coming from Mumbai it can feel like a let down though.

Opportunities - C+ - Small, bland, and many opps we have done before… Bug guy, chef etc. Again, coming from Mumbai it's a huge let down. The different clues were kind of fun though.

Isle of Sgail - B+

World Building/Setting - B+ - awesome atmosphere, location, lore. Secret spymaster island is great setup. Targets are boooring as all get out. Treasure hunter angle is cool but that's about all the interest I found.

Map/Level Design - B+ - Completely vertical but nice layout and makes for some good puzzle solving

Opportunities - A (minus) token hunting, ark board meetings, treasure necklace. Not best of the best, but good.

Dubai - A (Minus)

World Building/Setting - A - Aesthetics are my favorite in the series. High in the clouds, beautiful views, extravagent hotel. I love love it. This doesn't get an A+ though because the targets are kind of boring and dumb for being hyped up for so long.

Map/Level Design - B+ - Super interconnected, so even though it is rather small, it is dense and traversal is great. Nice for exploring and for stealthing. Downside is that there is not a great sniping spot and replayability is not super high.

Opportunities - A (minus) - Parachutes and server room are great. Longer and more involved than previous games, which is great for your first playthrough.

Dartmoor - A (minus)

World Building/Setting - A (minus) - Murder mystery vibe is amazing. It's only knocked down because on repeat playthroughs, dreary England can get a little... drab.

Map/Level Design - B - Nothing here is bad, but the replayability factor is a little though, but the layout works great for the main mission stories.

Opportunities- A+ - The murder mystery is the best mission story in the series, rivaled only by the Kashmirian. It is a little more linear of course, but it is still such a great playthrough.


Berlin - B+

World Building/Setting - B+ - The story setup is great and it is especially intense the first go around. The only downside is it feels like a contracts mission and the targets are pretty random.

Map/Level Design - B+ - It is maybe not the most innovative, but it works pretty darn well for the mission premises.

Opportunities - B+ - The few that are there are good, and the DJ and the meeting is just cool all the way around.

Chongqinq - B+

World Building/Setting - A - This is the best feature of this map as the atmosphere is simply amazing. It is its own little Cyberpunk game and it totally works. Loved everything about the set up. Villians are fine, but it doesn't bring down the overall feel of the level

Map/Level Design - B - Not horrible, but it can feel a little like Marrakesh and Sapienza's worst problems with a lot of unused spaced, and quartered off targets that don't flow super well together.

Opportunities - B+ - These are ok, and fun to pull off while you are doing them, but nothing is super memorable

Mendoza - B+

World Building/Setting - B+ - Super beautiful and graphics are drop dead gorgeous, but I have to take it down points because I feel like its Sapienza 2.0 . With such a short lived and amazing trilogy, I wanted to see something unique.

Map/Level Design - B+ - Nice horizontal and vertical map, but again I wanted to see some new tricks for the last major level of the series

Opportunities - A (minus) - Grape press, herald meeting, engame type stuff is pretty fun for opps. A little let down only because its the end of the series level, but it is still pretty great.

 

[toadkarter]

I'm not sure I have a favourite specific game in the series, but I do think that Hitman 1 had both my absolute favourite (Sapienza) and my absolute least favourite (Colorado) maps in the series. All fantastic games though, as a whole it's one of the greatest games of last gen.

 

[Infernostew]

1>2>3 for me

 

[Patitoloco]

It's hard. But my order I think is this:

I think H2 has the most constantly good pack of maps. There's not a bad map, and there very very good ones.
Then H3, which IMO only has the train as the weird one. The rest of them are just top notch.
Then H1, which has absolute CLASSICS like Paris, Sapienza and Hokkaido, but middling other ones.

 

[RightChandMan]

The whole trilogy is god tier but Hitman 2 is my favorite.

 

[Lashley]

Hitman 2 is my favourite

 

[SunBroDave]

Hitman 2 is the best individual package. It really says something that the neighborhood level is the weakest one.

 

[Kapten]

2 has New York.

So 2 wins.

 

[Foffy]

This is tough, as each game has a great high. Sapienza might be the best location to explore in the entire franchise, but that's the area, not the level.

My mind is saying the 2018 game, as its levels are the most consistent. In the 2016 game, you have Colorado as the weak one, in the 2021 game, the last mission might be the weakest in the whole series, and the only "weak" one in the 2018 game was the tutorial level, which felt more like an old school Hitman level where it was really linear and expected one solution. And this is before considering the new levels the DLC offered.

 

[Symphony]

Hmm, tough choice. 1 has probably the best overall levels in Sapienza and Hokkaido but Colorado and Marrakesh were trash on so many levels. 2 doesn't really reach the same highs as 1 and I think that Santa Fortuna is probably the worst map in the series, but Hawkes, Miami, Whittleton and Sgail are all only just behind 1's best and it ends up as a much more consistent game overall.

I'll give it just barely to Hitman 2.

 

[Sec0nd]

It's gotta be Hitman 1. Paris, Sapienza en Hokkaido are legit fantastic and among best maps from the entire franchise. There are some standouts in the other games such as Miami, or Darthmoor but they don't hit the same.

 

[Aangster]

I definitely played more of Hitman 1/2016/S1 maps, but you just can't beat 2's Miami and Mumbai.

For 1, Paris, Sapienza, and Hokkaido are top-tier levels while the rest are quite pedestrian. Colorado is a bit of a sore spot because of the flat layout and number of targets that don't really interact with one and other. The raw alpha/original version IOI had before outsourcing it to Sumo Digital looked incredible.

Sumo's maps for 2 (Santa Fortuna, Isle of Sgàil) are much better than their Colorado effort. Then to top it off, 2's locations featured much more appropriate local and diverse accents tied to the NPCs. Felt like Hitman 3 almost reverted entirely on that due to budget and/or scope issues.

It's definitely Hitman 2 on top.

 

[Deleted member 10623]

.

 

[Mg.]

Hitman 2 for the most consistent package.

2016 start's off real strong with the ICA training (brilliant map ideas), Paris and Sapienza (the GOAT). But does contain the weakest of the series (Bangkok and Colorado).

Have to compliment III for trying to change things up a bit with their targets and having more story involvement (Dartmoor, Berlin, Chongqing and the train level), even though it wasn't to everyone's liking.

Edit: but regardless of any of that, the World of Assassination trilogy is seriously one of the best collection of games I've played in 30 years. Even at its weakest points it's still incredibly strong. IOI made something ridiculously special.

 

[Fromskap]

Echoing a repeating sentiment.
Best individual levels: Hitman 2016
Highest average quality: Hitman 2018 (especially including the DLCs)

 

[arrado]

Overall it's 2 > 1 > 3 for me

 

[brink22]

Overall quality of the maps = 2 is best
Innovation on the maps (i.e. hidden targets in Berlin, murder mystery in Dartmoor) = 3 is best

 

[Kevin Shields]

Overall quality of the maps = 2 is best
Innovation on the maps (i.e. hidden targets in Berlin, murder mystery in Dartmoor) = 3 is best

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wow. This is spot on. I thought Mumbai was petty innovative, but Hitman 3 each map was switching it up.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Hmm, tough choice. 1 has probably the best overall levels in Sapienza and Hokkaido but Colorado and Marrakesh were trash on so many levels. 2 doesn't really reach the same highs as 1 and I think that Santa Fortuna is probably the worst map in the series, but Hawkes, Miami, Whittleton and Sgail are all only just behind 1's best and it ends up as a much more consistent game overall.

I'll give it just barely to Hitman 2.

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What made you rank Santa Fortuna as last?? I have it as a B+ so decently high up there.

 

[Symphony]

What made you rank Santa Fortuna as last?? I have it as a B+ so decently high up there.

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It's a huge map yet it feels small because there is too little freedom about how you can tackle anything, none of the NPCs have enough variation in their routines, there aren't enough opportunities to get close to the targets and it feels like everyone everywhere is suspicious of you because of the rude placement of enforcers.

I'm going to take Sapienza as a gold standard here - that map also is huge and has all the town area which feels useless, but realistically it is a safe place for prep work to get you safely into the villa. Take Santa Fortuna, what does the town area offer? Nothing. Even getting a decent disguise there is a pain because the AI barely moves around. In terms of how it plays, for me Santa Fortuna is basically just 3 small Colorados (a hornets nest that has limited target variance) joined together by a bunch of relatively useless corridors (the road, the jungle, the caves etc.)

 

[Pennybags]

H2 has the most interactive/varied levels but H3's have the best atmosphere in my eyes.

 

[Sargerus]

2 has Isle of Sgail, Miami and Whittleton Creek, so that.

 

[Kevin Shields]

2 has Isle of Sgail, Miami and Whittleton Creek, so that.

Click to shrink...

Miami I am down with, but for some reason Whittleton fell flat for me. Just a lot of samey houses and very horizontal design. Isle of Sgail is a beast. I don't feel like I've mastered it yet.

 

[N.47H.4N]

Big fan of this trilogy, all games has great levels, but the second is the most packaged and has most of my favorites.
2>1>3

 

[Spring-Loaded]

It's 2, even before counting its DLC.


Mumbai alone makes 2 the best. it provides the most insight into any target in the trilogy with the "freedom fighter" manifesto recordings and them secretly meeting their spouse under certain circumstances.

It's one of the biggest levels, yet it's every bit as dense as the smaller ones, if not more so. I remember getting to lvl 20 mastery on that map without even encountering the other assassin in that map.

 

[Yossarian]

Mumbai is the best Hitman level in any Hitman game, not just the WOA trilogy.

The Kashmirian opportunity is the single most robust mission in the trilogy, with at least 7 different ways to play out with multiple opportunities for proxy kills, double accident kills, even a frickin train kill. THAT YOU CAN THEN ESCAPE ON LIKE A BOSS.

The target spaces are genius too for how interestingly they elaborate on the characters:

- Dawood's Tower is ostensibly flashy but half-finished and emptier the higher you go (wazir calls him a 'hollow man' at one point). It is full of images of himself, decadent decor, a film set recording apocryphal stories about himself - all situated high above everyone else, a concrete block of imposing arrogance.

- Vanya lives on the same level as the citizens of mumbai, but she has retreated to an out of the way, decaying train station no longer directly connected to the main line (if that's not an on-the-nose physical representation of her mental disconnection from reality, i don't know what is!). Inside is an almost otherworldly realm, sprouting life and colour, while brutally enforced courtly rituals take place. That juxtaposition is a reflection of her rich but ultimately deranged inner-life and broken sense of reality.

- Wazir/Maelstrom has two places - one for each identity - but spends most of his time in the slums, among the people, unlike the others. Wazir wishes he could live on the same quiet sunlit hill his estranged love does, but his presence can't help but disturb her world; exemplified by his men, the Crows, patrolling every corner who only leave after Wazir meets her and turns away from that life. As for the Maelstrom, he lives deep underground, far below the people, in a bare series of dank tunnels, like a monster.

…and the whole thing is wrapped up in a story that isn't just about a criminal power struggle, but a titanic battle between competing mythmakers and myths.

It's well good.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Mumbai is the best Hitman level in any Hitman game, not just the WOA trilogy.

The Kashmirian opportunity is the single most robust mission in the trilogy, with at least 7 different ways to play out with multiple opportunities for proxy kills, double accident kills, even a frickin train kill. THAT YOU CAN THEN ESCAPE ON LIKE A BOSS.

The target spaces are genius too for how interestingly they elaborate on the characters:

- Dawood's Tower is ostensibly flashy but half-finished and emptier the higher you go (wazir calls him a 'hollow man' at one point). It is full of images of himself, decadent decor, a film set recording apocryphal stories about himself - all situated high above everyone else, a concrete block of imposing arrogance.

- Vanya lives on the same level as the citizens of mumbai, but she has retreated to an out of the way, decaying train station no longer directly connected to the main line (if that's not an on-the-nose physical representation of her mental disconnection from reality, i don't know what is!). Inside is an almost otherworldly realm, sprouting life and colour, while brutally enforced courtly rituals take place. That juxtaposed is a reflection of her rich but ultimately deranged inner-life and broken sense of reality.

- Wazir/Maelstrom has two places - one for each identity - but spends most of his time in the slums, among the people, unlike the others. Wazir wishes he could live on the same quiet sunlit hill his estranged loves does, but his presence can't help but disturb her world; exemplified by his men, the Crows, patrolling every corner who only leave after Wazir meets her and turns away from that life. As for the Maelstrom, he lives deep underground, far below the people, in a bare series of dank tunnels, like a monster.

…and the whole thing is wrapped up in a story that isn't just about a criminal power struggle, but a titanic battle between competing mythmakers and myths.

It's well good.

Click to shrink...

Mumbai is truly a masterpiece. The only reason I would still have Paris as my number 1 is simply Mumbai's grunginess is not always the most appetizing to look at, the opps are simply genius.

 

[RockyBalboa_]

Hitman 2

I actually like the tutorial level and Miami the most from them though.

 

[Semblance]

2 > 3 > 1. Mumbai and Dartmoor are my favorite levels in the franchise - and some of my favorite levels in any game, actually - with Sapienza, Miami, and Chongqing all being pretty close too.

I think each game is great and the worst levels are still fun though. Best modern trilogy in video games, honestly.

 

[TrashyPanda]

I have the most time with Hitman 1 maps. Paris, Sapienza, and Hokkaido are absolute banger god tier classics. Hitman 2 and 3 are lesser to me by virtue of having less time with them, but they also really don't have any weak links unlike Hitman 1.

Hitman 2 is probably the best but I voted Hitman 1.

 

[KillLaCam]

Hitman 1 for me. Paris and Hokkaido.

But overall I'd say 2. They're all pretty much good

 

[tryagainlater]

Hitman 2. Mumbai is an absolute masterclass in level and mission design. Miami isn't fair behind with other great maps like Sgail, The Bank and Haven Island.

2>3>1 for me. 2 has the best maps, 3 is the most consistent while 1 was probably the most exciting when they were coming out due to the episodic release.

Reposting an old post I made on Mumbai a few years ago just to continue the Mumbai love:

I'm gonna ramble on about how great Mumbai is that no one will read but god damn, it's such an incredible level.

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Mumbai can be divided into a market, the slums which has a hill area that feels separate, a currently being built tower, a laundry area, an underground bunker, a old trainyard, and chawls which are a sort of apartment block.

You have 3 targets: Rangan who is in the tower, Shah who is in the trainyard and The Maelstrom who is said to be wandering around the slums and isn't identified at the start of the mission.

Default starting area will put you near the chawls with the tower looming above you. Rangan is in the tower so let's start there. There is 7 entrance/exit points to the tower grounds. Some require disguises, others are more traditional stealth approaches, some need a lockpick or crowbar to get in and most have guards in the way. You can get a disguise such as the dancer which can be found in the laundry area if you've ventured over there. There is also a specific actor who's clothes you can take who can be found vomiting in the slums. He is used for a specific kill opportunity that involves 47 being in a Bollywood photoshoot.

Once you're in the tower grounds, there's then many points on entry into the tower itself. You can use the main entrances or the security guard entrance or climb up various point of entry around the building. Right, you're in the building and working your way up to find Rangan. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the tower is currently being built so there's all manner of places to push targets off ledges or drop stuff on them. More specific kills involve getting Rangan to pose for a painting. You can dress as a painter and take him while he's posing. There's other stuff you can do with the painter kill but more on that later. My personal favourite kill involves dressing up as a Bollywood crewman and blowing him off the building with a giant industrial fan while he's filming a scene.

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Alright, Rangan is down and you escape the tower. To pick one of the 7 entrance/exit points mentioned earlier, let's say you take the route over a short barge which will bring you to the edge of the slums. It's not obvious but you are right next to a building that is one fo the many entry points to the underground bunker which is one of the places to kill The Maelstrom but we haven't even identified him yet so let's go onto Shah next. The barge will put you on the perimeter of the map which will give you an easy run to the trainyard without having to enter the slums.

Approaching the trainyard, you are again met with a number of entry points. There's a wide open space near the traintracks, there's some entry points through some traincars, you can get in through the laundry area, you can get in from a bridge and there's also a way to get in through a run-off. The mosst obvious point of entry is well guarded but wandering nearby, you'll hear some talk about a tailor who is terrified to go measure Shah since the previous tailors met with some unfortunate ends. Let's follow the tailor. He'll eventually isolate himself wandering through the slums. Knock him out, take his clothes and get your measuring tape. This allows you to waltz right in the main entrance to the trainyard as the tailor that suddenly found his courage. Get to Shah and give her a private measuring and put that tape to good use. Wandering around the trainyard, you can find many more opportunities that involve poisoning, dropping bird cages or just blowing stuff up.

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Alright, 2 targets down. Now onto The Maelstrom but that's a problem. We don't know who he is and he isn't marked on your map and doesn't show up in instinct. It's an interesting wrinkle in a Hitman mission and unsurprisingly, there's a number of ways to deal with it. A first time player will wander around the slums where he is supposed to be and hopefully be pointed in his direction. One thing about the slums though; The Maelstrom's guards are looking for suspicious people they don't know and 47 fits that description. When wandering around the slums, you'll be met with many enforcers (these are people with white dots over their heads who can see through your disguises) that can see through almost all disguises, even just your default clothes. You can use crowds and blending spots to remain hidden while the guards patrol but the more observant people might notice certain people in the slums with their faces covered. The metal workers. Who can be suspicious of metal workers when they're hard at work. Either knock out a metal worker or find a free disguise in one of their apartments and boom, now you can walk around the slums freely and unmolested.

Now, how the hell do you find The Maelstrom? He's a unique target in the games. He'll spawn with different clothes and different facial hair so even in replays, it's not entirely obvious who he is. There are a number of ways to recognise him. Wandering around the slums you'll hear conversations of two people who have a picture of him that you can get your hands on. Thanks to the great level and mission design, there's pictures of him in Rangan's Tower and the trainyard you can find if you go take care of those targets first. There's also a way to manipulate him to come meet his ex-girlfriend which he will also do in the natural course of the mission if you just wait. Although I said he has a random set of clothes and facial hair, his facial model is still the same. On subsequent playthrough, he still won't be marked on the map until you've officially recognised but if you see the guy with the eye scar wandering the slums, you can just kill him and your handler will be "oh, I guess that guy you just killed was The Maelstrom". Wandering around the slums, there will be plenty of opportunities to poison him at food stalls. A personal favourite is dressing up as the local barber and wait for him to come in for a shave. 3 targets down, now just exfiltrate to one of the many exits and you're done.

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Now if you're thinking "that's all great, but that if I don't want to go after all 3 targets separately every time I play this amazing achievement in video game design?" I'm glad you asked. You want to kill the Maelstrom but doing both the tower and trainyard stuff can be exhausting. In the underground bunker (which again has many point of entry from various angles), you can find a purple brick and hear a conversation about its smoke being a signal for something or other. Throw it in a metal furnace and purple smoke will rise. Rangan and Shah will leave their respective areas and meet by a boat rental hut...right under a boat. That's a twofer.

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You down for some trainyard skulking but not in the mood for chasing the Maelstrom through the slums or climbing the tower? If you have explored the chawls area, you will find a room that shows that Rangan and Shah have actually put out hits on each other. Once Shah is down, you can call Rangan at a payphone which will lead to Rangan and The Maelstrom meeting on the barge outside the tower, which I'll remind you is still being built. If you find the crane controls, you can position a giant building cylinder over your two targets and hit the button. That's a twofer.

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You happy to climb up the tower but want to get Shah and The Maelstrom together? Then you can set up my favourite kill in the entire series. Ring Shah and she will meet up with our good friend, The Maelstrom at her trainyard. Now, this trainyard may have been converted into a palace of sorts but there is an active train line right next to it. A train line that you can converge to run right through where Shah and The Maelstrom are meeting. It's some beautiful Wil E. Coyote shit. Also, while the cutscene showing the train barrel through your targets is playing, you can hold whatever button you use to exit missions is which will have 47 jump on the train and use it as an exit. That's a twofer and a quick exfiltration.

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But there's one more thing I want to share. What was that about Rangan and Shah putting hits out on each other? Does that mean there's rival assassins out there. Yes, but only one. Our boy, The Kashmirian. However, he is a complete bonehead. You can find him in the chawls which is likely an area a first time player will wander into first from the default starting location. It offers an insight to the brilliant clockwork nature of Hitman levels that requires multiple playthroughs to piece together. When he's not looking, you can refocus his sniper rifle that's pointed towards the tower. Will Rangan wander in front of his scope? Not naturally, but he will if you make him. The painter I mentioned 27 paragraphs ago is our means of manipulation since the scope is trained on his studio in the tower. Now, you can dress as the painter and fetch Rangan to pose in the studio (which I mentioned as a separate opportunity earlier) and watch him get headshot right in front of you. Or you can find the set of paint that the painter is missing which is why his painting is being held up. If you give him the paint, he'll go fetch Rangan himself and you can be on the other side of the map when the Kasmirian gets his snipe kill steal in.

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Following this through, what about Shah. After killing Rangan, The Kashmirian will wander to another room in the chawls and have his sights trained on the bridge overlooking the laundry area. Shah is set to meet the new laundry manager here but again, it requires some manipulation. But again...again, you can play out this meeting by dressing as the manager and requesting the meeting (which is a kill opportunity in itself) and then act surprised when she gets shot. Or you can go for a lighter touch and find the files that the manager needs so he can have the meeting and let it play out while you watch from afar.

Click to shrink...

Damn, The Kashmirian has taken care of two of your targets. It would be great if he could help with the third....and he does. You can follow him to a payphone where he will call the Maelstrom and request a meeting. He will have a meeting in the underground bunker so you won't have to bother with trying to find The Maelstrom in the slums. And of course, you can take out The Kashmirian on route and take his clothes and get your own private meeting with your third target. There's also an exfiltration point in the bunker which is nice and convenient.

Click to shrink...

If you're a person who has read this all the way through, god bless you. If you don't know much about Hitman, all this stuff is found out by exploring the level, listening to dialogue, experimenting and many playthroughs. All this depth is just for the main mission but every area in a map has its own detailed layouts and NPCs with their own routing. It means the maps have life beyond their main mission that allow for great variation in player made contracts, escalations which are a sort of challenge mode with increasingly difficult parameters and elusive targets which are timed, one shot only contracts that often feature the less used parts of the map.

 

[kubev]

Hitman 2 is the best individual package. It really says something that the neighborhood level is the weakest one.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, that's probably my favorite level in the trilogy. I think the premise and execution are kind of stupid and unbelievable, but I absolutely love playing that level.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Hitman 2. Mumbai is an absolute masterclass in level and mission design. Miami isn't fair behind with other great maps like Sgail, The Bank and Haven Island.

2>3>1 for me. 2 has the best maps, 3 is the most consistent while 1 was probably the most exciting when they were coming out due to the episodic release.

Reposting an old post I made on Mumbai a few years ago just to continue the Mumbai love:

I'm gonna ramble on about how great Mumbai is that no one will read but god damn, it's such an incredible level.


Mumbai can be divided into a market, the slums which has a hill area that feels separate, a currently being built tower, a laundry area, an underground bunker, a old trainyard, and chawls which are a sort of apartment block.

You have 3 targets: Rangan who is in the tower, Shah who is in the trainyard and The Maelstrom who is said to be wandering around the slums and isn't identified at the start of the mission.

Default starting area will put you near the chawls with the tower looming above you. Rangan is in the tower so let's start there. There is 7 entrance/exit points to the tower grounds. Some require disguises, others are more traditional stealth approaches, some need a lockpick or crowbar to get in and most have guards in the way. You can get a disguise such as the dancer which can be found in the laundry area if you've ventured over there. There is also a specific actor who's clothes you can take who can be found vomiting in the slums. He is used for a specific kill opportunity that involves 47 being in a Bollywood photoshoot.

Once you're in the tower grounds, there's then many points on entry into the tower itself. You can use the main entrances or the security guard entrance or climb up various point of entry around the building. Right, you're in the building and working your way up to find Rangan. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the tower is currently being built so there's all manner of places to push targets off ledges or drop stuff on them. More specific kills involve getting Rangan to pose for a painting. You can dress as a painter and take him while he's posing. There's other stuff you can do with the painter kill but more on that later. My personal favourite kill involves dressing up as a Bollywood crewman and blowing him off the building with a giant industrial fan while he's filming a scene.


Alright, Rangan is down and you escape the tower. To pick one of the 7 entrance/exit points mentioned earlier, let's say you take the route over a short barge which will bring you to the edge of the slums. It's not obvious but you are right next to a building that is one fo the many entry points to the underground bunker which is one of the places to kill The Maelstrom but we haven't even identified him yet so let's go onto Shah next. The barge will put you on the perimeter of the map which will give you an easy run to the trainyard without having to enter the slums.

Approaching the trainyard, you are again met with a number of entry points. There's a wide open space near the traintracks, there's some entry points through some traincars, you can get in through the laundry area, you can get in from a bridge and there's also a way to get in through a run-off. The mosst obvious point of entry is well guarded but wandering nearby, you'll hear some talk about a tailor who is terrified to go measure Shah since the previous tailors met with some unfortunate ends. Let's follow the tailor. He'll eventually isolate himself wandering through the slums. Knock him out, take his clothes and get your measuring tape. This allows you to waltz right in the main entrance to the trainyard as the tailor that suddenly found his courage. Get to Shah and give her a private measuring and put that tape to good use. Wandering around the trainyard, you can find many more opportunities that involve poisoning, dropping bird cages or just blowing stuff up.


Alright, 2 targets down. Now onto The Maelstrom but that's a problem. We don't know who he is and he isn't marked on your map and doesn't show up in instinct. It's an interesting wrinkle in a Hitman mission and unsurprisingly, there's a number of ways to deal with it. A first time player will wander around the slums where he is supposed to be and hopefully be pointed in his direction. One thing about the slums though; The Maelstrom's guards are looking for suspicious people they don't know and 47 fits that description. When wandering around the slums, you'll be met with many enforcers (these are people with white dots over their heads who can see through your disguises) that can see through almost all disguises, even just your default clothes. You can use crowds and blending spots to remain hidden while the guards patrol but the more observant people might notice certain people in the slums with their faces covered. The metal workers. Who can be suspicious of metal workers when they're hard at work. Either knock out a metal worker or find a free disguise in one of their apartments and boom, now you can walk around the slums freely and unmolested.

Now, how the hell do you find The Maelstrom? He's a unique target in the games. He'll spawn with different clothes and different facial hair so even in replays, it's not entirely obvious who he is. There are a number of ways to recognise him. Wandering around the slums you'll hear conversations of two people who have a picture of him that you can get your hands on. Thanks to the great level and mission design, there's pictures of him in Rangan's Tower and the trainyard you can find if you go take care of those targets first. There's also a way to manipulate him to come meet his ex-girlfriend which he will also do in the natural course of the mission if you just wait. Although I said he has a random set of clothes and facial hair, his facial model is still the same. On subsequent playthrough, he still won't be marked on the map until you've officially recognised but if you see the guy with the eye scar wandering the slums, you can just kill him and your handler will be "oh, I guess that guy you just killed was The Maelstrom". Wandering around the slums, there will be plenty of opportunities to poison him at food stalls. A personal favourite is dressing up as the local barber and wait for him to come in for a shave. 3 targets down, now just exfiltrate to one of the many exits and you're done.


Now if you're thinking "that's all great, but that if I don't want to go after all 3 targets separately every time I play this amazing achievement in video game design?" I'm glad you asked. You want to kill the Maelstrom but doing both the tower and trainyard stuff can be exhausting. In the underground bunker (which again has many point of entry from various angles), you can find a purple brick and hear a conversation about its smoke being a signal for something or other. Throw it in a metal furnace and purple smoke will rise. Rangan and Shah will leave their respective areas and meet by a boat rental hut...right under a boat. That's a twofer.



You down for some trainyard skulking but not in the mood for chasing the Maelstrom through the slums or climbing the tower? If you have explored the chawls area, you will find a room that shows that Rangan and Shah have actually put out hits on each other. Once Shah is down, you can call Rangan at a payphone which will lead to Rangan and The Maelstrom meeting on the barge outside the tower, which I'll remind you is still being built. If you find the crane controls, you can position a giant building cylinder over your two targets and hit the button. That's a twofer.



You happy to climb up the tower but want to get Shah and The Maelstrom together? Then you can set up my favourite kill in the entire series. Ring Shah and she will meet up with our good friend, The Maelstrom at her trainyard. Now, this trainyard may have been converted into a palace of sorts but there is an active train line right next to it. A train line that you can converge to run right through where Shah and The Maelstrom are meeting. It's some beautiful Wil E. Coyote shit. Also, while the cutscene showing the train barrel through your targets is playing, you can hold whatever button you use to exit missions is which will have 47 jump on the train and use it as an exit. That's a twofer and a quick exfiltration.



But there's one more thing I want to share. What was that about Rangan and Shah putting hits out on each other? Does that mean there's rival assassins out there. Yes, but only one. Our boy, The Kashmirian. However, he is a complete bonehead. You can find him in the chawls which is likely an area a first time player will wander into first from the default starting location. It offers an insight to the brilliant clockwork nature of Hitman levels that requires multiple playthroughs to piece together. When he's not looking, you can refocus his sniper rifle that's pointed towards the tower. Will Rangan wander in front of his scope? Not naturally, but he will if you make him. The painter I mentioned 27 paragraphs ago is our means of manipulation since the scope is trained on his studio in the tower. Now, you can dress as the painter and fetch Rangan to pose in the studio (which I mentioned as a separate opportunity earlier) and watch him get headshot right in front of you. Or you can find the set of paint that the painter is missing which is why his painting is being held up. If you give him the paint, he'll go fetch Rangan himself and you can be on the other side of the map when the Kasmirian gets his snipe kill steal in.



Following this through, what about Shah. After killing Rangan, The Kashmirian will wander to another room in the chawls and have his sights trained on the bridge overlooking the laundry area. Shah is set to meet the new laundry manager here but again, it requires some manipulation. But again...again, you can play out this meeting by dressing as the manager and requesting the meeting (which is a kill opportunity in itself) and then act surprised when she gets shot. Or you can go for a lighter touch and find the files that the manager needs so he can have the meeting and let it play out while you watch from afar.


Damn, The Kashmirian has taken care of two of your targets. It would be great if he could help with the third....and he does. You can follow him to a payphone where he will call the Maelstrom and request a meeting. He will have a meeting in the underground bunker so you won't have to bother with trying to find The Maelstrom in the slums. And of course, you can take out The Kashmirian on route and take his clothes and get your own private meeting with your third target. There's also an exfiltration point in the bunker which is nice and convenient.



If you're a person who has read this all the way through, god bless you. If you don't know much about Hitman, all this stuff is found out by exploring the level, listening to dialogue, experimenting and many playthroughs. All this depth is just for the main mission but every area in a map has its own detailed layouts and NPCs with their own routing. It means the maps have life beyond their main mission that allow for great variation in player made contracts, escalations which are a sort of challenge mode with increasingly difficult parameters and elusive targets which are timed, one shot only contracts that often feature the less used parts of the map.

Click to shrink...

nice write up!!

did any Hitman 3 map get close to these heights for you?

 

[darkslayer101]

NY on the DLC maps for S2 as so good that I dropped 200 hrs going back to S1 and S2

 

[matrix-cat]

2 was easily the best one. 1 was a great start, 2 was an excellent sequel, 3 I found pretty disappointing to be honest.

 

[Fancy Clown]

2 handily. I feel like it has the best balance of the really solid design of (most of) 1's levels but still having some of the variety that 3 went all in on. 1's can feel a liiiitle same at times and some of 3's feel a bit too gimmicky, but 2's are just right. The Miami race track is the best map out of all of them.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Mumbai is the best Hitman level in any Hitman game, not just the WOA trilogy.

The Kashmirian opportunity is the single most robust mission in the trilogy, with at least 7 different ways to play out with multiple opportunities for proxy kills, double accident kills, even a frickin train kill. THAT YOU CAN THEN ESCAPE ON LIKE A BOSS.

The target spaces are genius too for how interestingly they elaborate on the characters:

- Dawood's Tower is ostensibly flashy but half-finished and emptier the higher you go (wazir calls him a 'hollow man' at one point). It is full of images of himself, decadent decor, a film set recording apocryphal stories about himself - all situated high above everyone else, a concrete block of imposing arrogance.

- Vanya lives on the same level as the citizens of mumbai, but she has retreated to an out of the way, decaying train station no longer directly connected to the main line (if that's not an on-the-nose physical representation of her mental disconnection from reality, i don't know what is!). Inside is an almost otherworldly realm, sprouting life and colour, while brutally enforced courtly rituals take place. That juxtaposed is a reflection of her rich but ultimately deranged inner-life and broken sense of reality.

- Wazir/Maelstrom has two places - one for each identity - but spends most of his time in the slums, among the people, unlike the others. Wazir wishes he could live on the same quiet sunlit hill his estranged loves does, but his presence can't help but disturb her world; exemplified by his men, the Crows, patrolling every corner who only leave after Wazir meets her and turns away from that life. As for the Maelstrom, he lives deep underground, far below the people, in a bare series of dank tunnels, like a monster.

…and the whole thing is wrapped up in a story that isn't just about a criminal power struggle, but a titanic battle between competing mythmakers and myths.

It's well good.

Click to shrink...

Hitman 2. Mumbai is an absolute masterclass in level and mission design. Miami isn't fair behind with other great maps like Sgail, The Bank and Haven Island.

2>3>1 for me. 2 has the best maps, 3 is the most consistent while 1 was probably the most exciting when they were coming out due to the episodic release.

Reposting an old post I made on Mumbai a few years ago just to continue the Mumbai love:

I'm gonna ramble on about how great Mumbai is that no one will read but god damn, it's such an incredible level.


Mumbai can be divided into a market, the slums which has a hill area that feels separate, a currently being built tower, a laundry area, an underground bunker, a old trainyard, and chawls which are a sort of apartment block.

You have 3 targets: Rangan who is in the tower, Shah who is in the trainyard and The Maelstrom who is said to be wandering around the slums and isn't identified at the start of the mission.

Default starting area will put you near the chawls with the tower looming above you. Rangan is in the tower so let's start there. There is 7 entrance/exit points to the tower grounds. Some require disguises, others are more traditional stealth approaches, some need a lockpick or crowbar to get in and most have guards in the way. You can get a disguise such as the dancer which can be found in the laundry area if you've ventured over there. There is also a specific actor who's clothes you can take who can be found vomiting in the slums. He is used for a specific kill opportunity that involves 47 being in a Bollywood photoshoot.

Once you're in the tower grounds, there's then many points on entry into the tower itself. You can use the main entrances or the security guard entrance or climb up various point of entry around the building. Right, you're in the building and working your way up to find Rangan. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the tower is currently being built so there's all manner of places to push targets off ledges or drop stuff on them. More specific kills involve getting Rangan to pose for a painting. You can dress as a painter and take him while he's posing. There's other stuff you can do with the painter kill but more on that later. My personal favourite kill involves dressing up as a Bollywood crewman and blowing him off the building with a giant industrial fan while he's filming a scene.


Alright, Rangan is down and you escape the tower. To pick one of the 7 entrance/exit points mentioned earlier, let's say you take the route over a short barge which will bring you to the edge of the slums. It's not obvious but you are right next to a building that is one fo the many entry points to the underground bunker which is one of the places to kill The Maelstrom but we haven't even identified him yet so let's go onto Shah next. The barge will put you on the perimeter of the map which will give you an easy run to the trainyard without having to enter the slums.

Approaching the trainyard, you are again met with a number of entry points. There's a wide open space near the traintracks, there's some entry points through some traincars, you can get in through the laundry area, you can get in from a bridge and there's also a way to get in through a run-off. The mosst obvious point of entry is well guarded but wandering nearby, you'll hear some talk about a tailor who is terrified to go measure Shah since the previous tailors met with some unfortunate ends. Let's follow the tailor. He'll eventually isolate himself wandering through the slums. Knock him out, take his clothes and get your measuring tape. This allows you to waltz right in the main entrance to the trainyard as the tailor that suddenly found his courage. Get to Shah and give her a private measuring and put that tape to good use. Wandering around the trainyard, you can find many more opportunities that involve poisoning, dropping bird cages or just blowing stuff up.


Alright, 2 targets down. Now onto The Maelstrom but that's a problem. We don't know who he is and he isn't marked on your map and doesn't show up in instinct. It's an interesting wrinkle in a Hitman mission and unsurprisingly, there's a number of ways to deal with it. A first time player will wander around the slums where he is supposed to be and hopefully be pointed in his direction. One thing about the slums though; The Maelstrom's guards are looking for suspicious people they don't know and 47 fits that description. When wandering around the slums, you'll be met with many enforcers (these are people with white dots over their heads who can see through your disguises) that can see through almost all disguises, even just your default clothes. You can use crowds and blending spots to remain hidden while the guards patrol but the more observant people might notice certain people in the slums with their faces covered. The metal workers. Who can be suspicious of metal workers when they're hard at work. Either knock out a metal worker or find a free disguise in one of their apartments and boom, now you can walk around the slums freely and unmolested.

Now, how the hell do you find The Maelstrom? He's a unique target in the games. He'll spawn with different clothes and different facial hair so even in replays, it's not entirely obvious who he is. There are a number of ways to recognise him. Wandering around the slums you'll hear conversations of two people who have a picture of him that you can get your hands on. Thanks to the great level and mission design, there's pictures of him in Rangan's Tower and the trainyard you can find if you go take care of those targets first. There's also a way to manipulate him to come meet his ex-girlfriend which he will also do in the natural course of the mission if you just wait. Although I said he has a random set of clothes and facial hair, his facial model is still the same. On subsequent playthrough, he still won't be marked on the map until you've officially recognised but if you see the guy with the eye scar wandering the slums, you can just kill him and your handler will be "oh, I guess that guy you just killed was The Maelstrom". Wandering around the slums, there will be plenty of opportunities to poison him at food stalls. A personal favourite is dressing up as the local barber and wait for him to come in for a shave. 3 targets down, now just exfiltrate to one of the many exits and you're done.


Now if you're thinking "that's all great, but that if I don't want to go after all 3 targets separately every time I play this amazing achievement in video game design?" I'm glad you asked. You want to kill the Maelstrom but doing both the tower and trainyard stuff can be exhausting. In the underground bunker (which again has many point of entry from various angles), you can find a purple brick and hear a conversation about its smoke being a signal for something or other. Throw it in a metal furnace and purple smoke will rise. Rangan and Shah will leave their respective areas and meet by a boat rental hut...right under a boat. That's a twofer.



You down for some trainyard skulking but not in the mood for chasing the Maelstrom through the slums or climbing the tower? If you have explored the chawls area, you will find a room that shows that Rangan and Shah have actually put out hits on each other. Once Shah is down, you can call Rangan at a payphone which will lead to Rangan and The Maelstrom meeting on the barge outside the tower, which I'll remind you is still being built. If you find the crane controls, you can position a giant building cylinder over your two targets and hit the button. That's a twofer.



You happy to climb up the tower but want to get Shah and The Maelstrom together? Then you can set up my favourite kill in the entire series. Ring Shah and she will meet up with our good friend, The Maelstrom at her trainyard. Now, this trainyard may have been converted into a palace of sorts but there is an active train line right next to it. A train line that you can converge to run right through where Shah and The Maelstrom are meeting. It's some beautiful Wil E. Coyote shit. Also, while the cutscene showing the train barrel through your targets is playing, you can hold whatever button you use to exit missions is which will have 47 jump on the train and use it as an exit. That's a twofer and a quick exfiltration.



But there's one more thing I want to share. What was that about Rangan and Shah putting hits out on each other? Does that mean there's rival assassins out there. Yes, but only one. Our boy, The Kashmirian. However, he is a complete bonehead. You can find him in the chawls which is likely an area a first time player will wander into first from the default starting location. It offers an insight to the brilliant clockwork nature of Hitman levels that requires multiple playthroughs to piece together. When he's not looking, you can refocus his sniper rifle that's pointed towards the tower. Will Rangan wander in front of his scope? Not naturally, but he will if you make him. The painter I mentioned 27 paragraphs ago is our means of manipulation since the scope is trained on his studio in the tower. Now, you can dress as the painter and fetch Rangan to pose in the studio (which I mentioned as a separate opportunity earlier) and watch him get headshot right in front of you. Or you can find the set of paint that the painter is missing which is why his painting is being held up. If you give him the paint, he'll go fetch Rangan himself and you can be on the other side of the map when the Kasmirian gets his snipe kill steal in.



Following this through, what about Shah. After killing Rangan, The Kashmirian will wander to another room in the chawls and have his sights trained on the bridge overlooking the laundry area. Shah is set to meet the new laundry manager here but again, it requires some manipulation. But again...again, you can play out this meeting by dressing as the manager and requesting the meeting (which is a kill opportunity in itself) and then act surprised when she gets shot. Or you can go for a lighter touch and find the files that the manager needs so he can have the meeting and let it play out while you watch from afar.


Damn, The Kashmirian has taken care of two of your targets. It would be great if he could help with the third....and he does. You can follow him to a payphone where he will call the Maelstrom and request a meeting. He will have a meeting in the underground bunker so you won't have to bother with trying to find The Maelstrom in the slums. And of course, you can take out The Kashmirian on route and take his clothes and get your own private meeting with your third target. There's also an exfiltration point in the bunker which is nice and convenient.



If you're a person who has read this all the way through, god bless you. If you don't know much about Hitman, all this stuff is found out by exploring the level, listening to dialogue, experimenting and many playthroughs. All this depth is just for the main mission but every area in a map has its own detailed layouts and NPCs with their own routing. It means the maps have life beyond their main mission that allow for great variation in player made contracts, escalations which are a sort of challenge mode with increasingly difficult parameters and elusive targets which are timed, one shot only contracts that often feature the less used parts of the map.

Click to shrink...

 

[tryagainlater]

nice write up!!

did any Hitman 3 map get close to these heights for you?

Click to shrink...

I do really love Berlin and Chongqing but they don't reach those heights. Berlin might be the most replayable mission for me, or at least I don't think I replayed any other mission in full so many times in a row. Picking 5 out of 10/11 targets gives so much variety in routing that fun to pick apart and it has some great level design. I really love the design of Chongqing that has a lot of density and cool routes everywhere and I really enjoy escalations and player made contracts there but the main targets aren't that great. It might have my favourite mission story in the series though with the meltdown.

 

[Big Powder]

Hitman 2 wins bigtime, but I think the entire trilogy works so well as a whole and I kind of think of it as one large game now. Just did a run through of the entire campaign from 1 to 3 and if someone had told me it was one game, I'd be shocked at the amount of content but I feel like the experiences lead right into each other. It's hard to think of the game as three separate parts because certain levels really stand out (Paris, Sapienza, and Hokkaido from the first game, for example), enough so that saying one game is better than the others feels like it needs to be caveated with an asterisk.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Hitman 2016 for me. Paris is my favorite Hitman level, period. Hitman 2 is loaded with gems too but I really didn't dig Santa Fortuna so it doesn't hit that 10/10 level that 2016 did. Hitman 3 is in last. Despite loving those levels as well, they get progressively more linear as the game goes on and that wasn't great.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Hitman 2

I actually like the tutorial level and Miami the most from them though.

Click to shrink...

I always see Hawke's Bay ranked near the last of level rankings, but I'll take a perfectly executed tutorial level over levels I never want to see again like Colorado.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

They're all great but maybe 2 has the best levels as a complete package.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Somehow I got rehooked on Hitman 3 and I deleted my progress profile (which is awesome to be able to do that btw) and determined that I was gonna do Master difficulty all the way through and get to mastery 20 again. It continues to be a blast.

It appears I'm in the minority but I think Hitman 3 may take the cake for me as I feel it is the most consistent of the 3

Hitman 1 and 2 each have those levels I kind of groan about when thinking of a replay, but Hitman 3 is just so easy to go through. Ugh, tough decision though, they are all so good.

 

[Lockness Mobster]

Just got to playing these the tail end of last year and while i like them all, I feel Im not getting everything out of this series that I should be. Executing the funner kills and finding secret missions and meetings n whatnot I just havent been able to execute or find. So its been pretty much find the target, shoot em up and flee to exit. Also after being spotted I would always keep getting caught even when changing outfits which was annoying. I dunno any tips??

 

[Styrman]

2 have some fantastic levels.

 

[EvilBoris]

I think they are a bit like the albums of my favourite bands, I like all the tracks but I think there are a couple of stand out levels in each game.
But really, they are all the same game really, just delivered in different ways.
The internal files for the game label it all as DLC for the original title :D

1
Sapienza
Marrakesh

I really love the landslide variant of Sapienza too.

2.
Miami
Mumbai

3
Chongging
Mendoza

I also think that both of the Season Pass Levels that were released for 2
New York, Haven Island are both top tier levels also.

I think they all share the same base theme, a beautifully well realised real-world environment with a hidden James bond style supervilliain or crime underbelly. Love it.

 

[KDC720]

It's tough, but I think it's Hitman 2.

Mumbai and Miami are all timers for the franchise. I think the only miss in Hitman 2 is Santa Fortuna. Sgail, Wittleton, the bank, and Haven Island are all good to great imo.

 

[Deleted member 23046]

You forgot the training field hehe. The boat and the Russian base.

I am with people loving Mumbai, it's an extraordinary level on in all domains, storytelling, actions, sound design, lightning, with very rich encapsulated sections. That gives me a lot of hope for their James Bond.

Otherwise I learned to like the Colorado. You ave very few possibilities in case of messing up in that pure horizontal field. But I hated the first time. The one I've never been in love is the hotel at Bangkok, although stories are interesting.

Paris was fun to do with all the Vampire challenge, but I cannot stand the level anymore (the in-game music especially lol), and that's also a thing with levels, some I am not enjoying normally become really fun to play with in escalations or seasonal event.

 

[EvilBoris]

You forgot the training field hehe. The boat and the Russian base.

I am with people loving Mumbai, it's an extraordinary level on in all domains, storytelling, actions, sound design, lightning, with very rich encapsulated sections. That gives me a lot of hope for their James Bond.

Otherwise I learned to like the Colorado. You ave very few possibilities in case of messing up in that pure horizontal field. But I hated the first time. The one I've never been in love is the hotel at Bangkok, although stories are interesting.

Paris was fun to do with all the Vampire challenge, but I cannot stand the level anymore (the in-game music especially lol), and that's also a thing with levels, some I am not enjoying normally become really fun to play with in escalations or seasonal event.

Click to shrink...

I ended up quite liking Bangkok after playing it over and over and over to get an achievement that was glitched (i had to wipe my data to unlock it :/)
I'm not a fan of the Paris level, I found has too much dead space on it, lots of big empty rooms that aren't very interesting or nothing happens in.