Hitman Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Hitman Wiki
HITMAN2016CoverLogo
"Welcome to the World of Assassination. You are Agent 47, the world's ultimate assassin."
HITMAN™'s Tagline.


HITMAN™ is the 6th installment to the Hitman video game series. It was released on March 11th, 2016 digitally, and was released in retail on January 31st, 2017[2]. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The game's levels were released through free content updates and these types of additions are expected for bonus content in the future.[3]

Gameplay

HITMAN™ is a third-person stealth video game in which players take control of Agent 47, a genetically enhanced assassin, traveling to international locations and eliminating contracted targets. As in other games in the Hitman series, players are given a large amount of room for creativity in approaching their assassinations. For instance, players may utilize long-ranged rifles to snipe a target from a long distance, or they may decide to assassinate the target at close range by using blade weapons or garrote wire. Players can use explosives or disguise the assassination by creating a seemingly accidental death. A common method to approach a mission is to incapacitate other characters and wear their outfits as a disguise, which allows the player to gain access to restricted areas more easily. Actions of non-playable characters influence the game. For instance, players can gain more information about the position of their target through listening to a nearby news reporter.

The level design of the game features a structure similar to that of Hitman: Blood Money and earlier games in the series, as opposed to the linear structure of Hitman: Absolution. Every episode in the game features a sandbox-type environment which can be explored by the player, featuring numerous ways to eliminate targets from accidents to scripted "opportunities" which require multiple tasks to complete. Levels are larger in Hitman, in which the maps in the game are "six to seven times larger than the biggest levels in Absolution." Levels accommodate about 300 non-playable characters (NPCs), with each having different routines and reacting differently to players' actions. 

New Features

  • Sandbox-type, large, non-linear levels present in earlier Hitman games, most notable being Blood Money, have been reintroduced, as opposed to the linear missions of Absolution.
  • Opportunities are introduced, which require multiple tasks to complete, eventually ending on target(s) assassination.
  • Save games are now reintroduced. Players can save their game anytime during missions, with Professional difficulty only allowing one save per level. Auto-saving is also available.
  • Instinct Mode, which was introduced in Absolution, is reintroduced in a simplified form, no longer being an expendable resource
  • The Rating system akin to Blood Money's is introduced. Player's mission performance review is rated on a 5-star rating system, influenced by factors such as time is taken, the number of non-targets killed, whether the player was spotted, whether or not they have been recorded on camera or if bodies were found.
  • The ability to choose different starting locations or outfits has been introduced.
  • The Agency Pickup reintroduced, allowing players to smuggle weapons at specific points in a level.
  • Mastery Points introduced, which earn players new items including new gadgets such as weapons, different types of poison and explosives, new agency pickup locations, or new starting locations.
  • Completing challenges in a mission will now award players with Mastery Points. Gaining enough mastery points will cause the player to earn a level of Mastery Level, with a total of 20 levels.
  • Disguise detection system similar to early Hitman titles is now reintroduced.
  • Time-limited "Elusive Targets " introduced, which are specialized contracts and will only surface once. These contracts made by Square Enix, have new stories, looks and ways to complete the missions. Once the player dies, he/she can no longer play the Elusive Contract. However, Elusive Contract can be restarted at any point, except after the player killed the target, or begun combat or are hunted by hostiles. If a player fails to assassinate an elusive target before the mission expires, or alert the target and allow them to escape, the target will not return. Successful completion of multiple targets yields cosmetic rewards for the player.
  • "Escalation Contracts," which are contracts created by the developers, are introduced and include multiple stages that require the player to complete certain tasks such as assassinating a target with a specific weapon or disguise or breaking into a safe. Completing a stage will progress through the escalation, and the difficulty will increase with new targets to assassinate, new challenges to comply with or with new changes to the level. Each Escalation contract contains five difficulty levels. Saving or Loading the game is not allowed within an Escalation contract.
  • Contracts Mode also returned in HITMAN™, allowing players to assign up to five NPCs as assassination targets, set requirements for how to kill them, and share their contract with other players to compete for high scores on. 
  • Dropping an illegal item is now a suspicious act and NPCs that witness this will either become hostile or report 47 to the guards.

Plot

Note: While the general plot of HITMAN™ follows a distinct path, many elements such as the assassination methods and character interactions are subject to the player's decisions. The game offers several events and methods to targets, along with multiple decisions based on the sandbox gameplay. This story synopsis concentrates on the main plot thread of the game the player would generally encounter on their first time playing.

20 Years Ago

Main article(s): Freeform Training, The Final Test

The game's prologue takes place twenty years before the events of the game, in 1999. It begins with #47 stepping off a helicopter somewhere in Greenland, in front of a cliff leading into a secret International Contract Agency recruitment base.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Welcome to the agent program, Initiate. I'll be waiting for you inside. Follow the lights please.

Diana Burnwood

As he continues, the door opens and Diana Burnwood greets him, telling #47 about her position in The Agency. She leads him to his quarters, where #47 will start his training the next day.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Diana - Majestic, isn't it? I'm Diana. I'll take you to your quarters.

47 - Someone likes to keep secrets.

Diana - Secrets are our stock-in-trade. Besides, from what I hear, you have a few of your own. I'm not like you, in case you're wondering. I'm in the Handler program. Agents and Handlers work in unity. You know the expression "know your enemy"? Well, that part is my job.

47 - Knowing your enemy is only half the victory.

Diana - I know. You also need to know yourself. I'm working on it. I read your case file. Impressive work. Hardly textbook, but I suppose fieldwork never is. Tell me, what did it feel like, taking lives?

47 - Random. Disordered.

Diana - Is that why you came here? Why you let us test you?

47 - Maybe I'm not the only one being tested.

Diana - Well, we are here. Basic training starts at 0600 hours. I should... leave you to prepare.


The following information may contain spoilers.

Erich - Are you sure about this?

Diana - I am.

Erich - There are no second chances, Miss Burnwood. Not here

Diana - I choose him.

Erich - May i inquire why? A blank slate. Anti-social. Apathetic and unresponsive. No doubt the boy shows promise, but...

Diana - Perhaps I see possibility where others see limitation. Isn't that what a Handler does,, sir?

Erich - We'll see. Anyone can kill, Miss Burnwood. He still remembers nothings?

Diana - If he does, he's not sharing.

Erich - We will check up on his story. The hospital in Romania? In the meantime, keep him under close watch.

A day passes and #47 starts guided training, a simulated test with fake weapons and International Contract Agency operatives. #47 kills his main target, Kalvin Ritter, and stops training.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Intro

Welcome to advanced mission training. This operation originally took place in Sydney. The target was Kalvin Ritter; infamous cat burglar also known as 'The Sparrow'. You will need to infiltrate the yatch, isolate and eliminate your target and exfiltrate, all without arousing suspicion. And remember; as an ICA agent, you are the most dangerous person in any room. But blunt force will get you nowhere in this business and a true assassin never calls attention to himself.

Good luck, Initiate.


Outro

Advanced mission training complete. And may i say, elegantly done, Initiate. I guess my hunch was right about you. I look forward to the final test.

Diana Burnwood

After #47's training was completed, his adviser (Director Erich Soders) claims #47's stats are off the charts. Afterward, Diana gave #47 more time to practice with free-formed training.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Erich - How did you know?

Diana - I told you he had talent.

Erich - His stats are off the charts. Such skills and reflexes, they can only be the result of previous training. Power like that, with no moral restraint? He could be dangerous.

Diana - I thought that was rather the point, sir.

Erich - All agents have weak spots, Miss Burnwood. Pressure points to keep them in check. But this one? Perhaps it would be better to just...

Diana - Give me a chance, sir. Give him a chance. I will take full responsibility.

Erich - Very well, it's your show.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Intro

Welcome back, Initiate. As an ICA agent, every challenge you face can be overcome in multiple ways. Complete this exercise again, this time attacking it from a different angle. Vary your strategy, improvise. We will be watching.

Outro

Once again, great work, Initiate. This exercise is available for as long as you need. When you are ready to advance, you have only to let us know.

Diana Burnwood
The following information may contain spoilers.

Erich - I just got word. Romania was a dead end.

Diana - You're saying that he lied?

Erich - Place is real enough. Deserted. But we found no trace that your man was ever there. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Diana - Someone erased his steps.

Erich - Mm. We'll keep digging, of course. But frankly, it's as if the earth just spat him out. Are you still determined?

Diana - Does it matter? I was told there'd be no second chances.

Erich - Don't believe everything you hear, Miss Burnwood.

Diana - My decision stands.

Erich - Very well. I'll be watching.

After that, #47 began his final test. It was a re-creation of one of Soders' own legendary missions, where he had to kill Jasper Knight at a Cuban military base during the Cold War.

The following information may contain spoilers.

Intro

The Final test is based on an authentic 1979 mission; the high point of Training Director Soders career as an active agent. The target was Jasper Knight, a famous US chess master exposed as a Soviet spy. Soders caught up with Knight at a military airfield in Cuba and eliminated him against all odds. This will be your objective as well.

Now listen carefully. ICA exams aren't normally this difficult. Not only was the airfield a virtual fortress, but he even added additional guards. Soders wants you to fail.

He considers you a threat and this way, your unfortunate exit from the program won't raise any eyebrows. Well, if he thinks we're bowing out, he is sorely mistaken.

Good luck, Initiate.

Diana Burnwood
The following information may contain spoilers.

Erich - I hope you know what you just did. The chopper leaves at dawn. Now get out of my sight.

47 - So, what happens now?

Diana - You go back into the world. Disappear. Stay on your own and on the move. When we need you, we will contact you.

47 - And Soders?

Diana - He played his hand, and he lost. He cannot touch us now. Still, I can't believe we beat him at his own game.

47 - If you know your enemy...

Diana - Quite right. I should tell you, the trail went dead after Romania. Our team found no records of any kind. No name, nothings.

47 - I think they called me "47."

Diana - That's... not a name.

47 - So make it one.

Diana - All right. Agent 47.

Soders considered #47 a threat to all The Agency stood for, so he gave #47 a challenge that would ensure his failure. Soders added more guards and limited what #47 could use during the mission. With Diana's help, #47 killed Jasper Knight with flying colors and got accepted into The Agency where he gained the title of Agent.

The prologue ends with Agent 47 talking to Diana, with the latter telling him that he should lay low until the Agency contacts him. Diana asks Agent 47 his name, to which he responds with "47." After Agent 47 leaves, he continues his life as a Silent Assassin, completing many assassinations throughout the years as shown in the Legacy trailer.

Secrets of the Global Elite

Main article(s): The Showstopper
H2016-ShowstopperSClientMeeting

The unnamed man and Viktor, the latter handing a file

After the events of Hitman: Absolution, the game starts in the year 2019. Agent 47 is given a contract assignment for Viktor Novikov and his girlfriend, Dalia Margolis. They are the ringleaders of an intelligence agency by the name of IAGO. IAGO has stolen top secret information about MI6 agents in the Middle east and Agent 47 was sent by MI6 to eliminate Novikov and Margolis before they sell the list to the highest bidders. Agent 47 succeeds flawlessly, killing both of his targets and escaping Paris.

However, one day earlier, there was a meeting between Viktor Novikov and an unnamed man. Novikov hands the man a file, claiming it's "the secrets of the 'Global Elite,'" and the man proceeds to message an unknown source to "leak the names." The names are presumed to be Novikov and Margolis'.

Trapping the Messenger

Main article(s): World of Tomorrow

After completing his contract in Paris, Agent 47 travels to the coastal town of Sapienza, Italy. There the ICA has been contracted to destroy a DNA-specific Virus capable of infecting and eliminating anyone without a trace and eliminate its creator Dr. Silvio Caruso of the Ether Biotech Corporation and his company-appointed assistant, Dr. Francesca De Santis. Agent 47 successfully assassinates both targets, infiltrates the Ether field laboratory in the caves beneath Caruso's villa, and destroys the virus.

H2016-SapienzaSClientMeeting

The man threatening a member of Providence

One week later, in Johannesburg, an unidentified agent, investigating the destruction of the virus is ambushed by the "Shadow Client" in his car. The man reveals that he has been following the agent since the latter left Italy after using IAGO and the ICA to arrange for the destruction of the virus. He then holds the agent at gunpoint and demands an object called the "key." The agent threatens the man with reprisal by an organization called "Providence," but in reply, the man mentions another man named Cobb who made a similar warning. The agent hands over his key and is shot.

The fall of Providence

Main article(s): A Gilded Cage

Agent 47 is sent to MarrakeshMorocco to assassinate General Reza Zaydan and former bank CEO Claus Hugo Strandberg. Strandberg, who was to be on trial for billion-dollar investment fraud, was freed by mercenaries and evades prosecution by taking refuge at the local Swedish consulate. Zaydan, who secretly controls the mercenaries, plans to use Strandberg's escape to drive the Moroccan public to riot, creating an opportunity for a military coup d'état. The ICA is hired by a multinational construction contractor to prevent the coup to preserve lucrative government contracts. Agent 47 assassinates both men, preventing the coup.

H2016-StartDiggingYourGrave

The two men conversing

Two days later, in New York City, two men discuss the deaths of the agent in Johannesburg and Cobb who also carried a key, as well as the failure of the coup and the destruction of the virus. They realize that these events have all been orchestrated as an attack on Providence. They discover that a vault which held information on Providence's assets and operatives, requiring two keys to open, has been compromised and raided. One of the men warns the other, the "Director," to begin preparing defenses now that Providence has been exposed.

The Shadow Client

Main article(s): Club 27

After the assassination in Marrakesh, Agent 47 receives a contract to assassinate famed indie rock singer Jordan Cross and his family lawyer Ken Morgan at a luxury hotel on the Chao Phraya River in BangkokThailand. Previously, Cross had been acquitted of the death of his girlfriend, Hannah Highmoore, through a legal defense and cover-up conducted by Morgan on behalf of Cross's father, recluse billionaire media mogul Thomas Cross. The Highmoore family, seeking retribution, issues the contract. The mission takes place on Jordan's 27th birthday, alluding to his death falling into the pattern of the 27 Club.

A week after Agent 47 eliminates both targets, Thomas Cross is kidnapped and subsequently found dead after emerging from seclusion to attend Jordan's funeral, and his offshore bank accounts are emptied by unknown parties. Diana informs Agent 47 that the ICA, alerted by these events and patterns in the contracts Agent 47 has carried out, is now searching for a single "Shadow Client" who has indirectly set each of the contracts in motion by leaking information to the actual clients.

The Revelation of Providence

Main article(s): Freedom Fighters

The ICA discovers that the shadow client's transmissions were sent by Olivia Hall, a hacktivist, from a farm compound in Colorado. The farm houses a training camp for a private militia led by Sean Rose, an eco-terrorist, and bomb-maker connected to Thomas Cross's kidnapping. Urged by Erich Soders, the ICA board of directors orders an operation targeting Rose, under the assumption that he is the shadow client.

Agent 47 is sent to eliminate Rose and three other militia members: Penelope Graves, a criminal profiler who defected from Interpol while investigating Rose; Ezra Berg, a chemical interrogator and former Mossad operative; and Maya Parvati, a combat instructor and former assassin for the Tamil Tigers.

After eliminating all targets, Agent 47 further investigates the shadow client's motivations at Diana's behest. In the camp's command center, Agent 47 finds that the shadow client has tracked his past assassinations over several decades, which would not be possible unless the shadow client knew his identity. Additionally, key figures from each contract influenced by the shadow client, and many other persons, are labeled as having ties to Providence, which Diana and Agent 47 recognize as the name of a rumored secret organization of powerful elite that covertly controls world affairs. Finding a picture of Soders, 47 and Diana infer that he has served as Providence's agent in infiltrating the ICA; Diana announces that Soders must now take precedence over pursuing the shadow client.

As Agent 47 leaves the farm, the shadow client observes him through a sniper rifle while speaking to Hall by phone. Urged by Hall to kill 47, he instead tells Hall a story of how as a boy, he and his friend tried to escape from "that place", but were found by their warden, who murdered everyone who had met them during their escape. The shadow client declines to shoot 47 and reveals to Hall that he knows 47 "better than anyone".

The Meeting

Main article(s): Situs Inversus

The ICA confirms that Erich Soders has defected to Providence in exchange for a cardiac transplantation to stave off Soders' incipient heart failure—complicated due to a congenital condition. Leveraging its power and influence, Providence has procured a rare right-sided heart required for the operation and admitted Soders to the GAMA private hospital in Hokkaido, Japan for a fast-tracked surgery. To prevent Soders from giving a full list of ICA operatives to Providence and to issue a warning against interference with the ICA's sovereignty, 47 is admitted to the hospital under the alias Tobias Rieper to eliminate Soders and his Providence operative, Yuki Yamazaki, a lawyer to the Yakuza.

H2016-TheLesserEvil

Diana and the member from Providence

After 47 completes his mission, much later Diana is approached by the lapel-pin wearing Providence member on a train. He informs her that Providence, now aware of the shadow client's role in using the ICA to attack them, wishes to partner up with the ICA and target the shadow client instead. In the face of Diana's reticence and suspicion of Providence's honor, he offers to provide information on 47's unknown background in exchange for an alliance, handing her an old photograph of a small boy who appears to be 47.

Missions & Targets

Season 1
Map/Mission Target(s)
Freeform Training Kalvin Ritter
The Final Test Jasper Knight
Paris
The Showstopper Viktor Novikov

Dalia Margolis

Holiday Hoarders Harry "Smokey" Bagnato

Marv "Slick" Gonif

Sapienza
World of Tomorrow Silvio Caruso

Francesca De Santis

The Icon Dino Bosco
Landslide Marco Abiatti
Marrakesh
A Gilded Cage Claus Hugo Strandberg

Reza Zaydan

A House Built on Sand Kong Tuo-Kwang

Matthieu Mendola

Bangkok
Club 27 Jordan Cross

Ken Morgan

Colorado
Freedom Fighters Sean Rose

Maya Parvati

Ezra Berg

Penelope Graves

Hokkaido
Situs Inversus Erich Soders

Yuki Yamazaki

Patient Zero
Map/Mission Target(s)
Bangkok
The Source Oybek Nabazov

Sister Yulduz

Sapienza
The Author Craig Black

Brother Akram

Colorado
The Vector Bradley Paine

4 Infected Soldiers

Hokkaido
Patient Zero Owen Cage

Klaus Liebleid

Any Infected Individuals

Weapons

Firearms

Melee

Sharp/Lethal

Blunt/Non-Lethal

Other

Explosive

Trivia

  • As a promotional event for HITMAN™, IO Interactive collaborated with Realms Pictures to create a small real-life version of HITMAN™ titled "Real Life Hitman," which can be found here.

Videos

Gallery

Concept Art

Promotional Images

Miscellaneous

References

Advertisement