First Impressions of Hitman Freelancer Mode

The Hitman franchise has gone through its own perilous journey for the past few years. The long-running series rebooted itself and released in an episodic release cadence. To add Hitman also faced IP issues with Square Enix that sparked a rebrand, but the franchise reverted to IO Interactive after the studio became independent. Buying the game was not straightforward, and even sparked a hilarious buyer’s guide. Despite these challenges, the Hitman trilogy was repackaged into a Hitman: World of Assassination.

The rebranding provided content from the previous three installments in one neat offering. On top of that, IO Interactive outdid itself with its recent update to the game. They introduced an interesting rogue-like game mode known as the Hitman Freelancer mode. The mode is a breath of fresh air. It allows players to enjoy all of Hitman’s impressive suite of features and mechanics, in a punishing, yet rewarding, experience.

Hitman Freelancer a Rogue-like in Disguise

In keeping up with the recent surge of rogue-like games, Freelancer is Hitman’s unique take on the popular gameplay mechanic. Hitman Freelancer mode takes all the best features of the series and throws them into a gauntlet that will test you and your perseverance.

Freelancer is comprised of taking out four Syndicates that increase difficulty. Players have to work through 3 to 6 missions in any order they choose and must eliminate Syndicate members. After each mission, Agent 47 returns back to his Safehouse where he can restock and resupply. Oh and the Safehouse is customizable as well so players get a bit of The Sims action in Freelancer as well.

What’s interesting is that campaign missions have been altered for the Freelancer mode. Each destination offers new NPC types. Gear can be purchased from Suppliers while on a mission. Lookouts will be more vigilant and see right through your disguises. It’s a mixed-and-match affair and there’s no telling what you will get every time you depart for a mission.

That unpredictability can be an adrenaline rush at times. But be warned, you cannot save during missions. This is a major pet peeve of mine, as I would constantly save during missions in the story campaign. The lack of saves in Freelander means it is both a punishing and rewarding experience. But one thing for sure is that it will definitely keep you on your feet. Yet be warned,  there is a massive catch that players must know ahead of time.

Freelancers Don’t Permit Free Loaders

Unlike Hitman’s story campaign, gear in Freelancer doesn’t automatically carry over. In other words, anything you bring with you on a mission and don’t bring back will not be available at your Safehouse. So say you brought along an HWK21 Covert pistol for a mission and you left it behind, it’s gone and won’t be available at your Safehouse.

The YOLO Life of a Freelance Assassin

I must admit, the mode was intimidating at first. I felt compelled to be as calculating as possible. But then I started to treat it like a Jazz ensemble and improvised to the best of my ability. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn’t. But Freelancer mode will definitely spark a creative side in you that you might have overlooked during the story campaign. Though it was frustrating when you lose a mission and your progress would reset. However, that exemplifies the rogue-like “run” mechanics that have captivated players in recent times.

Save File to Save a Life

I tested the mode on my PC, and the game crashed a couple of times. The fact that I couldn’t save during a mission was truly frustrating. It was a feeling that I haven’t felt in a while, despite my recent forays in Soulslike games. It would have been good to have limited checkpoints or a save point during a mission to avoid these issues. But again, the lack of a save feature in Freelancer is a big part of the rush that the mode delivers.

Hitman Freelancer Wrap Up

At the end of the day, Freelancer is a well-realized mode that will keep players coming back to an already fantastic offering in Hitman. It might frustrate you but the mode will handily deliver hours of content even if you completed the story campaign and the plethora of challenges that test your inner assassin.

Freelancer Mode is available in Hitman: World of Assassination on Steam, PlayStation, Epic Games Store, and Xbox platforms.

Note – The publisher provided a Steam keycode for the purpose of this impression piece.