Here’s a 360-Degree Glimpse of Hitman’s Third Episode

Action-adventure stealth video game Hitman is currently enjoying a  “generally favorable” reception despite the fact that it features a unique and slightly unusual format. The game is still being released in an episodic format, and with two episodes already available, it’s time for the third part to come to light. We’re talking about Episode Three: Marrakesh, which will include a brand new story mission, 20 levels of Marrakesh Mastery, a new suit, more than 70 Marrakesh-specific changes, seven new achievements and a special PS4 exclusive contract. In order to give us a glimpse of this new Hitman episode, Square Enix has decided to unveil a 4K 360-degree video that shows off some explorable areas.

This new segment certainly looks impressive graphics-wise, but we’ll just have to wait and see if its new mission and other additions will improve the overall quality of the game. Hitman Episode Three is scheduled for a worldwide release tomorrow, May 31, and it will become available on the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms. Aside from the new content, the episode also includes a series of performance and framerate improvements, especially as far as DirectX 12 is concerned. Below you will find the complete release notes for Hitman Episode Three: Marrakesh.

Episode Three: Marrakesh Release Notes

New Destination: Marrakesh

• New Story mission: A Gilded Cage
• 8 new Opportunities for ‘A Gilded Cage’
• 20 levels of Marrakesh Mastery, with the following unlocks:
  7 new Marrakesh Starting Locations
  8 new Marrakesh Agency Pickup locations
  6 new weapon/gear unlocks
• New suit for Marrakesh: Summer Suit
• 70+ Marrakesh-specific challenges
• 7 new trophies/achievements
• New ‘The Sarajevo Six’ Contract. Target 3: The Extractor. (PS4 Exclusive)

Live Content for Marrakesh will include: New Escalation Contracts, Elusive Targets and New Featured Contracts (Contracts Mode)

New Gameplay Options

Weapon Balancing

Firearms
Re-balanced headshot damage for all pistols. Pistols should now be more lethal at longer ranges, when performing headshots.
Minor re-balancing and bug fixing of several firearms, including damage models and recoil patterns.

Shotguns
Re-balanced Enram HV shotguns. Fire rates, ammo carrying capacity and recoil patterns have been adjusted. The Enram HV rewarded in Sapienza Location Mastery now comes with extra ammunition.
Fixed an issue regarding gunshot audio synchronization.

NPC and Target Information
Instinct Mode now displays the name of NPC’s.
In Contracts Mode, kill conditions (weapon / disguise) are shown.
This option can be turned off in the Gameplay Options.

Inventory Wheel Perks
The perks associated with each weapon are now displayed on the in-game inventory wheel, allowing players a better overview of the weapon they are choosing to equip.

Mini Map NPC Indicators
Added an option to allow players to turn off the NPC indicators on the Mini Map. Targets are still shown. This option is set to “on” by default and can be toggled in the Gameplay Options.

Game Menu Improvements

Improved Leaderboards
The Top 100 scores are now loaded immediately in a scrollable list and each leaderboard entry shows the detailed score associated with it, meaning all players can see the score awarded to all leaderboard entries.
A player’s own leaderboard position is always shown on the leaderboard screen, allowing them to easily see how they rank against other players.

Featured Contracts Tile Update
The Featured Contracts tile now displays the location of the mission and the most recent Featured Contracts are shown as the first in the list.

Save Games
Manual and Auto saves are now shown on a single menu screen. Previously, players would need to tab between two separate screens.

Challenge Saturation
When viewing challenges in the menu, those that have not been completed are now displayed in greyscale to clearly show the completed and not-completed challenges at a glance.

Game and server version display
The game and server version are now displayed in the ‘Options’ Menu.

Fixed Issues

Fixed an issue where subduing NPC’s could result in a non-target kill.

This was mostly occurring in small/tight spaces.

Fixed an issue where the use of savegames could result in incorrect calculation of the time bonus.

Fixed an issue where the “Escalating the Situation” challenge would not unlock after completing the requirements. Players may be required to complete one more Escalation Contract for this to unlock.

Changed the unlock requirements of the ‘Master of Disguise’ challenge, specifically removing the requirement to equip the location-specific Italian Suit.

Fixed an issue where the “Rock On” challenge in ‘The Enforcer’ Sarajevo Six mission would not unlock, despite completing the requirements. (PS4 only)

Fixed an issue that would allow items in Agency Pickups to be duplicated.

Fixed an issue where the non-target penalty would not be applied in some Escalation Contracts where the “No Pacifications” complication was enabled.

Fixed an issue where the ‘Body Found’ score penalty would not be applied if the body is found at the same time as the player enters the ‘combat’ state.

Fixed a rare issue that would cause a framerate drop in Paris when equipping a weapon inside the palace.

Fixed an issue where the information about being recorded by a security camera would not be shown in languages other than English.

Fixed an issue where the ‘Over Here…’ challenge in the ICA Facility would not unlock if a guard finds a coin on his way to the generator.

Fixed an infinite loading bug that was occurring when players would sign out of the game during a mission and then sign back in with the same account.

PC-specific Improvements

The Game Launcher now displays resolutions higher than 2560×1440. These options were previously available but only via the in-game graphics settings.

Fixed an issue where the FPS may lock to 60 after alt+tab

Performance and framerate improvements, particularly for DX12.

Fixed various crash issues when loading and restarting missions.