Hitman followers weren’t comfortable concerning the choice to take away twin wielding in the newest trilogy, now often called World of Assassination, however now it is lastly coming again—so long as you’ve a Meta Quest 3 headset, that’s. Digital actuality developer XR Video games is bringing the characteristic to a brand new recreation within the collection referred to as Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded, a “rebuilt from the bottom up” recreation that will probably be obtainable completely on Meta’s newest VR headset.
Chances are you’ll recall that Hitman: World of Assassination already helps VR play on Steam. Additionally, you will hopefully recall that it turned PC Gamer’s personal super-assassin Morgan Park right into a bumbling doofus brutally (and loudly) beating the hell out of guards and potential witnesses after botching (once more) a silent takedown strike.
This, apparently, is not less than partially what Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is meant to handle. Together with twin wielding, it guarantees an overhauled UI “fully redesigned for VR, making certain intuitive management and navigation,” higher motion choices to allow fast, quiet navigation, and “a brand new degree of realism with interactive environments that reply to each motion.”
These are welcome modifications. Morgan famous in his evaluation of the unique VR mode that his persistence with all of the jank and doofery was powered partly by the truth that it got here as a free replace to an already-excellent recreation. However he was additionally anticipating a extra immersive, non-clown-show tackle Hitman VR, including, “I hope IOI finds a option to enhance the extent of element and clear up its most annoying quirks, as a result of Hitman and VR are a wonderful combine.”
Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded goals to ship that have. “Our groups have labored tirelessly to convey this large AAA franchise to VR,” mentioned Bobby Thandy, CEO of developer XR Video games. “We knew the Hitman viewers demanded the very best VR expertise, and solely the Meta Quest 3 may energy such giant environments, dense crowds and emergent sandbox gameplay. With dual-wielding, a shocking new art-style, new options and enhancements, we consider Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded will set a brand new customary for bringing AAA franchises to Meta Quest.”
However the announcement hasn’t been universally properly obtained. On the time of writing, the trailer on YouTube has obtained roughly 1,700 dislikes in comparison with 1,300 likes, with many commenters complaining that IOI is making (though it is truly simply licensed it) a brand new Hitman VR recreation whereas the unique stays a large number. There’s additionally appreciable irritation that it is unique to the Quest 3, leaving out a presumably giant portion of present Hitman VR gamers.
Dialogue within the Hitman subreddit appears considerably extra measured. There’s nonetheless loads of upset to go round, however there’s additionally extra of an acknowledgement that this can be a licensed recreation being made by one other studio, funded by Meta and fully separate from IOI’s personal model. “It is a model new recreation developed from the bottom up, not a mere port,” redditor StrangerNo484 wrote. “This does not exist if not for Meta, you could be upset about it however [the] recreation very merely doesn’t exist in any other case.”
“This isn’t truly the identical as Hitman: World of Assassination,” FlyingBlueCarrot mentioned. “It is a VR recreation constructed from [the] floor up by one other studio … It simply shares belongings with Hitman 3, however it’s nearly a complete different recreation.” Reflecting Morgan’s tackle Hitman’s authentic VR trappings they added, “I’m too dissatisfied in [the] state of Hitman VR on PC, however then again it was extra of a free present from IOI.”
It is potential that IOI will convey not less than among the enhancements in Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded to the unique VR launch, which ought to clean the waters considerably. In fact, it is also potential the brand new recreation will probably be a disaster similar to its predecessor, wiping away considerations about it not coming to the present VR recreation—or on the very least making everybody equally mad, which I reckon is functionally the identical factor. We’ll discover out quickly sufficient: Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is about to return out this summer time and can set you again $30 (though preorders are presently on sale for $27) on the Meta Retailer.
