HITMAN 3 continues the story of ICA assassins Agent 47 and Diana Burnwood taking on the shadowy cabal called Providence. You can read my short, spoiler-filled recap here.

While they struck a major blow to the organization in the finale of the last game, the war is not yet won.
As with the first two games I will be offering you playthroughs of each mission, adding hints and tips for mastering challenges. But since there is so much to explore and try out on each map, I will be adding new content to each post as I myself get to dive deeper into each mission myself.

SPOILER-ALERT
I have already played though HITMAN 3 on Professional difficulty, but I will only be detailing the missions in these posts. Nevertheless, there may be SPOILERS for the story itself.

Well then, let’s start with the first mission, aptly named On Top Of The World.

Eliminate Carl Ingram and Marcus Stuyvesant at the Burj-al Ghazali, Dubai
To eradicate Providence for good, 47 and his allies have to take out the Constant as well as the three Partners. Two of them – Carl Ingram and Marcus Stuyvesant – incidentally can both be found at the opening ceremony of the Burj-al Ghazali, a truly awe-inspiring skyscraper situated in Dubai. A lucky opportunity to get rid of two birds with one stone.

There are three story missions you can follow: “Bird Of Prey”, “(In)Security” and “How The Mighty Fall”. I have played all three, so I will take you through all of them, or at least show you the way I tackled them. My favorite one was “Bird of Prey”, by the way.

Infiltration
When you first arrive at the Burj-al Ghazali, you will infiltrate the skyscraper via the lobby. As usual, with each level of mastery gained per map, you will be unlocking new starting points that will grant you advantages during later playthroughs.

If you opt for “How The Mighty Fall”, as I did during my first playthrough, Lucas Grey will be riding shot-gun via commlink and aid you with hacking a few locks and doors. For the other story missions the camera/hacking tool is your trusted friend, too, but in different ways.

Story Mission: “How The Mighty Fall”
As you enter the lobby, Lucas Grey will ask you to find a floor plan. Access it to give your friend an idea of how to get both partners to gather in one place at the same time. To do so, you will have to get into the skyscraper’s server room. Be smart and bring along a lockpick, though. That’s where I messed up.

Walk past the servers offering drinks to the newcomers and turn right. You will come across the aforementioned floor plan there. Keep going right and pass a guarded staircase on your right. This is where you could opt for following the mission story “Bird Of Prey”. Let’s leave that for later. Enter the next area to the right and go down a flight of steps.

Ahead you will find a door secured by a key pad. Wait for Grey to give you the code then look out for the vacuum cleaner opposite a conveniently placed storage unit. Turn on the vacuum, hide then wait for maintenance staff to come and turn off the device. Knock the man out and take his disguise. (See what I did there? It rhymes!)

Follow Grey’s instructions to get to the server room and try to not be noticed. You will be, soon enough. If you get the chance, try to change into the uniform of event security to move around more freely.

Before you reach the server room there is another maintenance staff member you will need to incapacitate and hide before you enter. Also, look out for any useful tools and intel. Once the alarm is triggered, use the lockpick to get out and find a place to hide. Lucas Grey will drop another hint once the coast is clear. You’ll know what to do.

Now, once back in the server room, you need to activate something and Grey will ask if you noticed a change in the room. Look out for changes in the server racks, for example a different text color. Once you found the right server rack, give it a good pull and you will have the access you need to get your targets where you want them to be.

Next up, you will need to change into the uniform of a Penthouse guard. Once you’ve done that, follow your targets to the penthouse and observe Grey’s instructions.

Now, to take both targets out, you could just go ahead and shoot them. Which I did. You could also try and kill both simultaneously by dropping a chandelier on their heads to complete a challenge.

Any way you choose, make your escape and you are done. Congrats! You beat the first story misson.

Story Mission: “(In)Security”
The setup for this mission is similar to the one detailed above. Get into the staff area using the password Grey tells you (You need to accept “How The Mighty Fall” first), use the same first disguise, but head into the kitchen and the locker room next.

There you will come across the story mission “(In)Security”, or rather a soldier late for an assignement, which is playing Stuyvesant’s bodyguard. Unfortunately, his uniform has been misplaced. Bummer!

Steal his papers then head down a flight of steps and find the laundry. There you can pick up an event guard uniform, which is the one you will need. If you can acquire that another way beforehand, go do that.

Disguised as the guard and armed with your resume you need to report for duty. Stuyvesant will come to meet you, but your references are not sufficient. He wants to see you in action. Which, in this case, means throwing knives. But, alas, you do not get to put one between his eyes or elsewhere, as the guard you are replacing will be with you at all times. So do not try anything cute.

Once you have convinced Stuyvesant of your skills he will send the guard away and you are free to eliminate him whichever way you choose. Though to complete a challenge, you will have to push him off the ledge. Clean kill. Just the way I like it. Also, “Vertical Approach”-challenge completed.

Now, on to Carl Ingram.

This one is my favorite part. Head back the way you came. Once you enter the building you will find a ladder right in front of you. Climb up then crouch and sneak around the structure, to the left, across a ledge and to the next platform. There you will eavesdrop on a penthouse guard. He mentions a certain evacuation protocol and the code (6927) needed to access the security cards to trigger said protocol.

Listen closely, then get up there and silently knock him out. Drag him into his security station and take his uniform, then take out his buddy. Hide both unconscious victims. Grab the access cards from the safe and make your way up to the penthouse.

Once you enter, turn left to learn how exactly the protocol works. Reconaissance the heli pad (there is a way you can access it more quickly from the floor above) then trigger the evacuation protocol using both cards. Activate the one on the top floor first. This will complete the “Geronimo”-feat.

Quickly follow Ingram’s detail to the heli pad and the moment you see him stand on the ledge, give him a little shove. If timed right, you will have another unnoticed accidental kill and completed the “Steep Task”-challenge.
As well as the mission! Well done.

Story Mission: “Bird Of Prey”
As mentioned before, this one is my favorite. Get strapped in! It’s a wild ride.

This time, as you come across the story mission”Bird Of Prey”, accept it. Walk into the smoking area opposite of the staircase and grab a few coins. Facing outside, walk left into a more secluded area then wait for the assassin to have a chat with some woman, and once she is far enough away, turn on the sound system.
Hide and wait until the assassin investigates, choke him out then turn off the sound system and take his disguise. Leave any lethal objects as you will be frisked.

Find him in the atrium and have him follow down the stairs you used beforehand to get to the door locked with a key pad. Knock him out, take the picture and leave him there. Return to where you left the unconscious assassin and pick up everything you find. Dont worry, you will not be frisked again. Return to speak to the assistant and follow her into the penthouse. Once Ingram tells everyone to clear the room, walk to the small bar next door and pour the lethal poison you lifted off the assassin into the whiskey drink.

Then take a sip of your wine. Ingram will join you shortly and perish. “Traceless, Tasteless”-challenge completed. You could also get that one by poisoning the food waiting to be prepared one level down, if you wish, and complete the “Pick Your Poison”-challenge. Also a fun assignment.

Now, as the assassin, make your way back to the conference room where you first met Ingram and drop down onto a walkway below. There is a hidden compartment where you will find a note hinting at an opportunity to kill Stuyvesant unnoticed. But first, you need an event technician’s uniform.

This is the tricky part.

Remember how you acquired the penthouse guard’s uniform? Do that and come back. Then find the ladder taking you down another level where two technicians, a man and a woman, are at work. Take them both out silently then take the man’s uniform.

Next, you’ll need a fuse. You will find that around the corner from where you acquired your latest disguise. Walk along the window front and find your way up. There you will find a man and woman arguing. Walk past them and find the fuse. Pick it up then continue walking, down the steps and all the way up to where you can insert the fuse to cause some mayhem.

Next, head into the art installation and towards the Sun. There is a fire exit (look for the sign), where you will find a fellow technician waiting for good news. Let her know the Sun is fixed. Then go back and get ready for sabotage.

Wait until Stuyvesant is standing right in front of the Sun then crank it up and wait until completing the “Icarus”-challenge. Find the exit and leave.

That’s it.

It’s fun. It’s mayhem. And it is a great start into another incredibly satisfying HITMAN-game.

On Top Of The World-Speedrun: The quickest way to completing the mission
While showcasing the game to a friend today I believe I found the quickest way to complete the game. You will need a screwdriver for this one. Or set up a sniper kill, killing both targets with one bullet. Let’s try the easy way.

• From the starting point at the Atrium walk left and into Lucy Phillips’ art installation. Right of the stairs leading up to the Sun you will find a staff entrance. Enter then turn left and climb up the ladder.
• Sneak onto the walkway that will bring you past the conference area and to the penthouse guard talking about the evacuation protocol.
• Silently take him out, get his uniform. hide his body, get the cards and carefully make your way upstairs. 
• Once you enter the penthouse area, walk left and find a lounge that will be frequently visited by Carl Ingram. One of the wall panels hides a door.
• Step through and look right. There you will find a ladder leading down to the heli pad. Use it to do just that, then silently take out the helicopter pilot. 
• Hide him out of sight.
• Use your screwdriver to punch a hole into the oil barrels next to the helicopter. Also, open the valve of the gas canister. You will need a wrench that is conveniently placed on the other side of the helicopter.
• Go and activate the evacuation protocol.
• Return and disguise yourself as the pilot.
• Then wait for both Carl Ingram and Marc Stuyvesant to arrive. At one point they will be standing next to each other for a time, perfectly lined up for the sniper shot.
• They will move towards the heli and stand next to the barrels. Take your shot and blow them up. Don’t wait, since Ingram will leave again soon after.
• Okay. Never mind. Ingram is is one tough m*fo. Have to find another way….

Next up is the second mission “A Death In The Family”, which ranks among the hardest alongside the “Apex Predator”-mission for me.

Until then, keep on playing!
Cheers
Vanessa