Hitman 3’s Freelancer single player mode will no longer be released this spring, but only in the second half. Developer IO Interactive wants to improve “certain elements” of the mode. Freelancer is a roguelike mode with a customizable safehouse.
IO Interactive writes that the development team will have more time to ‘tighten the bolts’ and get the mode ‘as close to our ambitions as possible’. The game was tested internally and externally, with certain members of the community able to try the mode on their own devices. That feedback was “largely positive,” but the developer now wants to improve “certain elements” that should improve overall gameplay.
The Freelancer mode was announced in January and features roguelike elements, strategic planning, and a customizable safehouse. In that safe house, players plan missions and can practice with weapons. That hideout also expands as players go through more missions. The missions are set within campaigns and locations around the world. Players can choose the order in which they want to complete missions.
The mode is roguelike in that Agent 47’s gear is not persistent. What a player leaves behind during a mission remains lost. Missions have been adapted to the mode with the addition of new NPCs that either counter or help the player.
IO Interactive says it has adjusted its spring DLC roadmap due to Freelancer’s delay. For example, an update with more content and ray tracing for the PC version should have appeared in April; it now comes on May 24. More Featured Contracts will also appear in May. The new Rocky map, also known as Ambrose Island, is also being pushed forward and will be released in July.