Ranking Every Map In The HITMAN Trilogy

r/Hitman made their own poll and this was the result:

imagen

3 Likes

tbh i feel like its too early to do a poll like this since its still the honeymoon phase for most people. hitman 3’s maps are dazzling on the first run but time will tell how well they hold up

10 Likes

One thing that always makes me dislike a map are large outside areas, like in Colorado, Santa Fortuna or the fields in Mendoza. I always have problems assessing whether I will be discovered or not, especially with small coverages and the undefined allowed range between me and enforcers.

2 Likes

Right here goes! Please note, I know this is a rather controversial list but this is based on my enjoyment on each map.

1: Japan
2: Berlin
3: Haven island
4: Isle of Sgail
5: Dartmoor
6: New york
7: Miami
8: Bangkok
9: Whittleton Creek
10: Chongqing
11: Paris
12: Hawkes bay
13: Colorado
14: Carpathian Mountains
15: Mumbai
16: Mendoza
17: Sapienza
18: Dubai
19: Santa Fortuna
20: Marrakech

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The objectively correct rating

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LOL, fascinating! I’m actually a fan of the ICA maps, interesting that they’re SUPER unpopular!

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Okay… So I’m now at full mastery for all of the new maps, so I’m going to post my INITIAL ranking. I’m still planning to play through every mission again once I have the Hitman 2 Access Pass, and I will rearrange the list after. But here’s what it is so before replaying all the missions. It WILL change.

  1. New York
  2. Berlin
  3. Sapienza
  4. Miami
  5. Mendoza
  6. Paris
  7. Hokkaido
  8. Haven Island
  9. Mumbai
  10. Dartmoor
  11. Chongqing
  12. Dubai
  13. Whittleton Creek
  14. Bangkok
  15. Hawke’s Bay
  16. Isle of Sgail
  17. Santa Fortuna
  18. ICA Facility (The Final Test)
  19. Colorado
  20. Marrakesh
  21. Carpathian Mountains
  22. ICA Facility (Freeform Training)
3 Likes

Finally played every map a few times. This is my list for now, it will probably change a lot in the next few weeks. I usually just play the story until I have all the challenges done. After that it’s just contracts for me. So I had those in mind when I did the ranking. Also I divided it in three parts: Main maps, bonus maps and sniper maps.

Main maps:

  1. Golden Handshake (New York)
  2. The Finish Line (Miami)
  3. Death In The Family (Dartmoor)
  4. World Of Tomorrow (Sapienza)
  5. The Farewell (Mendoza)
  6. Apex Predator (Berlin)
  7. The Showstopper (Paris)
  8. Top Of The World (Dubai)
  9. Another Life (Whittleton Creek)
  10. End Of An Era (Congqing)
  11. The Ark Society (Isle of Sgail)
  12. A Gilded Cage (Marrakesh)
  13. Situs Inversus (Hokkaido)
  14. The Last Resort (Maldives)
  15. Chasing A Ghost (Mumbai)
  16. Untouchable (Carpathian Mountains)
  17. Three-Headed Serpant (Colombia)
  18. Freeform Training (tutorial)
  19. Freedom Fighters (Colorado)
  20. The Final Test (tutorial)
  21. Club 27 (Bangkok)
  22. Nightcall (Hawke’s Bay)

Bonus maps:

  1. A House Built On Sand (Marrakesh bonus mission)
  2. Landslide (Sapienza bonus mission)
  3. The Vector (Colorado bonus mission)
  4. The Author (Sapienza bonus mission)
  5. The Icon (Sapienza bonus mission)
  6. The Source (Bangkok bonus mission)
  7. A Bitter Pill (Whittleton Creek bonus mission)
  8. A Silver Tongue (Miami bonus mission)
  9. Illusions Of Grandeur (Mumbai bonus mission)
  10. Embrace Of The Serpent (Colombia bonus mission)
  11. Patient Zero (Hokkaido bonus mission)

Sniper Maps:

  1. Crime and Punishment (Siberia)
  2. The Last Yardbird (Himmelstein)
  3. The Pen and the Sword (Singapore)
3 Likes

I don’t want to explain every decision, just my top three

  1. Sapienza
    It is still and will always be my favourite Hitman level. It’s not that huge, but the design is just gold! I love to hang around there, it is so pretty! I also like the three different parts: the villa, the city and the laboratory. They are all unique in their design.

  2. Berlin
    I love Berlin because of the oppressive atmosphere and the constant fear of getting caught by the other ICA agents. Also, as a German, it’s cool to have a level located in my homeland. The club gives me some Bootshaus and Odonien vibes (clubs in cologne where I live), it really catches the German party scene.

  3. Santa Fortuna
    I like the design but mostly I really like the fun! It has many of my favourite mission stories, like the one with the band, with the tattoo artist and the hippo.

  4. Mendoza

  5. Dartmoor

  6. Haven Island

  7. Chongquing

  8. Mumbai

  9. Paris

  10. Hokkaido

  11. Isle of Sgail

  12. Miami

  13. Morocco

  14. New York

  15. Whittleton Creek

  16. Dubai

  17. Colorado

  18. Hawkes Bay

  19. Bangkok

  20. Romania

1 Like

Damn it, I noticed some irregularities in my ranking.
So I decided to tidy it up - and post a new one. The problem was, that my ranking of the trilogy as a whole did not correlate with the ranking by the separate installments. This SHOULD be entirely correct, as proof; I’ve even ranked each installments of the trilogy by themselves. I then used those ranks to make an ultimate rank for the trilogy as a whole. I won’t be (overwhelmingly) changing the text however. As those statements are true regardless of their rank.

HITMAN Trilogy maps ranking by installment, titles are chronological. Although I did an objective ranking also here: I added up the points given to each map (1-20) and divided the result by the numbers of maps in each installment. The lower the number, the more appreciated. So I’ve received objective proof that H1 and H3 are according to me better than H2 :laughing: :grin:

Hitman (2016)
Bangkok - 17.
Colorado - 14.
Paris - 10.
Sapienza - 6.
Marrakesh - 5.
Hokkaido - 2.
54/6 = 9

Hitman (2018)
Mumbai - 20.
Isle of Sgail - 19.
Whittleton Creek - 18.
Miami - 13.
Maldives - 12.
Hawke’s Bay - 9.
New York - 7.
Santa Fortuna - 4.
102/8 = 12.75

Hitman (2021)
Carpathians - 16.
Chongqing - 15.
Dartmoor - 11.
Mendoza - 8.
Berlin - 3.
Dubai - 1.
54/6 = 9

From worst to best:

Mumbai - In my original ranking, I wrote: «Meh». I stand by it. There is so much going on in the map, that it is completely impossible to focus on the task at hand. I think this is the first map I dislike so much that I would be willing to actively complain about it, not just write a review about it. Definitely my least played map in the trilogy. I do not touch it.

Isle of Sgail - In my original ranking I wrote this: «Too dark, like hell without flames. Excessive.» I think it still fits, however I would like to expand a little. When I say excessive, I mean it. Overkill much? It is impossible to navigate your way around the map. There is a guard, next to the guard, next to the guard. The map itself is not particularly exotic, some aspects of it is just plain out beautiful, but the majority of the map is not something pretty to look at, nor is it horrifying enough to complain about.

Whittleton Creek - God damn it, I do not feel love for this map! Okay, it is in the suburbs, which is pretty cool. However: the houses all look the same which makes it impossible to navigate, the map is «small», but at the same time all too big, and way to bland. the targets are rather boring (Well, not entirely - meeting Janus a.k.a. the original Constant is rather cool) I mean, what the hell is the purpose of tired version of Tom Selleck? It’s not that I don’t like him; that would make killing him so much more fun. I just do not care regarding him.

Bangkok - Bangkok is a funny one. Because in my opinion neither the map nor the targets are very engaging: However - separately both factors should objectively be in the game. The map is actually quite beautiful, and I think if it were other targets, Bangkok could very well indeed be more enjoyed. Just, don’t ask me which targets I would place at the hotel. Also, don’t ask me where I would have placed Cross & Morgan elsewhere in the world. Also: Screw you “Tuppence a Wish”, I completed you on the final days of Hitman 2, only for you to be made a Mastery on Hitman 3, CURSED! (And no, this was not the only one).

Carpathian Mountains - I honestly feel sorry for IO for the lack of enthusiasm with this map. In my original ranking I wrote this «Now, I see that this is a controversial map. I get that, and I get why. However if you are like me, and appreciate that the trilogy had to be conclusively concluded I am not sure IOI could have done anything different. I have even replayed it, it was aesthetically pleasing, and a definite change of pace regarding the trilogy.» And I stay by it, every word.

Chongqing - This map originally got a very low rank from me. The ICA-facility is fantastic, the challenges are a bit «meh» however, but the Mastery Unlocks makes up for it when you hit that sweet 20-spot to get the Hackl Leviathan Sniper Rifle Covert. I also cannot help but feel that Chongqing probably wasn’t the best choice for an overground-location. In every sense I feel about Chongqing as I did with Isle of Sgail, Whittleton Creek or Mumbai. The targets felt off too, I did not like them as a product. However, this map redeemed itself on the mastery unlocks alone. Thanks for the (slightly?) OP Sniper-rifle, I love it!

Colorado - Okay, so… This is a HARD map. This is plain difficult! But at the same time, I dig the domestic insurgency vibe that this map has. It is hard to navigate, it’s difficult to really act out. To do something that you normally would do to stand out as a gamer, a streamer, or anything that is anywhere near being dependent on your skills to show off. You cannot really SHOW OFF in this map. In any way. Forget sniping your targets, forget improvising this map, that’s not gonna happen. This map requires point-by-point action. I LOVE THAT. At the same time, I hate the fact that I probably never will be able to pull off «the Classics»-challenges on this map. In a way, that is okay - but at the same time, it is a bit annoying that I’ve been able to «the Classics»-challenges on all of Hitman 1, except at this map. Beautifully designed, and if you don’t mind having to constantly plan and act in accordance with that map: A lot of (scripted) fun.

Miami - This map, while beautifully designed just seems out of place. The map could be divided, which I think is awesome, makes for good re-purpose. But together as a mix I just do not feel like it fits. Who here in their right minds would place a large office building right next to where cars are potentially crashing into the walls at 300-something km/h? It’s just not a sane combination. It was fun to kill Ms. Knox while in her car though, I’ll give it that.

Maldives - Another map that I was excited about, however: As I write this, I can’t really remember if something had to be done, in addition to killing the three targets. Needless to say, I haven’t been playing this map so much. But it is nice to look at. I LIKE the vibes that this map is giving off. I guess it is just the fact that there are three targets to take care of, that I just find so daunting. Getting a Sieker 1 as a Mastery unlock redeems the map a little bit.

Dartmoor - Now I wrote in my original ranking that Dartmoor-rank may prove faulty, that it did. Dartmoor is incredibly interesting. Fascinating even. I fell for the urge to be a detective in my first playthrough, I shouldn’t have done that. It took away pretty much all the fun. I have now played it a few more times, and I was even able to pull “the classics” on it. I haven’t been blessed with SASO-skills earlier in Hitman-games, but it was fun to for once be able to pull it off! It is enough with only one target when that mark is Alexa Carlisle, her voice filled up Thornbridge Manor singlehandedly. BRAVO!

Paris - Nice and simple: The map is beautiful, the opportunities are fun, the targets are interesting. What I enjoyed the most about this map however, came when I first started playing both Hitman 1 and anything from the Hitman-universe really, for the first time. I went with the «15 seconds of fame» mission story, thus requiring me to get the disguise of Helmut Kruger. Which gave such freedom to roam the map as I saw fit. I think, that if I hadn’t done that; then I would probably had found the game too challenging, and I would have put down my controller, and never play Hitman again. Now, I don’t know if that was IOI’s intended purpose of this mission story, but I am very grateful that it turned out the way it did.

Hawke’s Bay - This one has a bad rep, in my opinion. It deserves more recognition. Okay, so the infiltration-bit is rather easy. There is 1 - ONE - disguise on the entire map. And there is also just a single target. But I like robbing houses in Hawke’s Bay. It’s fun! Do some pantless squats in Alma Reynards personal bunker, and completely strip her of cool and awesome weapons. I H2 there was a challenge to this map - where you were rewarded with a Japanese Tanto-knife, and I loved that! Sadly it was changed to be a mastery unlock in Hitman 3, so I did all that «final-days-of-Hitman-2»-work for nothing.

Mendoza - This map is fun, it is also pure eye-candy! There are lots of kill opportunities, the challenge of infiltrating while in your suit is not too hard. And it is just awesome to see Diana out in the field. I really do not have much to say about this map, but the fact that I love it.

New York - This is a map that I was stoked about upon learning its pending launch. Back then it was teased as «The Bank» (The name of the mission, if I am not mistaken?). Now the reasons why I was so stoked where divided: For one, I toyed with the idea of it being The West Bank, thinking we were going to the middle east, that was an idea that I quite enjoyed. However I wasn’t disappointed when I learned that it was an actual bank (and I guess it makes way more sense). The design of this level is amazing!

Sapienza - I had to really start learning the basics put into practice. Sapienza is a marvelous map, I see from time to time that other people has this one as their absolute favorite, it’s not like that with me, although see why. The targets are immensely intriguing. It is all-in-all a fine product… BUT: After the first play through, ya really could have done the virus-bit optional!

Marrakesh - A Sniper’s Nest. Loved the politics. Targets were super-interesting.

Santa Fortuna - The Colombian contribution to the Hitman-trilogy is by far the best of the Hitman 2-maps. It is beautifully designed, the number of NPCs are rather balanced, The map could be easily split up in different parts, and it fits neatly together, as opposed to Miami. I think the only downside is that there are three targets in this map. I would say that Hector Delgado has to be one of the targets. However, one could easily remove either Andrea Martinez or Jorge Franco, and the map would not suffer one bit from it. Then again, it is nice to get one extra kill. I just wish that the routines of the targets (that doesn’t need to be triggered) would have two of the targets meet. Why you ask? Because there are times where I consider this map to be more work than play.

Berlin - Okay so this was interesting. I can’t really say that I care much a nightclub-location. But this one pulled through! In my original ranking I had Berlin at fourth lowest of the trilogy maps, boy was I wrong. Doing the challenges for this map, I’ve probably never had more fun playing a game than this! HOT TIP: If you haven’t disguised yourself as the club-owner: DO it. Also: Do the T-47 challenge, you really won’t regret it. The map is difficult as well, when you at first do not know who your targets are. After the first play through, that’s really when the fun begins!

Hokkaido - The one and only. Beautiful, just beautiful! Fun too! The right amount of challenging. I remember being grossed out about the Tell Tale Heart-story first time I played it. But this map has so many good, and gruesome kill-options. It’s really well done.

Dubai - Just gonna go with my original rank and description for this one: Bravo! THANK YOU IOI. My first-ever SASO, some may say that it is too easy. I’d say that is because the map. is. done. just. right. It’s tremendously flirtatious. It is interesting, and it fits right into the story. I am so happy that we have Dubai. I believe that this map, has replayability. I hope for some more content on this very map.

2 Likes

Same here, with Santa Fortuna

1 Like

Yeah Colorado sucks everywhere is a hostile area even outside the farm is 4 targets and yes Berlin has 5 but at least it does not a hostile zone everywhere

I prefer interesting sandbox locations and the farm in Colorado is meh to me. I hate the layout of the mission too. 3 out of 4 targets spawn in the house. Ezra Berg felt like a contract to me. I wish Maya Parvati had a more interesting path

I decided not to rank ICA, Hawke’s, and Carpathian just because they’re simply not on the same caliber as the other missions. I would say I did enjoy Hawke’s as an experimentation level. It helped me a lot to improve at the game.

I’ve always hated Bangkok. Ken Morgan is an awful target, the layout of the hotel is bad, I don’t like how the camera work here, and SO is a restricting nightmare. The music is reused from Paris, the hotel is a pretty lame setting, and the kills aren’t too great. Bangkok is everything the trilogy should not be. It’s limiting, boring, and uninspired.
Colorado is just drab and having four targets means none of them are fleshed out or memorable, especially Parvati. SO is ridiculous as well. This mission is impossible to connect with or relate to and I think the all guards thing is the big reason. There are no suit areas to speak of. Even with the right disguise, this mission is annoying to play.
Whittleton Creek is full of missed opportunities with all of the blocked off houses and how no part of it really stands out to me. The gathering clue thing is very tedious as well. Houses are nearly identical with slight differences, like an oxygen tank in this room, a tunnel that you won’t use in this basement, a fumigation unit here. The targets have lame routes and aren’t fun to take out. While I like Janus’ character quite a bit, it’s hard to enjoy him when his coolest kill requires you to turn on a gramophone.

Marrakesh is just disconnected. I hate Zaydan and the school, and he doesn’t really interact with Strandberg in any interesting ways. The town in underused and there aren’t too many ways to infiltrate the two fortresses. Nothing in Marrakesh feels practical or makes much sense.
Colombia is the one map where size is its biggest fault. There are entire areas like the construction site that are throwaways outside of the mission stories. The targets are very spread out, don’t interrupt with each other much, and the only one I’m a fan of is Martinez. It’s just time consuming to play this map and it doesn’t feel that justified.
Sgail is probably one of the best maps in the trilogy in terms of design and concept. But the targets are terrible. They have long and public routes, no personality, and no good kills outside of the scripted ones. SO is a nightmare as well. The Constant feels very gimmicky in this mission as well, especially since he doesn’t contribute anything after your first play through.

New York is a very interesting case. The target has a very limited route, yet she’s very fun to take out and has a surprising amount of methods to do so. However, being only indoors and having a tedious secondary objective brings it down for me.
Dartmoor never really clicked for me. I feel like the detective story doesn’t really fit in as seamlessly as I would have thought. The setting just isn’t my favorite either. Maybe it’s how old it is and the dreary weather. Not my thing. Alexa Carlisle is a fantastic target in every respect though. Haven Island has a really gorgeous setting, but Tyson Williams feels a little tacked on and the targets don’t have the best routes. It also just doesn’t feel all that new. Nothing really stands out to me besides some of the server room shenanigans. It’s all good fun but not that memorable.
Paris is really really solid. So many options, such great design, it’s really something else. I think there are a few mission stories that don’t make much sense like the Sheik and the laptop hacking. I also think a lot more could have been done with the cameras. The targets aren’t too memorable personality or route wise either. But Paris is where it all started. I can see why many people love it.

Sapienza is, in my opinion, very overrated. While it makes for really great contracts, the town area is underutilized since the three objectives are concentrated in the same area. The virus genuinely ruins playing the mission for me. Walk in, shoot the stalagmite, get in the plane. Over and over again. I wish it could’ve been a one time thing. But the targets are both really fantastic and the level of detail here is off the charts. It’s no wonder it’s one of the most iconic missions in the series. To a lot of people, this is Hitman.
Chongqing wasn’t my favorite, but it really grew on me the more I played it. It has very Marrakesh-like design. Two fortresses, one city area. Once again this city area is underutilized but it does have a lot more detail and practicality. The location just has such a good cool factor for it. The neon lights probably help. I love Royce as a target and I think the Data Center was really well done. Hush’s fortress was a lot like Zaydan’s but the futuristic, creepy vibe and Hush’s insanity really elevate it. Also this one is gorgeous. And having rain is wonderful here.
Miami is just so intricately made. It all connects really really well. While I wish Sierra had more SO methods when she’s in the car, I think having two routes with wildly different approaches is wonderful. The map is gorgeous and dense. So many great kills, so many great areas, so many great opportunities. Miami is a classic.

Now it’s time for the top five.
Starting with Dubai. Dubai’s gorgeousness comes from the building itself not the surrounding landscape. The gold hanging everywhere, the modern art, and the garden all create a stunning mission. The targets also have great routes with plenty of methods in any disguise. My only complaint is that some of the best kills, like the sun installation, are tedious to do on repeat play throughs, but that’s obviously very minor.
Hokkaido is no doubt my favorite mission from 2016. Having a stationary target is an excellent change of pace and I love the difficulty—disguises open doors, limited load out, etc. Both targets have fantastic kills and backstories. Yamazaki might be one of my favorites in the trilogy. The location is also beautiful—the futuristic hospital and the delightful resort area blend together very well. The lighting works really well here too. The only real issues with the map are how limited Soders is SO and how difficult it is to get the surgeon disguise without the starting location.
Mumbai was my favorite until Hitman 3 and will always hold a special place in my heart. The map is so interconnected—tons of shortcuts, target meet ups, and traps waiting to be set up. Each area feels like it belongs and serves a purpose. Even the ones that aren’t that important—like the hideout—still have tons of stuff packed in. Sneaking through the slums using Hitman 2’s crowds is a blast and makes the location very tense. Mumbai has excellent targets as well. Kale’s identity being hidden worked really well and I love how many ways there are to find and take him out. Eventually, you’ll either be able to recognize him or set up a trap that will take him out consistently. I also like how he’s a fun twist on a “public” target. He’s out in the open but nobody is there to guard him. It’s up to you to find him. Shah’s train yard is a really good fortress with great kills, but it’s also a lot of fun to draw her out. Rangan is no doubt one of the best targets in the series—his fortress is amazing, his route is amazing, his character is amazing, and his kills are amazing. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Top all of this with the Kashmirian and all of the awesome proxy kills and target meet ups he brings to the table, and you have a definite Hitman mission.
Mendoza has one of the best settings in the trilogy. The winery is intricately crafted with tons of detail and shortcuts everywhere. Both targets have excellent kills and play a great role in the story. Having Diana in the mission is fantastic and when she steps in to help you out, there’s nothing quite like it. Mendoza has the best mission stories in the trilogy, no doubt. The tour, the meeting, the wine pump, the sniper, there really are no duds. And despite being guided kills, you still have a lot of freedom and they still bring a good amount of challenge. There are some phenomenal moments here as well. The tango, Diana’s reaction to Vidal’s death, brutally double-teaming Yates, 47 presenting the world’s most expensive wine, and many, many more. Mendoza has two big problems, however. For whatever reason Vidal is a pain SO. It probably has more to do with her long route before her main one starts than her being a very public target. The mission is also extremely buggy. Lots of challenges don’t work, targets won’t be highlighted in instinct, contracts doesn’t work, and the AI is very wonky. Hopefully these technical issues are resolved in the future because they really do hold an otherwise amazing map back.
And finally, my favorite map in the trilogy, Berlin. While hand-holding has never bother me personally in the trilogy, it was still amazing to be completely on your own here. This mission is so intense. The setting is dark and pretty messed up. The eerie music adds so much atmosphere to map that already had plenty. There are ten assassins—enforcers no matter what disguise you where—hunting you. Yet despite this, the mission is still goofy and tons of fun. Disguise as a drug dealer to lure unsuspecting party goers into a back corner. Poison your target’s fast food and ring the doorbell as the delivery boy. Serve a target poisoned “juice.” Drop the beat so hard that the light rig sends two targets flying off the balcony, engulfed in flames. Disguise yourself as the owner of the sketchy club and have a brutal shootout in his office. The map is so well crafted too. Sneaking around on the vents, hopping through windows and on top of storage containers, descending a massive staircase and discovering a pipe that takes you to the owner’s office, these are only a few of the excellent shortcuts and routes that make Berlin something truly special. What really makes Berlin the best in the trilogy is the targets. There are ten on the map and you have to kill five. This gives the player an insane amount of freedom especially since each target has three or four awesome ways to take them out. Going for all ten (or 11 depending on your starting location) is an awesome challenge too. The targets also have guard AI and are usually on their own, giving you more ways to manipulate their AI and craft the perfect kill. Also that club music slaps.

Well there it is—my ranking of every map in the trilogy!

5 Likes

I’ve really only played the main missions and the Hitman 1 bonus missions anywhere close to comprehensively, so I’ll just stick to the main missions here; I still don’t even own the Patient Zero campaign. I also have barely touched the escalation contracts or contracts mode, and haven’t even tried SASO in any of the games. This list could change a lot after I try some of that stuff out.

  1. Hokkaido - Not being able to use the lockpick really changes how I play the map. This one, with its dense web of corridors and elaborate gimmick, keeps revealing new things each time I play it.

  2. Paris - This still seems to me like the tightest version of the games’ formula; almost every other mission tries to expand on it or break from it. For just some palace it’s remarkably varied.

  3. Mumbai - It might just be that I have a soft spot for the mission with the Kashmirian storyline and the train double kill, but the all of the other mission stories here are delightfully absurd, and having enforcers roaming the streets is a neat change of pace.

  4. Sapienza - There’s a lot of space here that the mission doesn’t do much with, but what it does is still pretty funny. The mansion is just crowded with opportunities, and the town is gorgeous enough to make up for having to travel a bit for the handful of useful sections.

  5. Mendoza - Another one where I find something new every time I play it. It’s as beautiful and crazy as you’d expect from a great Hitman map, and even the big mission story chain that you’re pushed towards is pretty exciting.

  6. Miami - One of those Hitman maps that seems to have no shortage of crazy elaborate kills - the Mission Stories merely scratch the surface. The race putting most of those opportunities on a timer still frustrates me a little, but on the other hand, this is the map with the flamingo costume. 'Nuff said.

  7. Whittleton Creek - I just like the map, to be honest; the people here seem more eccentric than in some of the more exotic locations. Janus is a fun target; Cassidy is a little bland but has some funny kills. And collecting the clues can be repetitive, but at least there’s a lot of variety, and it rewards exploration.

  8. Santa Fortuna - I really dig the atmosphere of the village, and the mission stories are particularly great here; the very first building I checked out, I found a hippie with a rainbow cocaine brick. I haven’t spent as much time with this one, admittedly, but only because the other missions overshadow it.

  9. Haven Island - This one really packs in a lot for its size. It’s like there’s a new kill opportunity every five steps; it really does feel like a condensed version of Sapienza or Miami in how much cool stuff it packs in.

  10. Dubai - This is a pretty straightforward Hitman map, albeit one with a lot of great opportunities, most of which are barely hidden. I don’t like any of the mission stories here that much, but they barely scratch the surface of the mission. Cutting the parachutes is an all-timer, and this is another map where I just find the setting funny.

  11. Dartmoor - I adore the detective mission story, because it’s a funny change of pace that also doesn’t feel that far removed from what you normally do in this game. It has a few other great kills, but doesn’t seem to have that much going on outside of the mission stories.

  12. ICA Facility (The Final Test) - This is particularly great as a tutorial because it has all of the same pieces that make the other missions great, just on a smaller scale. Even after drowning people in toilets has lost its charm, the ejector seat kill still makes me smile.

  13. Bangkok - The heightened security is a fun twist on a map that might have seemed too much like Paris and Sapienza otherwise, and there are still a lot of fun kills and funny dialogue. Ken Morgan is one of the less interesting targets, alas.

  14. Isle of Sgàil - I dig the ambiance here, but this place can be annoying to get around; it’s just so big and so crowded. In general, I find Zoe much more fun to kill than Sophia, if only because her mission stories are a bit easier to complete. But it’s a fun setting with a lot of opportunities, and it grew on me the more I played it.

  15. Berlin - Some of the agents are kinda tough to kill, and I really don’t like the opening section at the gas station, which is too dark to see where you’re supposed to go. And I find myself missing the dialogue with the targets here. But like Sgàil, it grew on me as I played it more and found my way around.

  16. ICA Facility (Freeform Training) - This is a fun introduction to the game, but once you’ve moved on to the other maps it kinda loses its lustre. There’s not much you can do here that you can’t do better somewhere else.

  17. New York - This map feels especially small to me - there are side rooms, but mostly it’s just up and down, with only a few rooms on each floor. The mission stories get a lot out of this small space, but I don’t like collecting the backup data disks, and there aren’t that many ways to break into the vault.

  18. Marrakesh - I’ve always found this one a little aggravating to get around, and the military compound has caused me more grief than most areas in these games. But unlocks smooth over those frustrations quite a bit, making it easier to get to the funny kills outside of the mission stories.

  19. Hawke’s Bay - Perhaps I should spend a bit more time poking about this one; there aren’t a lot of really elaborate kills, so I tend to think of this as the mission where you just wait for the target to go to sleep. Not much of a tutorial for the rest of the game.

  20. Chongqing - It’s grown on me slightly since my first run, if only because I never want to do that escape sequence again, but there seems to be a shortage of fancy scripted opportunities here. Hush in particular doesn’t go anywhere.

  21. Colorado - The whole map being hostile isn’t so bad when you get a disguise early, though there aren’t a lot of good places to switch disguises, and spreading the kills across four targets means that some of them don’t have a lot of interesting opportunities.

  22. Carpathian Mountains - For what it is, this is kinda cool, but I don’t care about the story in these games and I find those flatbed cars frustrating to get through.

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Really?The best aspects in this mission are the map layout and the target’s route.
The map layout is great because of the many staircases,pipes,windows,balconies+the shorcuts and the secret passages.They make infiltration so much fun,so maybe you should try to do more suit only runs or play some infiltration contracts.
The target’s route is very good because you can kill her in many different ways no matter where she is on her route.You can also start the mission after the family meeting which means even more strategies when the target is downstairs.

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Hmm, I haven’t played Dartmoor as much as the other maps yet; I moved on when I thought I had found every way to get the case file. It appears that there’s still much I have to uncover.

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Here’s mine…

  1. Sapienza
  2. Hokkaido
  3. Miami
  4. Paris
  5. Mendoza
  6. Whittleton Creek
  7. Haven Island
  8. Dartmoor
  9. New York
  10. Dubai
  11. Hawke’s Bay
  12. Isle of Sgail
  13. Chongqing
  14. Berlin
  15. Santa Fortuna
  16. Mumbai
  17. Carpathian Mountains
  18. Marrakesh
  19. Colorado
  20. ICA Facility

I can’t make a list yet, but looking at these rankings and all those missions in one post really brought a stark realisation that we really can’t complain about the maps in general. They all provided a certain treshold of quality, but many (most) went well and way beyond that and offered unforgettable experiences. I can’t even make a top 5 because there’s always a number 6-7-8-9 tugging at my sleeve, making me reconsider. I can make a top 2 though (Chongqing and Miami), but don’t ask more of me.

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I agree, even the worst maps have a quality to them that is pretty incredible.

Hitman is my all time favourite series, and I’ve been playing since 2002 with Silent Assassin.

After Bloody Money, and having to wait 6 years for Absolution which I detested, I thought that the franchise I loved was dead, or at least, changed so fundamentally that it may as well be.

If someone had told me after Absolution that by 2021, we’d have three new Hitman games with 18 new missions (multiple now being in my top 10 missions of all time), along with various bonus missions, I would have struggled to believe them.

So even when I put Colorado or Hawkes Bay at the bottom of lists, I’d probably still rank them 6 or 7s out of 10. I still like them and revisit them frequently.

I genuinely think that the last few years have brought the most consistent, high quality Hitman content we’ve ever had, and as a fan who thought I’d be without another ‘proper’ Hitman ever in 2012/2013, I couldn’t be happier.

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