Hitman 3 PlayStation VR Review

When it first launched, Sony's PlayStation VR headset was already considered a relatively low-end virtual reality device. Now the PlayStation VR is a dinosaur when compared to more recent virtual reality headsets, and that's hugely apparent when playing the recently-released stealth action game Hitman 3 in VR.

The PlayStation VR struggles with recreating the game's otherwise impressive visuals, with players having to contend with blurry textures and a shockingly bad draw distance. Pop-in is a major issue when playing Hitman 3 in VR, especially in the Dubai mission. The drinks and appetizers found throughout the room in the beginning will pop-in and out depending on player distance, and the same thing goes for the NPCs. It's hard to get immersed in the game when crowds of identical people are constantly phasing in and out of the game world.

Hitman 3 in VR looks rough. It's ugly as can be, not to mention awkward-looking as Agent 47 constantly has his hand out-stretched, a symptom of the control scheme. Oddly enough, Hitman 3 in VR does not allow players to use the PlayStation Move controllers for input, instead forcing them to use the DualShock 4. This in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; there are many great VR games that use more traditional controls instead of motion controls. But Hitman 3 still has motion control inputs, even though it uses the DualShock instead of PlayStation Move.

Everything from aiming to strangling victims with fiber wire is accomplished by physically moving the DualShock 4 around. The blend of motion controls and traditional inputs is a bit clunky at first, though the motion controls themselves show what could've been if the developers decided to commit to them. It takes some time to get used to and it feels weird with a DualShock 4 controller instead of PlayStation Move, but the motion control aiming mixed with the first-person perspective adds an extra layer of intensity to the shootouts not found in the base game. It's a shame that Hitman 3 in VR doesn't fully embrace motion controls by incorporating PlayStation Move, as it's easy to see how they could have further enhanced the experience.

When it comes to playing Hitman 3 in VR, IO Interactive dropped the ball a bit with the controls and graphics, though in all honesty, these drawbacks are more likely due to the hardware limitations of the PlayStation VR itself. This is about as good as one could expect a PlayStation VR version of Hitman 3 to be, and hopefully it gets some time to shine on more powerful VR headsets. But once one gets past the game's limitations, they will find one of the more content-rich VR experiences available, with some genuinely entertaining core gameplay.

Hitman 3 VR is the full experience of the base game, modified for a VR setup. Players are still completing the same globe-trotting Hitman 3 missions as they do in the base game, with the same objectives and same tools at their disposal. It's essentially the same core experience, but with a first-person viewpoint and some minor tweaks to accommodate VR play. So all of that great content that Hitman 3 reviews have been raving about is there for PlayStation VR players to experience.