Hitman Gets New Super-Challenging "Professional" Mode

The latest Hitman game, which was released in episodes over the span of a year, recently announced they’d be launching a retail anthology, where every episode and a few extra bonuses are tossed together into one complete, cohesive game. Square Enix swore that even with Season 2 on the way, and the release of the anthology, they’d continue to support the game, and today they’ve shown their commitment in keeping that promise by revealing a new difficulty mode will be released for all players when the disk is released on January 31st.

Called “Professional mode”, this tough-as-nails setting changes the rules to make every decision matter even more than before, punishing sloppy players and rewarding those who have the mastery to become professional killers… you know, digitally. I’m pretty sure the only reward for being a real killer is… you know… jail. But I digress.

“Professional Difficulty Level offers extended replayability, new game features, a separate mastery track with unique rewards, tweaked game mechanics and new AI behaviour that combine to create an entirely new experience for all players, whether they’re looking to test themselves in a more challenging environment or earn bragging rights at the top of the leaderboards, which are now separated between difficulty levels.

There are a host of changes in Professional mode. There are more security cameras, which will send guards to investigate illegal activity. Guards, too, are more thorough when searching areas, as they search a wider radius, and have increased alertness. Killing someone sloppily will prevent you from taking their outfits as a disguise, and certain items will be considered illegal or suspicious depending on which disguise you’re wearing. There are fewer disguises to pick up, to boot. Your footsteps are louder, particularly when running. And, perhaps even more damning, you only get one manual save, and auto-saving is disabled.

And, finally, Professional mode has unique rewards, unlockables, challenges, and leaderboards, to separate the professionals from the rest of the lowlifes.

A pretty exciting list of changes, if I do say so myself. Time to separate the men from the boys! And speaking as a boy: have fun, fellas!