5 Sweet Games We’re Into

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Stop failing my Freelancer campaigns

Last weekend, I accomplished a Weekend Guide goal. As it turns out, Hitman is a perfect fit for me. Challenging myself to suit-only runs (a self-imposed restraint where you refuse to use disguises), and with a gameplay approach that prioritizes swift stealth instead of hanging around for the right disguise or opportunity to show up, I’ve found myself glued to this game in a way that clearly tells me Hitman is now a staple of my gaming hobby.

This weekend, though, I have a more refined goal. I have a few more missions to go at the end of the campaign trilogy that established this era of Hitman, but I also want to dig deeper into Freelancer mode.

If you’re unfamiliar with this mode, it’s a roguelike mode that scatters Hitman’s stealthy gameplay across three campaigns’ worth of maps. Succeed in your assassination and escape, and you progress the Freelancer campaign while keeping all of your equipment. Fail, and you lose everything.

I’m not sure that I’ve played many roguelikes before this, but once the synapses in my brain made the connection to extraction shooters, I was sort of stunned that I’ve been sleeping on this genre. And given my love of stealth games, it really is a shock that I’ve not been a Freelancer since the mode arrived in 2023. It’s a satisfying mode that really tests your knowledge of the maps, enemy behavior, and the push and pull of Hitman’s stealth mechanics.

So, let’s see if Agent 47’s dark and sneaky world will pull me in for yet another 30 hours this weekend. — Claire Jackson