HITMAN: World of Assassination – The Harbinger (Milla Jovovich) Elusive Target Review
Two of my favorite-ever game series are Resident Evil and Assassin’s Creed, and it seems that The Harbinger, the latest “Elusive Target” mission for HITMAN: World of Assassination is a wonderful mashup of the two. The Resident Evil inspiration is obvious and intentional, for reasons I’ll explain below, but I feel like there’s a healthy dose of Assassin’s Creed there too. But more on that later.
For the uninitiated (like me), the “Elusive Targets” are free bonus missions periodically added to the HITMAN series for a limited time, featuring unique targets and specific new maps. Coincidentally (given that the player character is named Agent 47), the Harbinger is the 47th Elusive Target mission, available to play now through March 24th. The unique angle to these missions is that they’re one-and-done—if you fail, it’s gone for good, no restarting or reloading. Luckily, I made it far enough into the mission to have a lot of fun – not too bad for someone who’s never played this series before!
The target of “The Harbinger” is Lilith Devereux, a ruthless pharmaceutical executive with plans to ascend to the CEO position at her company, recently vacated after the mysterious death of her predecessor…and quite a few other people. The company—Ether Corporation—is owned by the powerful Carlisle family, some of whom are none too pleased at this ambitious upstart angling for the top job and are willing to pay handsomely to get her out of the way. Agent 47’s task is to infiltrate a gala at the Thornbridge Estate in Dartmoor, England, and eliminate Lilith before she can take control of the company. When he arrives, he discovers that the situation is much, much more complicated than it seems. I can’t say more without spoiling, but the mission went in directions I was definitely not expecting.
Lilith Devereux is voiced by and modeled after Milla Jovovich, star of the Resident Evil movies (and The Fifth Element, which is where I first saw her). She does a wonderful job playing the femme fatale Lilith, slinking around the sprawling Thornbridge mansion in a black and silver cocktail dress, barking orders to her security guards as she begins to put her nefarious plans into motion.
I won’t spoil some of the more plot-specific references to the Resident Evil series, but there are a ton of familiarities—the spooky mansion, the puzzles, the corrupt pharma company—that will be instantly recognizable to fans. Thornbridge Estate is an absolutely incredible setting—the game designers left out no details, and there were a few times where I nearly failed the mission because I was too busy admiring the house (sad but true). As someone who is a bit obsessed with fictional mansions—Spencer Mansion, Castle Salazar, and Castle Dimitrescu from Resident Evil; even the house from Clue—the setting was by far my favorite part of this mission. Everything is rendered in amazing detail with quality graphics, down to individual book titles, unique paintings, and branded bottles of champagne and soda.
In terms of gameplay, I liked that there is no single path to accomplish the mission—there are, of course, plot-specific things you have to do, but there are always different options you can take. Want to slip some rat poison into Lilith’s cocktail when she’s not looking? Good luck not getting noticed by the other party guests, but go for it. Want to go all out and open fire on her security guards? They’ll probably gun you down first, but it’s worth a try. As you progress through the mansion, you pick up important items, new weapons, and disguises to pass through restricted areas unnoticed. You can mix and match all of these things to craft your strategy, another element I loved.
Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like about this mission was the one-and-done aspect—I’m used to games where it sometimes takes dozens of attempts to get through a difficult area or bring down a tough boss, so I was definitely startled when the game bounced me back to the launch screen after failure (oh yeah, spoiler alert: I failed the mission). Still fun, though!. That’s just the nature of these missions, though, so I can’t complain too much. And, of course, Thornbridge Manor is available as a location in the base game. So even though I won’t be able to see Milla Jovovich again, I can return to that beautiful mansion whenever I want!
“The Harbinger” is an excellent choice if you’re a fan of the Gothic horror and puzzle-based mechanics of Resident Evil or the stealth gameplay and subterfuge of Assassin’s Creed. Milla Jovovich leads a talented team of voice actors in an incredible setting straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, and I highly recommend checking out before it disappears on March 24th.
Score: 9.5/10
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Related: Reviews by Ian Robinson-Lambert
I've loved video games ever since I started playing Mario Kart on my parents' Wii back in seventh grade. These days, you can find me playing a mix of historical RPGs and horror (shout-out to Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil). I also love a good puzzle, and of course I still have a soft spot for the Super Mario series!
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