Hitman Drops Free Resident Evil-Inspired Mission, Beloved Mechanic Returns After 10 Years

Hitman: World of Assassination’s latest free update adds the new The Harbinger Elusive Target, also known as Patient Zero Requiem.

The mission, which is available for free from today until 24 March, is available to play on the Dartmoor estate location from Hitman 3. Where that level had you playing detective in a Knives Out-style murder mystery scenario, Patient Zero Requiem instead brings you back to the mansion to attend a fundraiser.

The plot of the mission surrounds Lilith Devereux’s ascension to CEO of Ether Corporation, a company which has a lot of history within the lore of Hitman: World of Assassination.

I sat down with IO Interactive’s Martin Ansdal, a level designer at the company who worked on the new mission, who talked with me about the production process for the mission, and also on working with Jovovich to bring the target to life.

We’ll pop a spoiler warning here, as we discuss some of the bigger surprises from the level.

GAMINGbible / IO Interactive

Patient Zero Requiem Brings Back The Popular Infection Mechanic From Hitman (2016)

Similar to how previous elusive targets utilised gimmick mechanics, The Harbinger reuses the infection mechanic that was previously relegated to the earlier Patient Zero bonus mission from the 2016 Hitman game.

This involves a virus spreading between each NPC as they move around the map, thereby adding up Agent 47’s total target count as he has to prevent the virus from spreading.

It’s a mechanic that was used for the original Patient Zero mission, but hasn’t been seen since. Ansdal says that IO Interactive has gone “way, way, way more with it this time.”

After several playthroughs of The Harbinger, using a special build of the game which allows re-playing of Elusive Targets, I’ve found the mission to be one of my favourite elusive targets I’ve ever played thanks to the way this mechanic works.

As Devereux moves around the map, more characters become infected, and therefore part of 47’s long list of targets. As the mission progresses, new areas become closed off to 47, and new mission stories which take advantage of the map’s completely changed state become activated.

It’s essentially two missions in one, and it rewards patience if you’re willing to follow the mission story through to its conclusion, as opposed to popping Devereux the first chance you get.

“I think it may be the longest script we've ever had for an elusive target,” Ansdal told me. “It has so much written dialogue in it and there's so much lore.”

Ansdal likens the storytelling in Hitman to the “Yes and?” philosophy associated with improvisational comedy.

“With Hitman you have to take the premise all the way. Hitman relies so much on the player being an active participant. Like I'm not sitting down, telling the player a story and locking them into a linear path. My job as a level designer is to say yes to the player, right? So if the player has an idea, we have to pay it off.

“When you design a Hitman mission, you have to consider everything that the player would want to do and then pay that off. The previous one [elusive target] I worked on was the Mads Mikkelsen Le Chiffre elusive target where we built a whole playable casino structure. If you put Le Chiffre in a Hitman mission you have to be able to play poker.”

When asked to elaborate on designing a Hitman mission, Ansdal explained IO Interactive’s ‘toy box’ approach. “I think a good Hitman mission is like an explosion of creativity for the designers. The player and the designer are collaborating and creating the experience together, right?

“It's almost like a conversation and I think if that conversation is really short or limited, that doesn't really work, so I think it's way better that we're just like ‘go nuts’ with them.”

GAMINGbible / IO Interactive

Milla Jovovich’s Involvement Is The Perfect Resident Evil Love Letter

In Patient Zero Requiem, Devereux is played by Hollywood actress Milla Jovovich, best known for roles in films like The Fifth Element and Zoolander. She also starred in the live-action Resident Evil films, which were released between 2002 and 2016.

Of course, considering the theme of the mission, the Resident Evil connections here are pretty obvious. Not only does Jovovich’s character feel like a character taken directly from the games, but the presence of the virus, blue and green herbs, as well as a special unique area, it’s a match made in heaven for those who love both Hitman and the Capcom game series.

“Honestly, she's amazing,” Ansdal says. “You get them [celebrities] in for a recording session, and you might have worries about the script. In this one in particular the worst stuff in the script that I was worried about as a designer was like ‘How is this gonna work as a spoken line’.

“And she just came in and the writer who was in the recording session with Milla, she wrote to me saying ‘oh, that thing you were worried about, you know, don't worry about it.’ And she even stayed a little overtime because I had prepared such a long script. So it's amazing to work with her.”

The Patient Zero Requiem elusive target is now live in Hitman: World of Assassination, and will be active until 24 March 2026. A DLC pack, allowing you to replay the mission in the Elusive Target Arcade as well as unlocking a bunch of items, is also on sale for £3.99 across all platforms.