The big 'Day 4' patch for Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded has made some improvements over the launch day version, but it's undoubtedly still rough.
Since my experience playing as Agent 47 during my Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded review, the Meta Quest 3 exclusive has, unsurprisingly, left a sour taste in my mouth for the beloved Hitman series. Fortunately, a new patch is promising major improvements, something I can admit is somewhat true - in some cases.
Callum Self
The most noticeable improvement since my time with the review version is that, while textures still look fairly awful, it's not as headache-inducing as it was. Objects and walls don't look as noticeably jagged as before, and I can now somewhat appreciate the similarities between the flatscreen version of Dubai and the Quest 3 version found within Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded.
Speaking of Dubai, the first major level of the game is noticeably better than before. The lighting is much better, as entering the Atrium feels more like a moment of awe than a moment of "ew." It's still not as breathtaking as the World of Assassination version in VR or on a flatscreen, but it's certainly an improvement.
However, many of the issues that I spoke about during the review still exist, and they're unlikely to be truly fixed without a fundamental rework of some of the game's core mechanics. I still believe the strange middle ground between realistic visuals and cartoon-style graphics is worse than going all-in on the latter, and the lack of immersive VR gameplay still makes it hard to recommend.
There are also new issues due to the 'Day 4' patch, that I didn't experience during my initial review. The Farewell mission now feels drastically worse, with consistent stutters making it practically unplayable. I had similar issues during some moments in Dubai, but not to the same extreme. The gunplay feels marginally better, but when you're fighting the game itself, it can be hard to kill your enemies silently. If I had similar issues during my review, I would've rated the game lower than I did.
I have hopes that XR Games can deliver a few more patches that fix the surface-level issues. But when there are plenty of flaws at the core of the experience, it's a monolithic task that I'm not sure is viable. Alongside a wave of negative reviews of the experience, it'll be hard to sell people on Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded after a terrible launch.
