Hello everybody 
After a few hours into Freelancer, and my first campaign completed, here are my first impressions about this new mode!
Please note that this review has been made before today’s patch (3.150.1).
Some things then might be subject to change in the meantime.
Introduction:
Freelancer mode is a new and interesting way to play HITMAN through something different, but also entertaining. Inspired with rogue-like elements, it adds a new layer of challenging through improvisation, randomness, and a completely new way of unlocking items through progress and using ingame currency.
Going through this mode for the first time makes you change your way of playing as 47, but also challenges you to know all the slight details into the gameplay, to be able to go through your mission no matter what the circumstances, the stakes being high and the losing very punishing.
This mode goes with the addition to the amazing safehouse, owned by 47 himself, allowing us to expand the story and gameplay through our own fantasies and make a better use of all the gear and weapons we have unlocked through the game.
Since its launch this new mode have been the target of good impressions, but also fair and bad critiques against its gameplay and the whole system making it very frustrating and too much punishing for some players.
I’ve tried to make a summary of my experience through this mode after a few hours and a whole campaign completed. Here are my first impressions of Freelancer:
Good points:
- A new way of playing HITMAN
Inspired by previous Hitman games and rogue-like elements, Freelancer integrates himself pretty well into the HITMAN hub. Enabling the possibility to 47 to go through his own missions and using his own gear adds a new layer of challenging and gameplay time into this sequel, and it’s very good 
- A World Of Assassination Expanded!
Freelancer makes use of (almost) all the levels of the game outside of story mode and contracts mode, adding a new reason to extend the playtime!
- Home, sweet home!
We finally get to have a proper and decent house for 47, and it feels good!
Pretty amazing for an HQ, the safehouse is a very welcomed addition into HITMAN 
- Agent 47 is not just a HITMAN
Adding a safehouse and activities makes 47 more human, he is not only a contract killer after all…
- Roleplaying Fantasies
Having a decent HQ and watching 47 live his own life after the events of HITMAN 3 enables so much possibilities, making lots of fantasies possible for all players
- Freelancer means more freedom
In theory, it means more freedom of approach.
You are your own agent and you can decide your target, your objectives and the way you accomplish them, giving a feeling of something more personalized and free.
- Diana Forever!
Getting a closer link with Diana after all the events of HITMAN 3 reinforces the relation between them, and adds a personal touch to those new and selected missions. She has always been a big part in 47’s life, and should always will.
Bad points:
- Not enough merces and overall rewarding
Freelancer and its merces system is a cool way to use the HITMAN gameplay elements and adding a new way of playing. However i think that we don’t get enough rewards overall, especially in the beginning.
- Objectives sometimes impossible to complete altogether…
Even if it’s interesting as rogue-like mode, objectives are sometimes so random, that we are unable to complete them all (for example no firearms/use specific firearm item, etc.)
- Some objectives are somehow broken…
Poisoning a target using different poisons, changing disguises counts as twice, killing a target using special items (tanto, shurikens) sometimes not counting towards the objectives (kill using knife, pistol, etc.)
- We cannot “loot back” what we’ve taken in the level.
I know that it might somehow break the principe of the mode, but that’s too bad we’re not able to bring back everything that we have looted through the level with us into the safehouse 
- Camera Scanning a little bit ankward…
Identifying a target using the camera is sometimes complicated, making the scanning hard to accomplish.
- Enemies slightly too much sensitive and paranoid!
On alerted territories anything can make NPCs panic and run away. Some of them can even detect you through a very long distance, sometimes seeing you through walls or having telepathic abilities which trigger any nearby NPC…
And here are for me the major concerns about this gamemode:
Not being able to visit our own house right at the beginning
I understand that you wanted to add a rewarding system through mastery challenges to make the safehouse more appealing and the progress interesting.
However i think that restricting 47 to visit his own house (at least a minimum) and soft-locking him into his own basement makes it kind of appaling and creepy, like Batman being locked in his own cave.
Even if unlocking stuff through rewards is a good idea, i think that 47 should be at least able to visit his own house right from the beginning (upstairs, opening doors, outside), even with restrictions.
Incredible bugs and glitches
Random telepathic alerts from out of nowhere, guards suddenly going into search mode for any reason (making the targets panic and go away sometimes), NPCs seeing through walls randomly on any level, making some tight situations and ruining entire playthroughs…
So much things that already can go wrong in Freelancer itself, that adding that layer of unexpected events on it just makes it unpleasant and playing this mode way less enjoyable than expected.
This is the main reason that i support using ALT+F4 for those kind of situations. Not because of the willing to cheat, but because some things out of the game control can happen and we need to have the possibility to press an emergency button just in case, which happens too much during playtime in my opinion.
Freelancer mode too much punishing, even in Normal mode
Failing a mission will make you not only lose half your merces, but also making you lose items that are stored in your house, and worst of all the whole campaign.
I think that it is way too much restrictive and should be applied only in Hardcore mode.
The randomness of this mode added to the whole pack of random bugs and glitches that happen during missions makes all of this too restrictive and punishing, plus in adding frustration and hate against this gamemode.
I think that in normal mode, players should be able to keep items stored in house and being able to continue the campaign even after dying (alerted or not), the progress being saved no matter what. That doesn’t make sense to lose items stored in house in my opinion and the player should only be punished through merces and content he is carrying, at least on normal mode.
All those restrictions made me keep some distance with this mode, as a mistake can ruin all your progress and collectibles.
This is for me the major concerns of this new gamemode and that might be gamebreaking. I’m looking forward to all the improvements and tweaks you are putting into it.
Suggestions & Improvements:
Now that this has been said here are a few suggestions regarding this mode for future improvements:
- More rewards:
And a little more rewarding regarding merces and items, even more on Hardcore and Prestige modes!
- Opening Doors:
I suggest opening a few parts of the safehouse (living room, outside) at the very beginning of this mode so we can explore the whole thing and not being soft-locked into our own safehouse after completing the main story.
- All levels:
I suggest you enabling ALL the HITMAN levels into freelancer (from ICA training to Ambrose Island), even if some of them don’t really fit the gameplay model. This would make the World of Assassination complete once and for all.
- More scanning & marking possibilities
I suggest you adding more scanning and marking possibilities to Leaders and Suspects. For example marking more that one target at once, or ability for the camera to detect if the NPC matches the description…
Less Freelancer Restrictions (Normal Mode)
Major concern of this new mode in my opinion, i suggest keeping most of the negative for Hardcore mode and less restrictions and flexibilities on normal mode:
- We continue the Campaign after dying (alerted or not)
- We keep weapons stored in house after dying
- Ability to restart a mission if objectives not completed
- Eventually more inventory storage for newbies
Focusing on Gameplay Fixes
I suggest you focusing on gameplay fixes that are the major concern of this gamemode before adding new content, as we are confronted to randomness of events and it could ruin a playthrough, even a whole campaign!
Conclusion:
I think that Freelancer is a great idea and an interesting different approach to standard HITMAN playing. It offers lots of new gameplay elements and an interesting, different approach of HITMAN gameplay.
This mode adds a new way of playing by making you your own handler of your own missions, deciding which one to take and how you will do it.
However it is way too restrictive and punishing in normal mode in my opinion.
All those punishments and restrictions makes the whole frustrating and the players not willing to play and risk stuff randomly.
I’ve seen plenty of complaints regarding that for good reasons, and i think that a tweak is necessary regarding those issues.
For those people willing to go all-in and risking everything, you can enable this through Hardcore more (which i’ve heard is already painful) and give more flexibility for standard mode.
That’s it! Those are my first impressions about Freelancer Mode. Thank you to IOI for keeping this game alive and interesting, and thank you for reading me.
Looking forward to the next improvements. For those interested, you can also check my May 11th patch review here: Year 3 - May Patch Notes - #81 by PatteDeFruit
HITMAN 3 Review also to be released SOON™, stay tuned!
Cheers!