The latest addition to Hitman’s roster of Elusive Targets is a notorious figure indeed: He’s called The Disruptor, but you might know him better as multi-time MMA champion Conor McGregor.
Somewhat surprisingly (or very surprisingly, depending on how you feel about these things), McGregor is not actually the villain in this scenario. Instead, he’s a multi-millionaire MMA fighter signed for a fight with Tim Quinn, the CEO of tech company Quantum Leap, who’s recently taken an interest in MMA and considers himself a legit contender for the upper ranks. Bit on the nose there, eh?
Anyway, despite his supreme self-confidence Quinn is definitely not ready to run with the big dogs. Alas, because he’s extremely rich, nobody is willing to tell him no, but company executives also don’t want him humiliated in the ring because that might damage the share price. Thus, the obvious move: Hire Agent 47 to wack McGregor—sorry, The Disruptor—before he can clean Quinn’s clock.
Which isn’t to say McGregor (sorry, sorry, The Disruptor) is exactly a good guy here. As usual, McGregor is playing a slightly exaggerated version of himself: A hyper-aggressive purveyor of violence with poor impulse control whose only joy in life is hitting people. That’s not too terribly far off the mark: Courtesy of Wikipedia, here’s the rundown of McGregor’s “controversies,” a list considerably longer than I’d realized.
And yes, McGregor really did clock the Miami Heat mascot—not just once, but twice.
All of that exists outside the context of the game, though, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if McGregor’s character turns out to have an even darker side in the game to make him a little more acceptably killable. After all, 47 is at least nominally the hero of the Hitman series, and having him dirt-nap honest folks who are just doing their jobs might be a little too heartless for some players.
The Disruptor mission is free for all Hitman players: Those with the free Starter Pack will be able to take it on in The Ostentatious, an arcade contract with multiple escalating missions that will reset to the beginning—with a 12-hour lock before you can try again—if you blow it. Hitman: World of Assassination owners will have access to the original “one chance only” Elusive Target mode, in which failure means the target gets away for good. (Or at least until IO Interactive brings them back.)
Committed fans can also drop $5 on The Disruptor Pack DLC, which includes McGregor’s—I mean, well, you know who I mean—fur coat, cane, kettlebell, and resistance band, as well as permanent access to The Ostentatious, a two-level arcade contract.
(Image credit: IO Interactive)
I’m not usually one for buying skins, but in this case I think it might be five bucks well spent.