My days of shooting Nazis have been behind me for a long time, in video game terms, that is. Sniper Elite is one of the oldest game series to exist, even as old as Call of Duty. It doesn't have annual releases, even though Zombie Army is a thing. The only big reason to play this game, is to be a good sniper. In fact, since there's little to no competition, this is the only Sniper game that is popular as of now.
So what would I call 5, after Sniper Elite 4 successfully enhanced its formula while embracing open world maps? Well, it is a few steps above the previous game, but 4 as an encompassing package kind of felt like a genuinely good game. 5 only improves on what 4 did fundamentally, but it doesn't feel as fun as that game does.
Chalk it up to maybe how the game lacks technical polish, enemy placement and A.I. shenanigans, and maybe the game being a bit too bloated by being way too trying with its open-world. It is a fun game and some new additions, including the online components, I think help. I do miss a good sniper game, this game, and Hitman is up there for me.
It's France 1944, and my guy needs Nazi scalps to whiz bullets through. And there's plenty of them around to shoot at. Right after sneakily entering France via Normandy beach, am throwing bottles, incapacitating or stealth killing them, before rescuing a rebel in need against a Nazi interrogator. Typical start up for a game that isn't Wolfenstein.
And this is where the game's large open world really draws the welcome mat. I had to take my time learning the ropes, often times getting accidentally spotted before loading up the save game and trying again. And then, just to shut down a base of operations, I had to take down a sniper on top of a large billboard.
I was given the choice to tinker my difficulty setting, allowing me to dictate gunplay and enemy difficulties, each facet, manually before starting the game. Right before I took out the sniper, I had to really steady the aim, hoping there's no wind change, land the shoot and then boom goes the scalp. The bullet goes through the back of his head and ricochets. That's the allure of Sniper Elite, in pristine visual presentation. The game even has an enemy anatomy system, where shooting them in certain body parts can even incapacitate them, pretty neat.
And it goes further, the game drops me in large maps, Hitman style and I had to explore the flexible yet crowded map of each mission. Nazis everywhere, sometimes even in places I wouldn't normally spot, so the game isn't designed to be a well tailored experience, the mechanics work at least, and expects me to figure the rest out. It's not bad, just I expect more in sandbox games these days.
There's a reward system where if you complete certain objectives or find gun tables, you earn weapons attachments. This applies to every single weapon you unlock later on, allowing you to play it however you want. One of the other greatest thing about this game is that it gives you access to various type of explosive grenades, as well as other interesting throwable items, and that sounds great. Giving
I wasn't exactly enthralled to keep doing these missions, despite the options presented. Even doing a stealth play felt a bit inane, as there were too many enemies or their A.I. behavior wasn't consistent enough. Not everything in this game works to make it an actual enjoyable experience for me.
It suffers from the problem that other open-world game has, which sucks because the 4th game was a good time compared to this. But there are other aspects of the game that I got worth my time's spent.
The best part of this game, is the multiplayer. It's not as addictive as all those other popular online titles, but after playing something like SE, the mechanics and all work well if you want time to waste. I played a horde mode, a long-distance PvP sniping game, and got invaded by another player while in the campaign.
Long as you connect your game online (you can play it the other way as well), players will invade your game, trying to take you down, you can't pause the game at that point, so you have to take em out, or they take you out. Playing through 3 missions so far, only got 1 encounter. Was a nice distraction.
The horde mode is a simple game you can play with everything you've unlocked from the campaign mode. Mow down hordes of enemies, sending everything against you, including tanks, and other snipers. The gameplay is already tight and fantastic, so I managed to do a lot to have fun.
Online PvP is interesting, because it takes the whole fog of war between two towns to another level. You can't breach to enemy lines, so you have to spot them peaking out before you kill them. It's a pretty tense game to play and really challenging if you're wanting to be a sniper.
This game as a whole is a loaded package, while the one main thing didn't draw me in much, I can definitely say the other aspects were fun. You do actually feel like you're playing a sniper game.
Few gripes notwithstanding, this was fun to play. I wish they fixed a few things as time goes by, like the wonky animations, and texture blocks being nuisances. If you're stoked for Zombie Army, do let me know. I think they'll not only make major improvements on that game, but also put in even crazier loads of weapons.