Note: this review of the game is based on the ‘Sniper Elite’ difficulty setting. As such, any complaints made about constant deaths and being spotted can be measured against my lack of skill. I died a lot.
Sniper Elite 3 is a game that rewards patience. Rushing into any confrontation is as good as a death sentence. In this game you must pick your way through the environment carefully, taking note of enemies and their patrol routes, sniping vantage-points, emergency exits etc. And all that before you have even fired a single shot.
The Sniper Elite series - developed by Rebellion and published by 505 Games – has enjoyed somewhat of a niche life, first on the 360 and now on the One. Not capable of going up against bigger World War II games, its focus on sniping and slower-paced gameplay has endeared itself to gamers, allowing it to reach the stage it is in now, where a third game is called for and warmly received, both critically and commercially.
Tanks are formiddable enemies and can spot you easily. Him, not so much.
It may be that WWII games have come full circle: from the market being overly saturated by the genre, we have since had a deluge of modern shooters, and are now moving into the realm of the futuristic FPS (i.e. Titanfall, and the recently announced CoD: Advanced Warfare). The sight of Nazis goose-stepping around is suddenly a welcome change (now there’s a sentence that would look out of place in the wrong context). The setting for this most recent instalment is Africa, a good contrast to the usual ruined, washed out cities usually traversed in WWII games. Here instead we get cliff-top camps nestled amongst mountains, a dessert oasis and plenty of palm trees; a lovely place to visit, Nazi occupation not withstanding.
For all the exotic locales, it certainly isn’t a pretty game. Considering the graphical processing prowess we’re led to believe lies within our treasured black boxes, this game would look standard on the 360. However, the game does use its power to create huge, expansive levels for you to explore. You can spend quite a while creeping through the beginning of each level, only to discover you are only a fraction of the way through, and all those soldiers you’ve laid waste to was only the appetiser for what is to come.
Mission objectives guide you towards an end-point, though there is plenty to keep you distracted along the way, besides the enemy who are intent on flushing you out. Finding some high ground is the perfect place to whip out your trusty binoculars to get a lay of the land, and also to mark any enemies nearby. Doing this allows you to see a white silhouette of them when they move out of your line of sight. You will also be directed towards optional objectives; to complete these usually forces you to take an even more dangerous path and use your whole array of skills to outwit your opponents.
This can be tricky, however, as the enemy AI can range from wholly witless to a Sauron-esque, all-seeing pair of eyes. Surprisingly, a rock is one of the go-to items you carry around. Simply throw it near a bewildered Nazi, and watch him stroll in the direction of the disturbance. If you miss the opening, simply wait for him to return and repeat as needed. Unfortunately, some enemies will stand at awkward angles, making a completely stealthy approach impossible. Luckily there is a small window in which to silence them, mainly before they get a shot off first. When your rifle is too impractical, a handy silenced pistol shot to the head will suffice. You also have access to machine-guns, yet these are unwieldy and take more shots than usual to kill. This is not so much of an issue; if you intend to try and run-and-gun your way through this game, you will be missing the most worthwhile part.
The hint is in the name. This is a game most at home when viewed through a scope. Firing a shot emits quite a noise; fire one too many from the same location, particularly if you fail to hit anything, and you will alert all nearby guards. This can be swiftly remedied by retreating to a new hiding spot. At times this can devolve into a tedious regime of shoot, move, shoot, move, while laughing at the guards inability to find you, or react much to the dead body of their comrade who was only seconds before chatting away. You can sabotage certain machines to emit noise, masking your gunshots. You can also use the sound of enemy artillery guns, passing vehicles and even lightning to this end. The piece de resistance for the game is the x-ray camera, presented in all its gory glory when a successful shot lands. Aim at their skull, pull the trigger, and watch your bullet sail right into the front of their skull and out the back, bursting eyeballs and sending brain matter flying. This goes for most shots; you can even enjoy watching a poor soul’s testicles explode, if that’s what you’re in to. It can get repetitive after a while, though there is a certain satisfaction from nailing your target from a considerable distance.
The game could do with some female enemies; some gamers are in desperate need of an anatomy lesson.
It is possible to complete most levels with a minimum amount of casualties. However, with the quality of the stealth not quite matching others in this genre (the game recalls Hitman and most recently Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes), you will get more enjoyment from disposing of enemies. Load times are mercifully fast, so quick restarts will become par for the course, as you erase that fatal error of moving too soon. You also have access to some handy explosives. These can be used as elaborate distractions; dynamite can blow up a truck and clear a large path to your objective. Alternatively, use a trip mine to cover your tracks, should an enemy come snooping in your direction.
Overall, Sniper Elite can be a great amount of fun to play through, if you can ignore some of the irritations. I regularly fancy myself as a sniper in other war games, yet prolonged periods of distance shooting are usually restricted to single levels, and my skill does not transfer well to multi-player. Here is game that caters to my sniping desires, and knows how to reward you for keeping calm and taking careful aim. The story, about Nazi’s building a super weapon (aren’t they always?), is negligible, and largely communicated to cutscenes between levels. Throw in co-op and competitive multi-player, along with numerous collectibles and challenges, and there’s plenty on offer. DLC on the way also gives you the opportunity to assassinate Hitler, which is worth a star all on its own. Huge thanks to Xbox for the review.
