I feel guilty for skipping the Sniper Elite series, and I know I’m not alone. I’ve played them all, albeit rarely at launch, and I like them all to varying degrees.But I’m not particularly expecting Sniper Elite 5.
The trailers and gameplay we’ve seen ahead of launch show incremental upgrades and general improvements over its predecessors, but nothing stands out right away need try.
Sniper Elite 5, however, boots into Game Pass — that’s all the persuasion I need to download the latest version of Rebellion and play it right away, rather than picking it up on sale like I usually do.
I was expecting a great stealth game (and a satisfying sniper sim), but I wasn’t ready for how ambitious and often excellent Sniper Elite 5’s stealth and action combo was.
The setup of the Sniper Elite 5 is fairly simple, but this time it’s executed differently. You’ll drop into a large – albeit not very open – map and give you an overall objective. The pre-mission briefing usually contains the information needed to achieve the goal, which you can of course incorporate into the main thread and extract it shortly after.
But it’s definitely a bland way to play, as the game places so much emphasis on exploration that it turns into some Hitman-meets-MGS babes, ready to reward you for sticking your head into each barn and prying your way Enter any suspicious building in the French countryside.
Missions put you into action first, with only vague instructions on where you should go. The approximate area of your target is circled on the map, but it will never be clear until you actually get there. There’s almost always more than one way to fix this, and the map makes fun of you by assuming there’s actually more than one way to skin a cat. But it never tells you how to do it. It’s up to you.
The same goes for side quests and killer-inspired kill lists. Side quests may not offer the same spectacle as your main objective, but they usually unfold in a way that informs you how to solve the main objective – and provides an advantage when it’s finally time to shoot down your prey.
I emphasize saving the main goal for last, and the game’s design feels like that. You’ll often see maps, notes about caved-in caves that offer unusual entrances, codes for various safes, and even tools like bolt cutters that allow you to enter otherwise off-limits areas. The more you explore, the more context you’ll get to your final goal.
Killlists, on the other hand, are tasked with eliminating specific high-level targets. How you do it is up to you — in fact, the AI is dynamic enough that you might accidentally shoot down your target if they decide to patrol near you and things get loud.but if you are specific way The game wants you, and you have unique rewards waiting for you.
The Sniper Elite 5 has always believed that you will wander around and take the time to create these opportunities. There’s almost always a workbench to unlock, an ammo depot, or even just a garage to pick up a crowbar in case you need it later. Maps will only show these locations after you’ve discovered them.
Similar to MGS 5, Sniper Elite 5’s levels present a consistency of rules that make them feel believable. The officers you randomly kill at the start of the mission may provide key codes or notes about hidden stash you need later. While the enemy AI is more constrained than Kojima’s classic, it can easily flank you and regularly communicate your position to nearby units. The best way I’ve found to sneak into a base is to isolate it from the rest of the map. This is done by disabling the alarm and capturing the road leading to the alarm.
To make the fantasy more immersive, Sniper Elite 5 has added an audible range for gunfire. This stat is clearly listed for each weapon and ammo type, and the many weapon upgrades you unlock during gameplay can further change this behavior.
Even without suppressors, you can easily control how you perceive; the HUD makes the intent (and state) of your enemies clear, so you’re never sure if they’re after you, or have given up on the chase and returned to neutral.
Sniper Elite 5 may disrupt some quests as it abandons a limited, historically accurate approach in favor of a freer, almost COD-like weapon. Suppressors are plentiful, and — like Activision’s series — wrapping the pistol grip with tape somehow makes the weapon’s handle better.
I’m not one of those purists, though, so I end up judging Rebellion’s latest by the new gaming opportunities it opens up. Beyond that, I think the shift is justified given the game’s denser indoor levels, which pretty much force you to ditch the reserved sniper style in favor of more improvised weapon and trap juggling.
Non-sniper weapons in the series have always lacked punch and usability, but the Sniper Elite 5’s CQC option fires satisfyingly and can be easily relied on when needed. This more liberal take on WW2 also allows for the use of various traps and mines to incapacitate enemies, not to mention the game’s greater emphasis on triggering environmental traps – whether to distract enemies or kill them outright.
I know I’ll be replaying the quest to unlock more entry points and figure out how I missed this or that although Run it a few times and I bet you will too.
