Sniper Elite
Posted April 7, 2006
Gamers who wish for a game where sniping is the focus of the majority of the game and not just the occasional mission should enjoy "Sniper Elite", a new shooter from Namco and Rebellion that puts you in the shoes of a sole sniper towards the end of World War II. You're disguised as a German soldier, and must stop the Russians from gaining control of the nuclear technology possessed by the Germans. Throughout the game, the character is required to head out on rescue missions, assassination missions and more. Although sniping is the game's focus, there are occasional moments of close-range combat, as well.
Gameplay:
The game also offers the ability to add in an extra dose of realism, as well: you'll have to take wind, gravity and your own breathing into account. The game's environments are visually haunting, with buildings turned to rubble, eerie destroyed trains sitting still on their tracks and hideouts to use as cover. There's plenty of places in most levels - both high-up and at ground level - to set-up and await your target. One level has you going up through a building to a bridge overlooking a roadway. Soldiers come towards the area on both sides. You can either stand to the back of the bridge area as they come up and snipe, set-up explosives at the entrance to the bridge area, carefully snipe them below while standing on the bridge or head to the entrance of the building and stand off to the side while waiting to attack.
The best levels of the game give you these sort of options, as they're fairly wide open and can be handled in different ways. The only issue is, if one has gotten to a point in the level where they feel they've made progress, definitely save. The game does not have checkpoints, but you can save at any point (although there are a limited amount of saves per mission.) If you don't, it's back to the beginning - and that's tough in a game that requires stealth and a lot of patience at times.
Speaking of patience, this certainly isn't a run-and-gun game, as while that may work for brief sprints, it's likely going to result in a full-on assault from the enemy, who are quite accurate at times. While that aspect of gameplay often added to the challenge, there were times when it became a little ridiculous: there were times when the enemy could not have spotted me unless it was standing right there, but I was still getting attacked from a point I couldn't spot quickly enough. However, when you do get the drop on the enemy and make a perfect sniper shot, the camera follows the bullet in slo-mo towards the intended target, all the way up to the graphic (here is where the game definitely earns its Mature rating) hit.
The other issue with the game is close combat, as your character takes an awfully long time to fling the weapon he's holding over his shoulder and take out the next weapon he intends to use. If you can anticipate a close-up battle about to occur and switch weapons prior, great. If you try and switch weapons in the middle of a firefight, it's pretty much game over for your character. There are machine guns, pistols and other weapons available to you besides sniper, but you have to be sure you are ready for battle at all times. Again, you also have the option of using explosives. Not only is there the previously-mentioned trip-wire grenade (which you can string out in front of doorways or whereever), but stick grenades, TNT or just plain frag grenades. You can also shoot explosives that are on the ground - toss some TNT, then shoot it when a soldier happens by. Although ammo is limited, you can take dropped ammo/weapons from enemy soldiers. Additionally, you can also "search" killed enemy soldiers for additional items. The longer you search, the more ammo and items you may turn up. However, you have to be alert that no enemies are around while you're trying to search.
Given the situation and the patience involved, "Sniper Elite"'s missions do take an enjoyably long time, as players often have to use strategy to find the best way to approach a situation. When confronted with a new area, players are given an objective, and then once they complete it, a new objective opens up and players are guided by a compass with an arrow directing you to the next target/rescue/etc. I also appreciated moments where the game "recommended" stealth when approaching enemies. If you are spotted, it's not back to square one - you just have to deal with the changed situation.
Overall, I found this to be a perfectly enjoyable and often tense military game. The storyline has just enough depth and does pull together missions well (I thought the cutscenes were nicely done.) Although close-up combat doesn't work as well as it should, the sniping is the focus and the game pulls it off. Additionally, the game's non-linear feel, respectable AI (they do have some moments where they seem too smart and some where they seem not-so-bright, but mostly it's a good in-between) and solid atmosphere also add to the experience.
"Sniper Elite" also offers the option of playing through the campaign with a friend in co-op mode, which adds to the experience. The game does offer XBOX Live multiplayer, as well, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Assassination (one team are assassins, the other tries to protect a target). When I did play multiplayer on XBOX Live (after a couple of times of signing on and finding no one around), I found it to be a great multiplayer title. Like the campaign, it isn't all full-throttle action all the time, but there's plenty of places to hide and perch to get the drop on other players. There's also explosives to use, as well.
Graphics:
The game's graphics are not remarkable, but they are more than adequate for the game. The crumbling buildings, rubble and other details (abandoned shops, destroyed trains, etc.) are eerie and while individual items in the environment are not exceptionally detailed, they are at least usually fairly crisply rendered. Other small details also are sharp, including the newspapers blowing around the street and the momentary blur as the scope comes into focus. The character models do start to get a bit repetitive, but this didn't become that much of a bother. Overall, the graphics remained consistently average. A bit more polish and clarity would have been great, but the game's look works as-is.
Audio:
"Sniper Elite" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but I thought the game's audio came up somewhat short. While there are eerie moments (gunfire in the distance, the roll of a tank coming towards the player), sound effects lack punch and the game's overall audio feels flat. Additionally, for a game that feels so open, surrounds are not used all that much or all that creatively to immerse the player in the experience. Dialogue remained crisp and clear, however. Overall, the audio here wasn't bad, but it seemed rather flat and unaggressive in comparison to some other military titles recently ("Call of Duty 2", "Mercenaries", etc.)
Conclusion:
Rating Issues: The game is rated "M" for very graphic war violence.
Final Thoughts: Thanks to slow weapons switching, "Sniper Elite" doesn't do very well up-close, but the majority of the game is long-distance combat and it is impressive in that area. With a lengthy campaign, varying levels of difficulty, co-op and XBOX Live, there's plenty here to keep fans of sniping in video games occupied.
Gameplay:
The game also offers the ability to add in an extra dose of realism, as well: you'll have to take wind, gravity and your own breathing into account. The game's environments are visually haunting, with buildings turned to rubble, eerie destroyed trains sitting still on their tracks and hideouts to use as cover. There's plenty of places in most levels - both high-up and at ground level - to set-up and await your target. One level has you going up through a building to a bridge overlooking a roadway. Soldiers come towards the area on both sides. You can either stand to the back of the bridge area as they come up and snipe, set-up explosives at the entrance to the bridge area, carefully snipe them below while standing on the bridge or head to the entrance of the building and stand off to the side while waiting to attack.
The best levels of the game give you these sort of options, as they're fairly wide open and can be handled in different ways. The only issue is, if one has gotten to a point in the level where they feel they've made progress, definitely save. The game does not have checkpoints, but you can save at any point (although there are a limited amount of saves per mission.) If you don't, it's back to the beginning - and that's tough in a game that requires stealth and a lot of patience at times.
Speaking of patience, this certainly isn't a run-and-gun game, as while that may work for brief sprints, it's likely going to result in a full-on assault from the enemy, who are quite accurate at times. While that aspect of gameplay often added to the challenge, there were times when it became a little ridiculous: there were times when the enemy could not have spotted me unless it was standing right there, but I was still getting attacked from a point I couldn't spot quickly enough. However, when you do get the drop on the enemy and make a perfect sniper shot, the camera follows the bullet in slo-mo towards the intended target, all the way up to the graphic (here is where the game definitely earns its Mature rating) hit.
The other issue with the game is close combat, as your character takes an awfully long time to fling the weapon he's holding over his shoulder and take out the next weapon he intends to use. If you can anticipate a close-up battle about to occur and switch weapons prior, great. If you try and switch weapons in the middle of a firefight, it's pretty much game over for your character. There are machine guns, pistols and other weapons available to you besides sniper, but you have to be sure you are ready for battle at all times. Again, you also have the option of using explosives. Not only is there the previously-mentioned trip-wire grenade (which you can string out in front of doorways or whereever), but stick grenades, TNT or just plain frag grenades. You can also shoot explosives that are on the ground - toss some TNT, then shoot it when a soldier happens by. Although ammo is limited, you can take dropped ammo/weapons from enemy soldiers. Additionally, you can also "search" killed enemy soldiers for additional items. The longer you search, the more ammo and items you may turn up. However, you have to be alert that no enemies are around while you're trying to search.
Given the situation and the patience involved, "Sniper Elite"'s missions do take an enjoyably long time, as players often have to use strategy to find the best way to approach a situation. When confronted with a new area, players are given an objective, and then once they complete it, a new objective opens up and players are guided by a compass with an arrow directing you to the next target/rescue/etc. I also appreciated moments where the game "recommended" stealth when approaching enemies. If you are spotted, it's not back to square one - you just have to deal with the changed situation.
Overall, I found this to be a perfectly enjoyable and often tense military game. The storyline has just enough depth and does pull together missions well (I thought the cutscenes were nicely done.) Although close-up combat doesn't work as well as it should, the sniping is the focus and the game pulls it off. Additionally, the game's non-linear feel, respectable AI (they do have some moments where they seem too smart and some where they seem not-so-bright, but mostly it's a good in-between) and solid atmosphere also add to the experience.
"Sniper Elite" also offers the option of playing through the campaign with a friend in co-op mode, which adds to the experience. The game does offer XBOX Live multiplayer, as well, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Assassination (one team are assassins, the other tries to protect a target). When I did play multiplayer on XBOX Live (after a couple of times of signing on and finding no one around), I found it to be a great multiplayer title. Like the campaign, it isn't all full-throttle action all the time, but there's plenty of places to hide and perch to get the drop on other players. There's also explosives to use, as well.
Graphics:
The game's graphics are not remarkable, but they are more than adequate for the game. The crumbling buildings, rubble and other details (abandoned shops, destroyed trains, etc.) are eerie and while individual items in the environment are not exceptionally detailed, they are at least usually fairly crisply rendered. Other small details also are sharp, including the newspapers blowing around the street and the momentary blur as the scope comes into focus. The character models do start to get a bit repetitive, but this didn't become that much of a bother. Overall, the graphics remained consistently average. A bit more polish and clarity would have been great, but the game's look works as-is.
Audio:
"Sniper Elite" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but I thought the game's audio came up somewhat short. While there are eerie moments (gunfire in the distance, the roll of a tank coming towards the player), sound effects lack punch and the game's overall audio feels flat. Additionally, for a game that feels so open, surrounds are not used all that much or all that creatively to immerse the player in the experience. Dialogue remained crisp and clear, however. Overall, the audio here wasn't bad, but it seemed rather flat and unaggressive in comparison to some other military titles recently ("Call of Duty 2", "Mercenaries", etc.)
Conclusion:
Rating Issues: The game is rated "M" for very graphic war violence.
Final Thoughts: Thanks to slow weapons switching, "Sniper Elite" doesn't do very well up-close, but the majority of the game is long-distance combat and it is impressive in that area. With a lengthy campaign, varying levels of difficulty, co-op and XBOX Live, there's plenty here to keep fans of sniping in video games occupied.