Sniper Elite III

Editor's Notes

Xbox 360 version reviewed.

Introduction

When taken in the context of the first-person shooter, specifically the online component, the sniper class is viewed by many as "cheap" or the go-to for the dreaded, "camper." Yet, I'd make the case that even those who malign said class, find it infinitely rewarding to play as now and again. The sniper has made his way into many games, including two series' specifically devoted to his stealthy specialty. It's Rebellion's 'Sniper Elite' series that since it's inception in 2005 has amassed a tidy following with the original Xbox/PS2 version fetching a pretty penny on the secondary market. 2012's 'Sniper Elite V2' would bring the little underdog of a game series back into the forefront with a solid but not flawless single-player campaign and largely tacked-on multiplayer. With two games taking place in the familiar locales of the WWII Western Front (i.e. a lot of bombed out cities, bases, and countryside), 'Sniper Elite III' enters the fray taking not just the series, but the WWII game genre to a vastly unfamiliar territory: Africa. Dropping players into action as Karl Fairburne, a gravely voiced, stoic OSS officer; budding snipers will find themselves entering an entirely new realm set across eight distinct missions, opting for a more open-world feel to gameplay than either of its predecessors.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

As has been the bane of the previous 'Sniper Elite' games, 'Sniper Elite III' suffers from a pure afterthought of a story, giving characters a clichéd hero to rally behind and a plot pulled from any number of WWII games, films or both. The end goal is always the same: find your target and kill him. Along the way, as players stretch through the vast and sometimes confusing landscapes, optional objectives pop-up from the mundane disabling an enemy motor pool to meeting up with informants inside heavily guarded fortresses. The third-person action from the previous games holds up wonderfully here and the Asura engine feels a little smoother on this outing, although there are still a fair share of minor glitches including but not limited to clipping and barrier issues (namely your bullet hitting an invisible collision when peaking ever so slightly over a ledge). It's not a game breaker, but at the same time, are factors that stretch back to the original game in the series and continually hold the franchise back from being a truly polished piece of work.

In-game action does reward those taking the more stealthy approach with sniper nests to find, mechanical components to sabotage in order to mask shots, and a healthy dose of explosives to set-up as booby traps for infantry and vehicular opponents alike. There's also the option of a silenced sidearm and for the more direct approach a very loud, but deadly SMG. Over the multiple hours I played around in the game's eight distinct missions, I tried taking the Rambo approach every so often, and it only paid off once and just barely at that. The game's ultimate reward is getting behind the scope of a rifle and setting up spectacular kills adjusting for wind and elevation, all while keeping your eye on the noise meter. Do it all perfectly and the reward is the series' showpiece: the X-Ray Kill Cam. It's indeed graphic and gratuitous and in a very big way glorifies/trivializes the conflict at hand, but it's a big selling point of the game and on the flipside, separates the sniper from its many FPS outings: the result is never pretty.

While eight missions seems a pittance compared to the previous games in the series, the open-world approach taken rewards multiply playstyles, going as far as making entire mission completions via entirely separate routes. While the sniper nests do give a big hint for players to stop and clear the path ahead, the players who will get the most out of what 'Sniper Elite III' has to offer are those taking a stealth approach and seeing every optional objective completed. For those more hurried along the way, the game offers enough diversions from shoot and sneak, including some intense battles with enemy tanks that reach a new level of excitement thanks to the increased steady aim/breath holding feature. On the lower difficulties the reticule for bullet impacts are more precise and vehicles reveal their weaker points.

Once the single player action comes to a halt (and frankly, due to the lack of any penalty for completing botching the stealth approach, the single player campaign can be tackled in the seven-hour neighborhood), the surprising engaging multiplayer mode beckons. Less a straight deathmatch approach a la 'Sniper Elite V2,' there are creative challenges that go for long-distance kills and force sniping due to level layout. Most interesting is the co-op mode that lets one player serve as a spotter. If that weren't enough, the survival mode makes a triumphant return and willing participants can relive the entire campaign with a friend along for the ride as well.