Although the history of sniping dates back to the 19th century, we can say that it lived its golden age during the Second World War. Not only did these soldiers kill an impressive number of enemies (like the Finnish Simo Hayha, also known as the White Death, and the Russian Vassily Zaitsev), they also became heroes of war propaganda. Therefore, it is not surprising that this silent warrior figure was mythologized. It would not be wrong to say that Rebellion also makes the most of the sniper concept with the Sniper Elite legends and Zombie Army series. Let’s move on to the details of the game right away, saying that Sniper Elite 5 is definitely the best game in the series, even if it doesn’t contain many innovations, in the series that is constantly improving, and even better, Xbox GamePass owners can access the game completely free of charge.
Can you stop Operation Kraken?
This time the action takes us to 1944 France, which is what most of us expected. After visiting North Africa in Sniper Elite 3 and Italy in Sniper Elite 4, we follow the allies’ progress towards the European battlefield in this game. And we can definitely say that the chosen period offers the perfect playground for the last game of the series. Sniper Elite 5 takes place before and after the Normandy landings and includes many different scenarios. From the familiar bunkers and trenches of the Atlantic Wall to colossal castles like Beaumont Saint Denis, this development has managed to make the most of all known spots and diversify them with sites such as factories and Nazi bunkers. We are presented with a truly excellent battlefield to test the skills of Karl Fairburne, an OSS agent and a sniper who can take down the invading forces almost single-handedly. This time, our goal is to prevent Operation Kraken, which could tip the balance in favor of the Nazis!
There are many ways to be successful, just be quiet
Sniper Elite 5 may not be revolutionizing the series, but it has improved all the mechanics we’ve seen in previous games and has really taken off lately. We can say that it is one of the stealth games that we play with pleasure. Frankly, our hero Fairburne might not have had a chance if he had faced the Axis troops directly. Happily, our mission is simply to infiltrate behind enemy lines and eliminate selected targets without attracting the attention of others. Each of the scenarios is accordingly small open worlds in itself, where we can use additional mechanics such as climbing vines and nets, using zip lines, or knocking out enemies by approaching from behind.
Sniper Elite as we know again
But the basic mechanics are of course the same as the previous game. Again we have the ability to hide in the tall grass, we can sabotage alarms and generators to hide the noise our shots make, we can hide the corpses of enemies we hit, and most importantly, we can take down long-range targets with a wide range of precision rifles. We will talk about these long shots in detail, but first of all, we should mention that the use of secondary weapons, which was one of the weak points of the previous games, has also been improved. Now pistols and machine guns have much more precise control. We can aim from the shoulder with the classic perspective or use the first-person view of the guns. An active reload system similar to Gears of War has also been introduced to speed up reloading, and it’s also possible to swap ammo in the middle of a level, on workbenches scattered around the playground.
Get ready for smarter enemies
Placing booby traps on corpses, using environmental elements to cause area damage, mines and bait and whistle to attract sentries use is also among the returnees. In other words, if you have played the previous game, you can be sure that you will not be a stranger to the mechanics. But of course, the addition of minor improvements and more options for solving the same situation takes the development of Sniper Elite 5 one step further. Improved AI can get us in trouble even at normal difficulty levels. Enemies can sound the alarm, throw themselves into a trench, call in reinforcements, and shoot quite effectively. Add to that the German snipers and the fearsome Panzer tanks. This poses a real challenge.
Anyone here playing for Killcam?
Let’s come to the main theme of the game. The most important issue is how well we can shoot with a good heart rate at long distances. Of course, Sniper Elite 5 hasn’t touched the steadfast mechanics of previous games and still works perfectly. These shots require us to adjust the distance and correct the trajectory depending on the wind. You should also take vibrations into account and hold your breath. And when everything is done right, we can watch the effect of the bullet with the classic “Killcam”, which we see in slow motion and with that famous X-ray effect.
But one of the game’s greatest achievements is that we can set the difficulty in a personalized way. Thus, we can complicate the enemy AI, but ensure that the game does not take the wind into account or offers us an aiming guide. That way, anyone can enjoy making hits that are very satisfying at a few hundred yards. Our advice to you is to play around with the configuration of the rifle and ammunition until you find your favorite weapon.
Modern game modes to the old concept
Sniper Elite 5’s scenario missions consist of 9 chapters full of secrets and side quests and last for 12 hours with an average gameplay style. It offers more experience. The replayability of these sections is also high. However, there are other remarkable innovations in the last game of the series. The first of these, together with a second sniper; your ability to play together in online mode. However, the mode that caught our attention the most was the Invade mode, which you may remember from Doom Eternal and Deathloop.
In this case, a second player can invade your game and become an enemy sniper at any level of the mission. The only thing that has changed is that we can control its position on the phones scattered around the playground as well as being a much bigger challenge. But remember that this will also give you away. Let’s admit that we turned this feature off after trying it only once during the review. Because we have been intervened a few times and we think we are not young enough to cope with the stress of this anymore 🙂 Of course, the excitement is much more.
Sniper Elite 5 has most of the traditional multiplayer modes, and there’s also a survival mode. In this new type of game, we try to survive alone or cooperatively against waves of enemies similar to Zombie Army. We played Sniper Elite 5 on Xbox Series S with 60 FPS in dynamic 1080P. We didn’t experience any performance issues. The maps are big and detailed and the “Killcam” was really effective. But of course we recommend playing on Xbox Series X, which offers 60fps in dynamic 4k for maximum quality. Models are the only weak point of the game. In Sniper Elite 5, Rebellion has improved everything we loved about the pre-risk games and made minor additions to slightly enhance the experience. Although it is based on a relatively old concept, it still works very well. And the inclusion of new game modes (especially Axis Invasion) has been a successful move. Of course, the sniper shots and the “Killcam” (which let us move the camera and adjust the speed) retain their appeal and make every moment epic.
Conclusion
As we mentioned before, the environment in 1944 France, which coincided with the Normandy landings, was presented in a more diverse and dramatic way than in previous games in Sniper Elite 5 One of the striking aspects. Even the Normandy landings were presented from a different perspective than normal. In short, there is no innovation that will surprise those who follow the series, but the most popular formula has been preserved and more content is offered than ever before. Sniper Elite 5 has managed to make the most of known mechanics. Those who are unfamiliar with the Sniper Elite series and do not know Fairburne yet should give this stealth game, which turns 17, a chance. It’s free to try anyway, as you can play for free with Xbox Gamepass.
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Distribution: Sold Out
Developer: Rebellion
Platform: Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4
Genre: FPS, Action
Web: https://sniperelite.com/
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