• Eurogamer – 7/10 - The package as a whole is still very much a rough diamond, but it's a definite improvement over its predecessor. The gruesome kill-cam remains a deliciously wrong thrill and the unifying force that holds the game together, but it's doubtful that it would be enough to paper over the cracks in a fourth game without a major overhaul of the AI and physics code. Even with its flaws, though, Sniper Elite 3 is a solidly enjoyable mid-tier action game. It may not hit the bullseye, but it's getting closer with every shot.
  
  
• CVG – 7/10 - The Sniper Elite series has never threatened to topple the Battlefields or Call Of Duties of this world, and this third entry never really comes close to changing that. But for those looking for a less gung-ho, more methodical approach to a war game, then ropey AI aside you could do a lot worse than this.
  
  
• Videogamer – 6/10 - Sniper Elite 3 has its moments, but they are too few and far between. Every so often you'll find yourself enjoying it, but that soon fades as you enter a pattern of shooting hundreds of dudes until you can move forward and snipe again.
  
  
• TheSixthAxis – 7/10 - There’s a good amount of enjoyment and a fair old challenge to be found with Sniper Elite 3. Those who are after more than just another run-and-gun game will do well here, and the inclusion of two player co-op is the icing on the cake. Unfortunately the game is dragged down slightly by the number of glitches, which somewhat ruin the immersion. Still, if you’re after something both tactical and brutal, this is well worth a look.
  
  

If you are buying this game on Xbox one be careful as the update for that version is 16 GB.

The update size for the PS4 version and other platforms is just 465mb.

My hard work gets me spam :(

Pretty much like Sniper Elite V2 which had some cool moments but then were just middling.

Is there any way to get the pre order DLC for this if you buy on the XBONE digitally? I do not want a disc, I want to play on the XBONE because I have a friend who wants to co-op the campaign but does not have a PS4, and I want to shoot Hitler. This should not be an issue but I don't see any pre order option in the XBONE digital store.

Isn't this the game where you shoot Nazis in the balls in slow motion?

@bigsocrates: The pre order option is missing on the PSN store as well. I hope we get more information from rebellion about this.

@l33t_haxor: Yes

Good post! Are you a Sniper Elite fan jimmyfenix?

@halfdane1975: I knew of the franchise then steam decided to giveaway v2 for free and now i am hooked on it! I will be picking up Sniper elite 3 in the next couple of weeks !

I can't wait to pick this up for $5 on Steam one day. Actually that's not entirely true, I can wait.

16GB update, bloody hell,

I don't have an Xbox One so it doesn't really apply to me but a 16GB, day one, mandatory update is unacceptable to me as someone with a somewhat low internet bandwidth limit.

Everyone always talks about how disc based gaming is dying but screw that. I don't want to murder over half of my cap just to download a game like NBA 2k14, which is over 40GB (also having the option to trade in/sell games instead of them just sitting in my digital locker is pretty clutch). But see that is a choice that I am able to make, a 16GB mandatory update is 20% of my internet cap gone, even if I bought the disc, just to be able to play? Ridiculous.

Steam says the PC version requires 18gb of disk space. So...isn't a 16gb download the entire game?

This seems more like laziness or incompetence rather than 16gb of updated assets.

I'm actually going back to discs for a while. I bought the deluxe edition of Watch_Dogs through PSN and have put maybe thirty extremely underwhelmed minutes in since then. The digital future will never happen until our downloaded games have value. I would trade it in in aheartbeat if I could.

@reisz: My moment of realization was DmC on the PS3. I bought the digital version (I was at university so no internet cap worries) and while I really did enjoy it, I beat it in less than a week and had no desire to replay it. I could have gotten at least $20 back from EB and possibly more elsewhere.

I think that I may wind up buying a handful of digital games but it will be stuff like online games (probably COD or BF), where I know I'm less likely to trade them in until they're worth almost nothing in trade in credit.

I don't have room to store all my disks (i don't like selling games) and I mean...you guys have the energy to get up and switch disks to switch games? That can take me like...20-30 seconds (Get up from couch, find the right game, open the case, press disc eject on the console, wait for eject, pull out old and busted game, put in new hotness, find case for old and busted game, put game into case, put case somewhere, go back to couch.) If I'm going to do all that I might as well boot up my work laptop and put in some office time. Easier to just press a few buttons and play Titanfall or Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare for the umpteenth time.

PC has essentially been in the all digital future for a number of years. It's great. It's been at least 5 years since I even put an optical drive in a PC.

Delta patching. This is what exists on all consoles but the Xbox One and maybe the WiiU. This is why the PS4 version day one patch was 454 megabytes, that is the data that was changed. 16 gigs are the large package files that had something modified in them. That is one part of the excuse, the other is that the game really didn't go gold until after the masters has been sent off.

That's a really large update!

And I continued to be baffled that these sniper games are third person, and not first person.

My hope is that they can deliver on the promise of a more open world. I want to Solid Snake my way into a sniper's nest... and then shoot Hitler in the junk.

It's absolutely true. Remember though that a "Gaming PC" has been permanently connected to the internet since ~2000 games have always been cheaper, and not having a disc doesn't remove any value from a PC game. PC games on disc have never had trade in value. if you don't have a CD Key your six PC game DVD's may as well be "Whale Song the Anthology". Digital distribution fixed problems on PC, we'll get to the same point with consoles after the same amount of time, maybe less but I guarantee you license management and the ability to trade/share/resell digital games will be a part of it.

@reisz: Give it more than an underwhelming 30 minutes of your time. It is a really fun open world game with a lot of side stuff to do. You just have to play a bit to unlock more content and get used to how the game flows. Once you get a feel for everything and start upgrading your battery and the different things you can interact with the city becomes a really fun sandbox for all sorts of high speed chases and the different missions involving sneaking around will give you more opportunities to use environmental hazards to your advantage.

Unless you just don't like open world crime city games, then I guess this isn't for you.

Played the first few missions of this on PC. Runs exceptionally well with everything maxed, apart from supersampling which goes to x4 for all the Titan Black 4-way SLI owners out there. And it looks gorgeous.

Game is what you would expect out of a Sniper Elite game, with a couple of new bells and whistles, as well as general improvements all around. If you enjoyed any of the other Sniper Elite games, you'll love this.

one of those games I forgot to grab with the pre-order discount so I'll end up waiting until it goes on sale to pick it up. I at least enjoyed the other two Sniper Elites? The UPF look was kinda nice.

Here is my review of the first level of the game.

I really hope this isn't going to be a trend where we'd have to download massive updates like this.

@mister_v: You didn't use the emotion bullets did you?

I don't usually care for cover based shooters, but after watching a LOT of footage on this game it looks like something I would like, definitely will get it one day when it's like 20 bucks

Price on PS4 is $50. I think I can wait til I can get it for sale...or if I'm bored enough I will pick it up.

It's a big improvement over V2, which I also enjoyed quite a lot. The missions are far more open, just big playgrounds to stalk around silently taking down the entire German army. Been finding the AI search patterns and behavior much more enjoyable than before, they ramp up the tension when you've made a mistake. So far so good. I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty and just adjusting the bullet/sniping realism until you feel comfortable. Lower difficulties mean you can play it like a cheap WW2 'Gears of War', which is really missing the whole point.

This is a good point. On normal and below you can just run across fields straight at guys who are looking at you the whole time and then melee them to death. Their weapons jam, the look around, yell for help, whatever. Even if they shoot you it doesn't matter because they don't do enough damage for it to matter. I once sat in a bush with two guys machine gunning me while I went to go get something to drink, came back and was still at full health.

Definitely play on hard. I still leave the bullet impact indicator on because otherwise there is no possible way of knowing where the point of impact is going to be, and I don't want to shoot at every guy twice.