Sniper Elite V2 Review - Hit Or Miss
It’s 1945. The world is tumbling towards the end of one war and straight into the barbed wire laced arms of another. Feeling the pressure of the impending Cold War, US officials have tasked Karl Fairbourne, an American Office of Strategic Services officer, with stopping Nazi rocket scientists jumping to the communist ship. Fairbourne is stuck in the battle of Berlin. Russians on one side. Nazis on the other. Armed with a rifle, a silenced pistol, an infinite amount of rocks and his eye for deadly accuracy, he is the Cold War’s first solider.
Man, it is refreshing to back in the good ol’ Second World War. After the heavy bevy of modernised shooters of the past few years, picking up Panzerfausts or Lugers and popping Nazi skulls has never felt so new. Especially with the Cold War brewing; it’s a setting that hasn’t been experienced by gamers in a while. Well, maybe since the last Sniper Elite, which, after taking off my rose tinted glasses, isn’t that great.
Speaking of the PS2/Xbox original, let me clear up some controversy about the name. The original, titled Sniper Elite, stars Fairbourne, in the battle of berlin in 1945, while he attempts to steal some sort of nuclear business from the Nazis before the Russians get to it. This version, titled Sniper Elite V2, stars the very same Fairbourne, during the battle of Berlin in 1945, stopping German V2 rocket scientists defecting to the Soviet Union. The developers, Rebellion, have said it’s a reboot, not a sequel or even a remake. So, it’s a new version, with the same mechanics, same character, set in the time period, but with a totally different story. I think some clever dick over at Rebellion though, “heh, heh, V2 rockets…Version 2… I’m a damned genius.”
Right, back on track. The gameplay. There are two main focuses in Sniper Elite, sniping and stealth. Those two features work rather well. V2 does what other shooters do not. Sniping can be as simple as the bullet going where your crosshairs point. However, when you adjust for wind direction, bullet drop and sound cover, it becomes an entirely different experience from other third person shooters. All those settings are customisable to make the experience match what you want the game to give to you. Every piercing shot that sails in slow motion through the air is incredibly satisfying. Tearing through bad guy hearts, minds and testicles has never been more awesome.
Sneaking around war torn Berlin is also great fun. Cover, pop, shoot, just like others. However, in Elite you have the fantastic added bonus of traps. On top of the run of the mill crouching combatant hidden protagonist, Karl Fairbourne is given trip mines, land mines and an infinite supply of rocks to annoy, distract, ambush and bombard enemy soldiers. These extra, somewhat small, additions begin to take the gameplay above and beyond V2’s kin.
Now for a large ‘but’. Almost Kardashian sized. Everything else in your ball busting journey is entirely average. The graphics are very hit or miss. While gasping at one pretty vista, you’ll turn down the wrong alley to see flat brick texture that sometimes resembles that one time I heaved a discount double cheese calzone. Sometimes the AI will swarm around you like totalitarian bees. Other times you’ll see bad guys standing around just staring to space. Manoeuvring while prone is cumbersome at best and the poor camera angles don’t help.
If your shot goes awry, the resulting firefight will, more often than not, turn into a cramped, mundane shooter as you despatch multiple enemies with your machine gun. However if that happens in the right place, you’ll turn into Fredrick Zoller from Nations Pride as dozens of foes fall to your rifle.
That proves the point of this game is very hit or miss. If you prefer Ezio to The Expendables, you’ll give this game the award for 2012’s most underrated. If spotting, scoping and waiting for the perfect moment to pull that trigger sounds like pure tedium then you’re probably going to want to go back to Modern Warfare.
