When the original Sniper Elite title was released back in 2005, it offered the most realistic sniping experience possible on consoles at the time. Players had to account for bullet drop, wind speed and breathing so that they could pull off the perfect shot and score the kill. Sniper Elite V2 is the remake of that 2005 classic and brings back the same sniping experience with some shiny new features thrown in such as x-rays and updated tracking features.
Rebellion is behind the reboot to the original title and looks to bring the best sniping experience possible to consoles once again. But have they succeeded? Or did they completely miss the target? Here are the Hots and Nots of Sniper Elite V2.
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The Sniping Is Satisfying And Rewarding
The core gameplay mechanic of Sniper Elite is the realistic ballistics system that it prides itself on when it comes to sniping. Players have the option to choose from simple, limited and realistic settings for the in-game ballistic system. Choosing simple will make bullets travel in a straight line, limited will throw in gravity and realistic will force you to account for wind and breathing while you are sniping. The assistance helps you in the way of marking targets and giving you a reticule showing you where your bullet will hit when fired. There is nothing more satisfying in this game than throwing the realistic setting on, turning off assistance and learning the system so that you can pull off the most rewarding shots all by yourself.
The X-Ray System Is Brutally Awesome
The x-ray system goes hand in hand with the ballistics system when it comes to rewarding shots. A long distance shot will reward you with a cinematic kill that follows the bullet in slow motion to the target and goes into an x-ray when it connects. These x-ray cams are there to show you what that bullet just did to the guy’s insides. This ranges from watching it pass through his skull or heart to popping him between the legs and getting a wince-inducing view of his jewels exploding. These x-ray kills always manage to be entertaining no matter how long you have played the game and it is definitely one of the more entertaining features of the game. Those who tend to be a bit squeamish at the sight of these things may not find them nearly as entertaining however.
Visuals Display A Beautifully Destroyed Berlin
The graphics in Sniper Elite V2 are nice when it comes to showing a destroyed Berlin from WWII. The lighting looks excellent and the cinematics are detailed while the environments themselves give off a variety of paths and areas to explore. The various destroyed buildings and wreckage make for excellent hiding places and vantage points and it makes exploring and setting up your shots a more thought out process than in a usual shooter.
The graphics also stand out when it comes to the level of detail in the character models and gore. The x-ray shots show off the various organs and skeletal structure with creepy detail and bullets leave blooming exit wounds in the targets. One of the most disturbing ones that I have seen is watching it x-ray as the bullet enters their eye and it explodes. As I mentioned earlier, this game is not for the faint of heart.
The Sounds Of The Battlefield
Everything from the explosions to the tearing of organs packs a visceral sound that immerses you into the experience. Sniper rifles are thunderous and leave a loud report while listening to a bullet tear through a body makes grotesque tearing noises. Skulls shatter and organs tear, giving you a sense of just what happens when a bullet enters the body.
The voice acting is also well done in Sniper Elite V2 from the main character to the German and Russian soldiers. While the enemy dialogue does get a bit repetitive, it is nice to see that the developers didn’t just slap accents on them rather than use their native languages.
