Sniper Elite 5 – Spotlight
The titular Sniper Elite, Karl Fairburne, is an expert at pinging enemies in the distance. The master of long-range Nazi strafing fire from dozens of stories above the ground. As a result, it’s puzzling why the French Resistance keeps assigning him close-quarter combat objectives. They tell him to “sneak into this chateau” or “blow up that radar,” assuming he won’t succeed. He can, of course, but it’s a tedious series of missions that rarely asks you to use your trusty rifle in a novel fashion.
Sniper Elite 5 has a campaign that spans eight missions, each one with a large map and a few main objectives, just like previous games in the series. One of these is usually something to detonate or steal, such as a key piece of intelligence or a radar tower that the French Resistance is trying to demolish. An assassination target from the kill list of the Resistance is assigned to this mission’s primary objective.
After entering the map and getting a good look at what’s ahead with binoculars, the early stages of a mission are often the best. You can scan the area for enemies, alarms, and other noteworthy details by marking enemies, checkpoints, fortified towns, and enemy encampments, for example. As you explore new areas, you’ll be given the option to complete side missions as well. A bunker that can be demolished or a hidden item that can be stolen can be marked on your map.
In order to avoid detection, it’s best to hunker down on a hilltop and take advantage of the numerous noises that occur on the majority of maps. When one of these sounds, such as an aeroplane flying overhead or a turret firing in the distance, is about to play, a noise bar appears at the top of the screen. This allows you to time your shot and fire when you’re ready, slowly wiping out the guards all over the map without having to reveal yourself. While each assassination is simple and satisfying, clearing heavily-guarded pathways and encampments may open up new routes to your objectives. To kill the designated target in each mission, you have to think about your position before taking the shot, which makes it a lot of fun.
While some goals necessitate a lot of planning, others don’t. It was at first that I used unconventional methods to accomplish my goals; I used explosive barrels to destroy bunkers and other structures. The explosions had little effect, so I had to sprint across the map and set up satchel charges before these targets went up in smoke. As a result, the way missions are designed in Sniper Elite 5 feels stiflingly rigid, preventing players from pursuing more innovative approaches while still checking off their objectives. Scurrying around seems to be a deliberate attempt to reduce the number of gory X-ray killcams in a game series known for its gruesome X-ray cinematics. While it’s not a new problem for the series, running between objectives continues to detract from Sniper Elite’s most iconic feature.
These sprints became less exciting and exciting as the number of enemy guards dwindled to zero, making them less exciting and less exciting. Sprinting around the map in Sniper Elite 5 is a low point, even if you choose to spare a few guards. Your training as a sniper will seem pointless once you’re repeatedly thrown into close quarters combat. When it comes to Fairburne’s other combat abilities, the lack of mechanical depth to master makes every encounter feel the same. Stealth requires a more deliberate approach, but it still feels like an afterthought when you have only a few distractions, a silencer, and a few melee takedowns at your disposal. In comparison to sniping skulls from a distance, each of these systems feels shallow, and each journey in only made me hungry to return to those faraway hills.
Even though the campaign missions can be played in co-op, I believe this will help ease some of the snags I’ve previously identified. For example, you could have one player sniping while the other does the ground work, but it still feels as if you’re drawing the short straw a little bit whenever you have to toss the gunman aside and get up close and personal.
Sniper Elite 5 looks stunning from a distance, so it’s a shame to have to play in such cramped, boring settings. Maps based on Southern France’s picturesque landscapes surprised me with their accuracy and detail from my perspective. Mission 3’s coastal town, shrouded in fog, was particularly striking, and I couldn’t help but take a screenshot of it. It’s a stark contrast to the beige and grey buildings and bunkers that frequently serve as target locations.
As a result, the new weapon customisation system in Sniper Elite 5 makes sniping more interesting and adaptable than in previous instalments. In advance of a mission you can customise your weapons with various attachments, such as new muzzles, barrels, scopes and more, to improve their handling and damage. Fans of other shooters will recognise much of this, but it’s a much-needed addition to Sniper Elite.
Sniper Elite 4 didn’t quite manage to differentiate between the various weapons in the same way that these attachments do, but that small amount of customisation does help to further differentiate between the various weapons. That ideal loadout only makes it more frustrating when you have to get away from that sniping nest. During a mission, you can swap out parts on any of the map’s workbenches, but this rarely comes in handy. To avoid having to swap attachments in the middle of an entire level, the different loadouts have a pistol, submachine gun (SMG), and sniper rifle in them.
Sniper Elite 5’s new Invasion Mode adds a new level of suspense and excitement to missions, making them more exciting and challenging. It is possible for another player to enter your mission and attempt to kill you before you can be extracted if Invasion Mode is activated. Because the threat posed by a player is greater than that of Sniper Elite’s AI, this encourages you to slow down and approach levels more cautiously. You’ll need to use distractions and dart between shadows to stay alive if they fire a single shot from their rifle, which means you’ll have to go back to the last checkpoint. On top of that, there are phones scattered around each map that can be used to temporarily identify human players.
For better or worse, it reminded me of Deathloop’s Julianna invasions. Sniper Elite 5’s missions are more exciting than usual because of the cat-and-mouse nature of the game’s missions, which are easy to identify because of their distinct outfits and movement. Invasion attacks were rare during my review period due to a small player base, but now that crossplay and the Game Pass subscription are available, I’m optimistic that these invasions will become much more frequent.
Sniper Elite 5’s other modes include a survival mode based on waves and a multiplayer mode based on teams. However, because the survival mode focuses on defensive combat rather than offence, you can focus on sniping without having to worry about running long distances to reach distant objectives. To progress through the game’s various operations, you’ll have to defend different areas on each of the three survival maps that you can play on. For each map, there are four distinct operations to choose from, so there are plenty of combat-focused challenges to explore. There aren’t as many intricate set pieces in the campaign’s waves of enemies, but the ability to solely engage in defensive combat alleviates some of the tediousness of the game’s main missions.
A renewed focus on close-combat combat feels like a shallow step away from your rifle in Sniper Elite 5, leaving objectives flat and monotonous. The series’ trademark sharpshooting is still present in some stunning locations in Sniper Elite 5. Sniping is the game’s strongest suit, but the campaign’s constant insistence on placing you in confined spaces takes away from the enjoyment of the game’s best feature: relaxing sniping. Sniper Elite 5’s new Invasion Mode and weapon customisation systems make missions more exciting, but the excessive amount of time spent sprinting around means that the game frequently falls short of its potential.
