Sniper Elite 3 Review - A Bullet For Der Fuehrer's Face

Review

July 1st, 2014 By Dean Howard

Sniper Elite III takes on a very different approach to most war based shooters, focusing on the intricate details and damages a single shot from a high powered sniper rifle can cause. In this latest installment by the team at 505 games/Rebellion we are introduced to a much more realistic look at how an internal organ, skull, or splintered bones are ruptured in a gruesome slow-motion effect.

Sniper Elite 3 takes place in a North African region during the Second World War, this prequel puts you in control of top marksman Karl Fairburne. The Story begins during the Siege of Tobruk, where Karl helps to fend of a German attack using his sharp-shooting skills. Karl is soon recruited by British Intelligence, who ask him to go on a recon mission to discover a secret weapon being built by the Germans that could spell defeat for the Allies.

The story plot pretty much follows what most war inspired shooter fans will already be accustomed to, as every character you meet on your mission to uncovering this Nazi super weapon does feel a tad bit un-original. Sniper Elite 3 features 8 campaign missions, covering a variety of environments that range from german operating forts to airfields. While these different areas do appear similar, since it is after all based in a North African Desert. The open environment does give you loads of scope and freedom to move  around the maps, completing your objectives the way you want.

There are also a few optional side missions to complete, offering a much more challenging gameplay for those willing to risk going deeper behind enemy lines.  Regardless of the path you choose there are going to be a lot of enemies to kill between you and your target, so it is fortunate that you also have the right equipment for the challenge, starting with your sniper rifle. Your customizable high powered rifle allows you to cut through hoards of enemy soldiers from a distance, but be careful as it does make a lot of noise when fired and could potentially expose your location. We recommend taking advantage of environmental sounds like flying planes or moving armored tanks to time and mask your gunshots.

Taking out enemy targets with precision shots to the head, never gets old and it's here that Sniper Elite 3 really does shine. The entire process of lining up your shots, using masking sounds within the environment and eliminating targets with the pull of a trigger does feel disturbingly satisfying. For those looking for an even greater challenge. You could change the difficulty level, allowing you to judge the trajectory of your bullet without the headline assistance.

The highly contentious x-ray kill camera also returns on Sniper Elite III, triggering whenever you achieve a particularly significant shot. Following the path of your bullet from the very moment it leaves the barrel, this x-ray kill camera tracks the projectile's flight in stunning slow-motion cinematic effect right through the enemy target's anatomy. Whether it's piercing a vital organ, destroying  bones, or shattering their skulls, these bloody gruesome scenes are very graphic and not for the easily offended, especially when you pull of the notoriously famous shot to the testicles. (Yikes!) While the frequency of these x-ray kill cams can be adjusted or even completely turned off, you could however slowly begin to enjoy these disturbing and highly graphic kills, especially when achieved from a significant distance on the map.

Once most of the patrolling enemies are cleared from your path, you can begin to slowly make your way towards your objective. Utilizing your binoculars, you can tag up to 7 enemy soldiers at a time, allowing you to track their movements, even through walls, which is useful when it come to being spotted. There are times when the game does switch to a much more close combat situation, as Karl  will have to take out nearby guards in tight corridors using silenced pistols, knife or distracting them by throwing rocks in another direction. Regardless of which way you choose to achieve these kills, you will need to be careful not to give away your position by being too noisy. We recommend sticking to the shadows and moving at a slow pace, while careful hiding bodies of dead soldiers along the way.

If you are spotted by firing too many unmasked shots or being discovered by guards, you will have to change location by breaking their line of sight or risk getting overwhelmed and failing your mission. Once you have relocated to a new position far away from the searching soldiers, they will eventually return to their positions of patrol. You could for example carefully place little bomb traps in your previous location before leaving for those unsuspecting Nazi's searching for you.

One of the more challenging part of SE3 is the armored vehicles and tanks that appear in every mission level. These vehicles can be destroyed by hitting its weak point with your rifle or by explosives. Doing that is easier said than done as these armored vehicles and tanks will easily spot and kill you, making it hard and often frustrating to play. As a result of this, we would recommend the best way to achieve this task is to hide and observe the armored vehicles route before carefully placing a land mine in its path the next time it drives around.

Sniper Elite 3's graphics feels unpolished despite moving at a steady 60-frames per second. Enemy AI soldiers are merely cannon fodder or bullet magnets placed on the map for you to have fun with. Though they will put up a fight, or raise the alarm when you are discovered, they unfortunately don't retain that heightened sense of alertness once you eventually break their line of sight, often returning back to their patrols without a care in the world that their friends have just been killed.

There are tons of bugs and glitches that still need fixing, like soldiers hiding inside each other, which we found to be quite weird and oddly funny. Despite this however we still thought the campaign was still engaging enough, though frustrating at times due to such errors. Once you are done with the campaign mode, you can take on the competitive multiplayer battles, which has gamers taking each other on in various team and solo missions. Unlike other multiplayer shooters out there, SE3 rewards those who are patient and stealthy, with long range shots gaining the highest points, while close quarter machine gun kills barely being awarded a score. This does make for an enjoyable if not rather slow style of gameplay, as you often sneak into vantage cover points waiting for others to first make a mistake.

Overall 

Buy Sniper Elite 3 Today On PS4

Just like the famous words by the Turtoise that beat the Hare, "Slow and Steady wins the race," and in this case those words couldn't be more true when playing Sniper Elite III. This game is perfect for those who enjoy moving slowly, crawling into positions to wait for that perfect shot. The open environments does add another element of freedom and movement to the mission.  The kill cam may not be to everyones taste but it does showcase the best representation of what actually happens when a bullet reaches its intended target. Sniper Elite III is let down by its lack of polish and annoying bugs, but there is still enough good stuff to make the game fun and engaging for those who are looking for a more slow and steady shooter.

Score 

3/5