Two years after release Sniper Elite V2, remembered for its chic and bloody X-Ray technology (unfortunately, only for it), Rebellion Developments decided to please us with the continuation of her sniper series. This is not to say that the first two parts turned out to be masterpieces, but they still managed to diversify the genre of shooters about the Second World War, which had become overgrown with cliches.
No one was going to expect any special revelations from the new “Sniper” – long before the release it became clear that the developers were not going to radically change anything compared to the previous game. But to create at least a good action movie, it was enough to just take into account and correct all the shortcomings of its predecessor.
Handyman
If in the first two episodes of the sniper series our hero acted behind enemy lines, being in his very lair – Berlin (where, by the way, the allies did not actually fight), now the scene of action has moved to North Africa. Here, according to the developers, the troops of the British crown cannot do without special purpose sniper Karl Fairbairn.
In addition to, of course, an excellent ability to hit any target with a rifle, Karl has the skills of a sapper, in close combat he will not allow himself to be offended, and if necessary, he can shoot from a machine gun or knock out an enemy tank using a hand-held grenade launcher. A questionable skill set for a real sniper of the time, but well within the genre. Of course, it would be a sin to use such a “tough nut” as an ordinary infantry sniper on the front line, so the command time after time sends the brave special forces soldier behind the front line on missions of particular importance.
Actually, what has been said is quite enough to understand the plot – as in the vast majority of such projects, the developers are not faced with the task of telling some interesting story. It’s a pity – once again it’s worth remembering the great script Brothers in Arms, who was able to “pull out” the series, despite the not the best gameplay component of this tactical shooter. Maybe in “Sniper” it’s the other way around – the usual completely “no” plot has fallen victim to interesting gameplay?
Don’t go for a walk in Africa, children
Of course, it was somewhat foolish to hope for such a thing, especially after meeting SEV2, but the creators of Karl’s African adventures did not have the task of building everything from scratch. In two years, it was possible to slowly work through all the controversial issues, relying on audience feedback, and if not release a masterpiece, then at least make the game the way fans of the sniper genre wanted it to be.
There is actually something new: not https://lotto247casino.co.uk/ every action film of this kind can boast of African landscapes; northern France is held in higher esteem there and, a little less often, the expanses of our vast. After the dense urban development of Berlin, the design of the locations looks quite fresh: here we have to operate in enemy positions inside abandoned ancient buildings, in mountain canyons or small settlements occupied by the Nazis. Unfortunately, the developers limited themselves to this in terms of pleasant changes – then innovations begin that are not so pleasant and completely incomprehensible, taking into account what exactly was criticized by those who were dissatisfied with the previous work Rebellion players.
There will be no exclusively sniper work here; do not be tempted in advance by the tempting name. Fairbairn is more of a general saboteur than a marksman. Most targets can be hit in other ways without resorting to your rifle – stabbing them with a knife, blowing them up with a grenade or explosive, luring them onto a mine you set yourself. It is advisable to do this without unnecessary noise – otherwise curious Krauts will not fail to visit the troublemaker.
As soon as you shoot, the alarm is raised, the enemy, in an unknown way, instantly calculates the location of the special forces and opens heavy fire. Moreover, the accuracy of the German machine gunners is worth the envy of even our sniper – with the help of the MP-40, they can send Karl to the cemetery without any problems, hitting him from the other end of the map altogether.
If you really want to hunt two-legged game, then you have to either look for places where the sound of a shot will be muffled for some reason (a malfunctioning diesel engine, a rockfall), or… or the game turns into an ordinary dynamic shooter with slight deviations from the tired classics. There is no smell of sniper craft here: a shot at the first target that comes across, a run to another position, during which you can kill a couple more infantrymen almost point-blank, a short wait for the moment when the enemy calms down – repeat until the level is completely completed. It’s not surprising that running around with a saber drawn among African landscapes quickly gets boring.
There is another extreme – the final part of the fourth mission looks like the apotheosis of absurdity, representing some kind of shooting gallery. Being in a convenient position, covering a comrade, it is necessary to shoot all the German soldiers that meet on his way, and the enemy does not pay any attention to the main character!
For those who get tired of shooting from a rifle, the developers promised other ways of passing – there is also the same stealth. Only he’s not only completely different from what you’d expect in a game about a sniper, he also looks pathetic. No searching for a good position, no camouflage on the ground – forget it. The local “stealth” requires a dozen quotes on each side: running from one corner to another right in front of unsuspecting soldiers, killing unsuspecting enemies almost in front of their comrades and other blunders completely kill the whole atmosphere.
Sometimes the enemy does not react to the corpse of his partner, and if he raises the alarm, he quickly calms down, forgetting about what happened. In the African Corps there are big problems with supplies, the soldiers clearly do not have enough vitamins – all of them have night blindness, thanks to which the stunted bushes become an ideal shelter for the hefty Karl in full uniform. Agent 47, having learned about such obscenity, would probably turn over in that very grave.
At a low level of difficulty, the point of impact of the bullet is highlighted with a marker, so you can do without setting corrections. But there is no pleasure from a well-aimed shot either.
Misfire again
Despite the fact that formally SE3 — a game about sniper craft, changes for the better compared to the previous part in this regard are minimal. The same hypertrophied ballistics, when a bullet fired from a rifle that is not the weakest begins to fly in a parabola after just fifty meters. The same widely advertised X-Ray feature, which “transparent” the bodies of enemies when a bullet hits them. What about “reliable ballistics”, what about X-rays you want to quickly turn off – the first because of the annoying illogicality (and those who are used to making adjustments for range in more realistic action films will constantly miss the mark), and the second has become boring since the time SEV2.
The developers managed to get things right here too – thanks to the updated ragdoll, enemy death sometimes looks completely ridiculous: a well-aimed hit throws the body several meters away, limbs bend at the most unimaginable angles, and the blood looks like thick jelly. Opponents, despite all X-Ray’s attempts to show the horrors of death, are perceived as rubber dolls, especially since they have intelligence to match.
An interesting idea with independent selection of equipment, new elements of which are unlocked as you “pump up”, in reality it turns out to be a dummy – you need to try hard to discover the differences between different rifles in practice, and not in the game menu, which lists their characteristics.
As with the previous game, the sniper here is only a name. Multiplayer carefully preserved all the absurdity of competition between sharp shooters in the presence of a third-person view. It is still an “exciting” action, where the winner is the one who takes the best position first and surveys the surroundings without being exposed to bullets – fortunately the camera allows this.
Those who want real hardcore and realism have long found it in ArmA 2 ACE – it still has the most reliable sniping in games. If you approach SE3 on the other hand, if you perceive it as an ordinary action movie with elements of stealth and sniper work, then you will have to draw an equally sad conclusion – it was better even in the days of the first Call of Duty.
At each level there are several sniper positions prepared in advance by the developers. In the real world, any self-respecting sniper would bypass such a “lying ground” within a hundred meters.
The most annoying thing is that Sniper Elite 3 it could have turned out to be, albeit not ideal, a very good shooter, spend some time Rebellion meticulous work on the mistakes of the previous part. But the desire and skill of the developers was only enough for the design of the levels and the drawings that are shown during loading – oddly enough, this is the only thing that deserves praise. Not a lot for a game with such a big name, isn’t it??
Pros: beautiful desert landscapes of Africa; if you really want to, you can enjoy shooting enemies in co-op mode.
Cons: weak AI of enemies; unrealistic; unnecessary stealth; the game, despite the name, is not at all about sniper work.