Sniper Elite 5: Hands-on Preview

Sniper Elite 5 brings back our favourite testicle shooting, headshotting sniper and puts him in the middle of the French Resistance of 1944. You might be what changes the tide of this war.

Silent Assassin

Sniper Elite 5 is a tactical third-person/first-person hybrid shooter that places a strong focus on stealth and mission planning. As part of the resistance, our protagonist is Karl Fairburne. An elite sharpshooter with the Allied armies entrusted with exposing Nazi data in France. Exploring the world as Fairburne while aiming down the sights of your weapon will activate the first-person perspective. The ability to go first-person while looking down iron sights in Sniper Elite 5 is a first for the franchise.

Bullet cam shots are the Sniper Elite franchise’s bread and butter. Providing players with an X-ray cut scene that displays exactly how and where the bullet hit its victim. For Sniper Elite 5, the physics for these X-ray cams have been updated. With bullets now ricocheting in realistic and unpredictable ways when they hit bones. In addition, SMGs and pistols now fire these X-ray cameras. This slows down time to depict a succession of shots and the havoc they cause. Everyone will be ecstatic to learn that the prized Ball Shot is back. And the X-ray cam in Sniper Elite 5 does not disappoint.

French Connection

Each chapter of Sniper Elite 5’s story features a semi-open world map that allows players to explore and interact with foes in whatever way they see fit. In each chapter, there are a variety of ways to deal with the problems. You can be armed and ready to fight, or you can be a full-fledged pacifist and not kill anyone. It’s possible to do a job without killing any of the Nazis who get in your way. Instead, you can use non-lethal methods to get rid of them.

In the Sniper Elite franchise, customization has progressively improved. Players had only a marksman rifle and a pistol in earlier games, but as Karl’s adventures progressed, so did his access to guns. Furthermore, with a marksman, SMG, and pistol all available from the start of each mission, Sniper Elite 5 allows players to customise their loadouts to their desire. Trip mines and grenades are examples of additional equipment that can be added to your loadout. Karl may be customised with a variety of improvements that can be unlocked with skill points.

Custom Killer

While the customisation in Sniper Elite 5 is extensive, it is still accessible to even the most inexperienced players. And when you switch out equipment, the pros and cons of using a certain component on your weapon are clearly shown.  Changing the components of a weapon not only limits how it may be used, but it can also impact the overall atmosphere of a mission and how players approach confrontations. This keeps mission replays fresh, since different personalization options lead to different experiences and gaming techniques.

Verdict

Sniper Elite 5 is shaping up to be everything you’d want from a Sniper Elite game and more. The things everyone loves about the franchise are being improved while making the game more fun and accessible for everyone. Your playstyle can be varied up as well thanks to the customization and I can’t wait to play the final release.