Game review: Sniper Elite V2

In case you did wonder then SNIPER ELITE V2 from 505 games and REBELLION is the one for you.

Set in the last days of World War II, in BERLIN, you’re a sniper called Karl Fairburne out to infiltrate and bring down the NAZI war machine (of course) by tracking down various scientists captured by the Russian and German armies. This involves much sneaking around and hiding.

SNIPER ELITE 2 a remake of REBELLION’S 2005 game, SNIPER ELITE, and is a curious game because you can`t go in guns blazing, you have to assess your situation and act accordingly as there are many hidden dangers, including snipers and endless enemy soldiers.

This game does remind me of earlier games that involve sneaking about (like SPLINTER CELL) and it does have a retro feel about it (don`t know if that is intentional). OK the scenery is a bit block like and you are limited when it comes to free roaming, and I am sure there will be many purists out there who will be only to eager to point these facts out, but to me this is an enjoyable game.

The great thing about SNIPER ELITE V2 is it doesn`t try to be anything more than a sniper game. The story is pretty basic, there are no overlong pretentious cut scenes, it’s in your face action all the way. The only thing I did find annoying was the save points were too far apart. There is nothing more annoying than having sneaked around for 15 minutes, you get killed and have to start all over again!

Talking of getting killed you only take a few hits and it is game over my friend, so be careful out there.

The big selling point of this game is of course the “X-RAY KILL CAM” which is a slow motion shot of your bullet travelling through the air and smashing into your target’s body with a peel away effect that shows in graphic detail the damage your bullet has caused. You can shoot any part of the anatomy and, of course, you can shoot off a target’s wedding tackle in all its gory detail (awesome).

SNIPER ELITE V2 has a certain creativity about it that makes it stand out from the others, with different methods of accuracy. Can you hit the target’s ammunition belt and cause an explosion, or take out that sniper by exploding the gas canister that just happens to be right next to him?

The whole game is just one big killing playground and it doesn`t take itself seriously at all, so all you war buffs out there don`t expect any kind of historical accuracy in this game. It’s not CALL OF DUTY or BATTLEFIELD, it just does what it says on the box.

SNIPER ELITE V2 is quite tactical, though. With your binoculars you can tag your enemy ready for that long distance shot. The odd thing I did notice, though, is if you shoot one guy the one standing near him doesn`t notice that his mate’s brains are all over the floor,

You do have a variety of weapons, including trip mines, land mines and dynamite which you can use to set traps for your enemies. The ability to throw a rock to bring out guards to investigate is a nice touch.

It would have been nice to have more free roaming within the game as I have been killed a few times because I couldn`t climb over a rock because of an “invisible wall” and not being able to open doors is a pain.

The co-op modes are pretty good, with the opportunity to play through the campaign with a friend which makes for more interesting gameplay, and with other modes like ”fire fight”, which is basically taking out wave after wave of enemy soldiers, “bombing run” (which is a bit boring), a sort of treasure hunt, and “overwatch” where each player is given a different role within a mission.

Summary

I personally like SNIPER ELITE V2 mainly because it doesn`t pretend to be anything more than a good old fun shooting game. OK it’s not visually stunning like say CALL OF DUTY, and there are a few glitches that can be distracting, but overall this is an enjoyable game with a good six hour campaign and plenty of online action.

I give SNIPER ELITE V2 8 out of 10

Sniper Elite V2

Developer: Rebellion

Publisher: 505 Games

Genre: Tactical shooter

Xbox 360®

Playstation 3®

Age Rating: 15

Release Date: 1st May 2012

www.sniperelitev2.com

Review by Dayvid Ryan