Samuel LoveThere are few things in gaming as genuinely satisfying as Sniper Elite’s gnarly, slow-mo kill cams. These moments have become the series’ calling card; lining up that perfect shot and pulling the trigger, and watching as the bullet travels through the air before its impact is shown in brutal, anatomically-correct detail. The latest entry, Sniper Elite: Resistance, feels like a greatest hits compilation of everything that fans love about the series. But while that old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ certainly applies, a little polishing and some new features wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Yes, Sniper Elite: Resistance isn’t exactly an overhaul of what’s come before it – it feels in many ways like a glorified DLC of Sniper Elite 5, complete with a new lead character (although ones that online co-op players of previous entries will be familiar with) and a story that takes place alongside that previous entry. The gruff, wisecracking ‘we-have-Jason-Statham-at-home’ hero Harry (that’s ‘Arry in Cockney) will be your friend over 9 missions (a roughly 10 hour campaign) as you snipe, sneak, detonate, and cause all other kinds of mayhem as you embark on a cliché-ridden WWII adventure. There’s really nothing to write home about here; the story feels more like filler between each of the explosive missions.
Gameplay-wise, Sniper Elite: Resistance doesn’t reinvent the wheel whatsoever – it’s more of the same, really, with the usual Hitman-esque approach. You’re dropped in an expansive, semi-open world level with a set of objectives and the tools to finish the job – it’s up to you how you go about it. Loud and fast, quiet and slow. Some stealth games fall apart when the shit hits the fan, and some action games can’t handle stealth – Sniper Elite is equally solid with both approaches, and how quickly your fortunes can change will always be a thrill. You might find yourself an hour into a perfect, silent mission before that one body you forgot to hide gets discovered or someone spots you from across the way. It’s genuinely exciting stuff that keeps you on the edge of your seat and will have you going from slow, methodical play to wildly spraying a machine gun at the drop of a hat. And while the game does offer you plenty of options for ways to complete your mission – eavesdropping on conversations will reveal secret clues, for example – it’s nice to play a game where there isn’t really a right or wrong way to play it.
There’s absolutely loads here beyond the campaign, too. New to this entry are ‘Propaganda Challenges’, small, repeatable levels that test the player’s skills in stealth, combat and sniping. These challenges are unlocked by collecting Resistance posters found throughout the campaign. These fun little exercises in sniping, stealth and combat are great fun and a more bitesize way to enjoy Sniper Elite: Resistance’s thrilling gameplay. A fan favourite mode from Sniper Elite 5 returns in Invasion Mode, an optional game feature allows players to ‘invade’ another player’s campaign mission online as an enemy sniper. This genius idea means that the campaign never feels stale – even if you feel you can outsmart the (surprisingly intelligent) AI enemies, it’s even more tense when you know there is another player out there stalking you, ready to pull the trigger. There’s also the option to play the campaign with a buddy in online co-op, and the usual set of dedicated multiplayer options like deathmatch.
The game looks pretty damn good, too – while it doesn’t exactly look as polished as some of the more prestige games on the market, it’s often vibrant and each mission’s setting feels well-designed and authentic to the time period. The second mission is particularly beautiful, throwing you into a gorgeous fortified town to make contact with a mole who has information on Nazi plans. And the game’s opening mission, set on a Nazi-occupied dam, looks and feels like you’re in a classic war movie. It’s bombastic, thrilling stuff that allows you to live out your Dam Busters fantasy!
Sniper Elite: Resistance is the best entry in the series so far, with exciting missions, thrilling gameplay, and an enormous sense of replayability that will keep you coming back for more. I had an absolute blast with it and am so excited to try out different playstyles and weapons across each of the missions. Whether you want to exercise your stealth and tactical skills or blast the shit out of everything in sight, Sniper Elite: Resistance has you covered. And while there are other, bigger games out there that might bewitch you with better graphics, more compelling stories, or more complex gameplay, they don’t have what Sniper Elite has. They won’t let you shoot a Nazi’s bollocks off in slow-motion. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
