Sniper Elite: Resistance Review – Deja Vu
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Not every game needs to be more like IO Interactive’s Hitman, but some games would benefit from adopting more of that incredible series’ strong points. This is something Rebellion seemed to figure out around the time of Sniper Elite 3 back in 2014, when the series ditched linear levels set in tight, wartorn streets in favor of a much deeper, wider tour of duty, with each map allowing for player choice in how they navigate the world and complete missions. The series has even gone so far as to create some absurd, Agent 47-like situations in which you can assassinate Nazis. Sniper Elite: Resistance reintroduces that tried-and-true formula for the fourth time in 11 years, and though it’s still enjoyable, I can’t help but notice how this campaign through the French countryside elicits such a strong sense of deja vu.
Sniper Elite is a third-person shooter set during World War II, and like other games in the series, it can be played in first-person when you’re aiming. The series has made a name for itself on a deep ballistic physics model that accounts for wind, bullet drop, and positioning, as well as its cherry on top: the X-ray killcam. This feature shows you, in slow-motion, how each bullet shreds Nazis in grotesque detail, inside and out. Like in other Sniper Elite games, a well-placed bullet can shoot their eyes out, explode their hearts, or even obliterate their testicles, among other special displays of sharpshooting.
Like its predecessors, the game is a fun and reliable shooter when it comes to sniping mechanics, though I’ve grown weary of the killcam. These days, I more often skip the killcam, or at least adjust my settings to see fewer of them. I get it by now; it’s neat tech, but they add up over the course of a mission, which already tend to take me about two hours each, because I’m much more interested in stealthily completing my missions than watching the highlight reels of long-range vivisections.