Sniper Elite III

There are quite a few games based around sniping, and the concept has always sounded terrible to me. But, as it turns out, Sniper Elite III isn't exactly a 'sniping game' as you might expect. Instead it's a stealth action game that pivots on sniping, but includes a pretty wide repertoire of actions to the extent that one could theoretically complete the whole thing and rarely use the rifle at all (though I wouldn't quite recommend it). If I had to compare it to anything, it would be Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. Like in that game, you are generally set loose in a large-but-not-super-large open-ended map full of clockwork guard patrols, given an objective to reach from any angle you see fit with optional targets of opportunity cropping up along the way, and tagging enemies with your binoculars allows you to track them through walls. The maps aren't as detailed nor the objectives as varies as in Ground Zeroes, but there are multiple maps, so I presume that's the trade-off.

Where Sniper Elite III most differs from other stealth games, including ground zeroes, is that the game is designed under the presumption that you will inevitably 'go loud' at some point. Alongside your usual melee takedown, the only silent weapon is a junky, short-range, single-shot pistol. It's still quite useful, but only when an enemy is isolated and only if you get a headshot. You also have an secondary weapon slot for MP40s, Thompsons, and the occasional Panzershrek, but the SMGs tend to be wildly inaccurate even at close-range and are panic weapons at best. It's more or less a given that the rifles steal the show, but despite their inherent loudness the design works this into its stealth. Instead of going full-aggro at the first hint of noise, firing a shot will send the AI into hiding. Only eventually will they go to investigate where the shot came from. The more shots you fire from a single location, the easier it is for the AI to pinpoint your exact location, and thus the more bold they are about storming your position. This creates an interesting loop of finding a position, firing off a few shots, then hauling ass to another vantage point to repeat the cycle before they catch onto you.

That's not to say that that loop is all there is to the game. The best vantage points often require a bit of infiltration, and enemies can be tricky to spot unless you are thorough in scoping the entire area out with binoculars. This is where the silent pistol and melee takedowns come into play. Occasionally you can sabotage electric generators or use the cover of passing airplanes to mask the noise your rifles make for a slightly stealthier approach. That being said, it is also a great deal of fun to just light em up with reckless abandon-- health comes in regenerating segments, damage taken is high but ultimately feels fair. You can also fortify your defenses with booby traps and then intentionally let them zero in on your position. AI will run over to check on discovered bodies, allowing you to pull the classic Full Metal Jacket trap on them. Or, better yet, place an anti-infantry mine under the corpse. You can plant or throw dynamite that can be detonated by shooting it. There's plenty of room for creativity here.

Sometimes the game throws some curveballs at you, such as armored vehicles or enemy snipers. The vehicles aren't exactly bad, but they are a mark down from fighting humans. Fighting snipers, on the other hand, is pretty fun, although I'm glad it's pretty rare. Overall, the missions have this problem where they start out strong, but as soon as you clear the initial objective the quality goes down a bit. For example, there's one missions where you're tasked with rescuing a VIP from a prison. The first part of this is pure stealth action sandbox, where you infiltrate a Nazi fortress in an African desert (cool), but once you rescue the prisoner it turns into one of those obligatory sniper babysitting missions where the VIP runs headlong into waves of spawning enemies and you have to pick them off (lame). Another mission has you going into an occupied city taking out anti-air cannons along the way (cool), and then turns into trailing a general and trying not to be spotted (lame). The missions always start out strong, and several stay that way, but others are like SNL sketches where they have a good premise, like It's Pat goes to the dentist, but can't figure out how to make It's Pat leave the dentist in a way that is funny.

There are four different rifles available that all act surprisingly differently. There are two bolt-action and two repeaters, although even among each of those groups there are differences in muzzle velocity, scope wobble, recoil, etc. The different weapons are unlocked with progression, although aside from the Panzershrek they're all so balanced I don't see any reason to withhold any of them from the get-go, except to have a pointless, tertiary XP system. Likewise, there are a number of cutomization options for your rifle, but these are discovered by searching the bodies of seemingly arbitrary enemies. This is just silly, especially since it's pretty inconvenient to expect a sniper to consistently waddle up to his fallen prey and pick their pockets.

The sniping itself does what it sets out to do. There are lots of options to customize the experience, with the idea that you can play the game without bullet drop and with tons of UI assistance to play casually, or turn them all off to play like it's a hardcore sim. Or something like that. The problem is that the options are all fairly broad-reaching and there's not much of a middle ground. For example, the game has a mechanic where you can empty your lungs to steady your aim and it will place a red diamond to show where your bullet will go given the effects of wind and gravity. That diamond is a bit baby-mode for my tastes, but the only way to disable it is to turn everything off, including the minimap and AI detection indicators! I ended up trying my best to play without using the empty lung mechanic at all so that I wouldn't have that diamond show up, but then I had to deal with a much more wobbly scope that probably ended up making the shooting more difficult than if I had turned the UI Assistance option to OFF. Pain in the ass. That's likely my biggest strike against the game, that stupid diamond.

So, there's a story in the campaign. It's something about how the Germans are making a super tank. To be honest, I skipped almost all of the cutscenes. They looked stupid, though. At one point the bad guy says, "We are the same, you and I," so there is genuine pathos in there if you look hard enough. The main character has a voice that doesn't match his appearance whatsoever. The VIP you rescue from the castle gets killed later and it's sad. He had a mustache.