Sniper Elite III Review.

By Sam Coles:

Sniper Elite has always been a mixed opinion type of game some people love it some people hate it, the second instalment had some great ideas but it was marred with a linear structure. Has Sniper Elite III solved its many problems? Let’s find out.

Right off the bat the game catches your eye with its visuals purely from the point that the game is colourful and not the standard greyish brown that bogs down most of the military shooters or all shooters for that matter. The change in setting is nice instead of it being set in the present day it’s in World War 2 but not in the standard European front but during the North African occupation that doesn’t get enough attention in WW II games. This means you’ll be going through some big wide open spaces in the sandy deserts to the tranquil, but dangerous oasis.

Story wise there isn’t much of a story because the main character is a walking bag of clichés and gravel, but the main overarching theme is that you have to stop the Nazis developing a new super tank.

The change in setting is instantly refreshing when you start the game and suits the role of a sniper having all these ways to tackle a challenge in the high quarries and wide open savannah. Unlike the second game Sniper Elite III is very open towards what approach you want to take, the maps are like mini sands boxes for you to explore finding different ways to dispatch your targets kind of like Hitman Blood Money.

Throughout the campaign you’ll gain experience and that will contribute towards your overall level and what this does is that you’ll unlock more ways to tackle each level to encourage replay value in this game.

You’ll gain access to new sniper rifles with multiple attachments, new pistols (stick to the Welrod the only silence pistol), different SMGs from the era and even rocket launchers which will come in handy taking out vehicles. It’s a great way to go back and replay levels with different equipment and higher difficulty levels which you can compeletly customise to you gaming skills.  

The AI can be very good but at the same time very stupid, for starters they are clever and they will hear you if you start to run etc. But when you kill one of their comrades they will search for you for a little bit, but when you relocate they completely forget about you and the dead body which kind sucks the tension out of the game. Vehicles will spot you straight away even when you are concealed within in the local flora when you let of one shot on the gas tank grill.

The reason why most of us play Sniper Elite is for the insanely detailed and graphic slow-motion cameras when you fire a well-placed bullet at a Nazi, you hear the bullet roar through the air. It intensifies when it creeps ever so closer towards the target then BANG! You hear the bones crunch coupled with a gargling choking noise with the bullet coming out the other side as it explodes the victim’s eyeballs. It never gets boring seeing a Nazi’s jaw explode in five different directions when you fire a high power sniper rifle at them.

There is multiplayer but it’s not too exciting it’s your standard fare of Team Deathmatch with Snipers. The highlight of the multiplayer is the co-op which really gets you and your friend to work together because one of you is armed with a sniper rifle while the other only has a sub machine gun. This encourages communication because your friend will have scout ahead for enemies or Intel, while you watch their back from a vantage point and taking care of the Nazis that they don’t see.

Sniper Elite III is an entertaining and great stealth game with a few graphical issues such as pop in and shadow flickering, but bear in mind I did play this on the Xbox 360 although considering the hardware it still looked very good . So if you are looking for a game where you want to slow down and take your time and kill Nazis in a sneaky and gory way then this game is for you. The game is available on PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC so you have no excuse not to play it.