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Those of you who know me, know that I'm absolutely fascinated with anything having to do with WW2. That said, I was extremely excited for the Sniper Elite v2 to finally be released. I had only recently heard of the game and eagerly bought the first one, dubbed only "Sniper Elite" (sans the v2) off STEAM as it was only $2.50 at the time of this review. I thought the game showed promise and the v2 demo was a great introduction into the game. I thought it had some really nice ideas and would satisfy the armchair warrior inside.
To begin, Sniper Elite v2 gives you some very nice choices in beginning your game. You are able to finely customize options such as enemy difficulty, bullet ballistics, and what Sniper Elite calls "game assists". Those "game assists" will allow you to paint enemies with your binoculars (usefull in co-op mode) and also show you how to compensate for elevation and windage (ala Kentucky windage)
i7 2600k, GTX 570 o/c played this game on ULTRA without a hiccup
A few other things that I found bothersome about the AI was their uncanny ability to see behind walls. I often found myself out of line of sight and crawling away, only to be continually shot through walls as I was making my exit. One HUGE negative about the bullet time is the inability to retreat from a location quickly as you are forced into camera/theatrical view for the duration of the bullet travel. On the positive side, this function of the game is easily disabled in game options. I found myself switching it off as the cinematic became very repetitive. Advanced players with no assists will want to turn on enemy subtitles. That is, unless you speak fluent German. The ability to know what the enemy is thinking and saying can, and will be a life saver. Keeping this in mind, you will run upon the occasional game hiccup in which enemy voices continue to play, despite there being nothing but dead corpses on the ground. You will be able to tell times with lower threat as the in-game music changes it's tone. On the topic of corpses, you will find that you can make use of some very unique things in game. You have the ability to booby trap enemy corpses by laying mines or trip explosives near the bodies, and also something that I found later in the game, firing your weapon only when loud ambient sounds such as trains sounded their horns. This will give you the ability to go relatively unnoticed by your foes and give you an enhanced cloud of stealth.
Speaking of firing weapons, being a bit of a "weapon connoisseur", I found the weapons to be realistic and well modeled. Besides the fact that the game gives you a greatly enhanced bullet drop that would be seen in real life, the weaponry handled well. The extra bullet drop comes into place to give players an enhanced level of difficulty. The developers actually studied and interviewed snipers of that era and found that most encounters happened within a 200meter distance. The developers decided that it would be necessary to stretch the truth of real-world ballistics in order to give advanced players a bit more of a challenge. Additional weapons unlock as you progress through the story, and you have the option of choosing "load outs" at the beginning of each mission.
Sniping is obviously well done and very gratifying
In conclusion. I think this game is a good buy at the $30 and below price point. It is a nice change of pace that is not seen in many, if at all any games right now. Despite it's downfalls, I still managed to enjoy the game and what it had to offer. Coop should prove to be fun for those who enjoy that kind of experience and while I will refrain from comparing it to any other games, I don't think this will live up to the coop stealth gameplay style that some may associate with greats such as the Splinter Cell series. The linear and repetitive nature of the game just can't help but to be noticed and I feel that a game of this nature should leave the player with multiple ways to go about defeating certain situations. I also like replay value in my games and the AI in this game is a great concern to me. This game just fails in many important areas to give me the true illusion of being a sniper embedded deep within enemy lines.
All in all, I give this game a 6.5/10
PROS-
CONS-
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To begin, Sniper Elite v2 gives you some very nice choices in beginning your game. You are able to finely customize options such as enemy difficulty, bullet ballistics, and what Sniper Elite calls "game assists". Those "game assists" will allow you to paint enemies with your binoculars (usefull in co-op mode) and also show you how to compensate for elevation and windage (ala Kentucky windage)
i7 2600k, GTX 570 o/c played this game on ULTRA without a hiccup
In Sniper Elite v2, you play as an American sniper during WW2. The story is based loosely around the history surrounding the v2 rocket program. I found the story to be interesting and packing a good bit of content and realism into the game. Unfortunately some of the technical aspects of the game left me feeling a bit short changed and disappointed.
You begin the game basically where you left off in the demo, deep in the ruins of Germany, searching for individuals of interest involved in the German v2 program. Early on I noticed the lack of any type of randomness in enemy AI spawns or behavior, despite the difficulty setting. This makes me question whether or not this game will have any true replay value due to the style of the gameplay. That being said, if you are looking for a true non-linear gameplay style in which to hone your sniping prowess, this may not be the game for you. You will often find yourself in areas that feel forced upon you, requiring you to play in a style which you may not desire. I often found myself reaching for my Thompson submachinegun when I would have rather played a more stealth route. Unfortunately, the game did not allow such decision. When you are able to play your role as an American sniper embedded behind enemy lines, the repercussions are devastating.
You begin the game basically where you left off in the demo, deep in the ruins of Germany, searching for individuals of interest involved in the German v2 program. Early on I noticed the lack of any type of randomness in enemy AI spawns or behavior, despite the difficulty setting. This makes me question whether or not this game will have any true replay value due to the style of the gameplay. That being said, if you are looking for a true non-linear gameplay style in which to hone your sniping prowess, this may not be the game for you. You will often find yourself in areas that feel forced upon you, requiring you to play in a style which you may not desire. I often found myself reaching for my Thompson submachinegun when I would have rather played a more stealth route. Unfortunately, the game did not allow such decision. When you are able to play your role as an American sniper embedded behind enemy lines, the repercussions are devastating.
This poor chap didn't know what hit him
Bullet time is unique, but becomes rather repetitive
It'll only sting for a minute
A few other things that I found bothersome about the AI was their uncanny ability to see behind walls. I often found myself out of line of sight and crawling away, only to be continually shot through walls as I was making my exit. One HUGE negative about the bullet time is the inability to retreat from a location quickly as you are forced into camera/theatrical view for the duration of the bullet travel. On the positive side, this function of the game is easily disabled in game options. I found myself switching it off as the cinematic became very repetitive. Advanced players with no assists will want to turn on enemy subtitles. That is, unless you speak fluent German. The ability to know what the enemy is thinking and saying can, and will be a life saver. Keeping this in mind, you will run upon the occasional game hiccup in which enemy voices continue to play, despite there being nothing but dead corpses on the ground. You will be able to tell times with lower threat as the in-game music changes it's tone. On the topic of corpses, you will find that you can make use of some very unique things in game. You have the ability to booby trap enemy corpses by laying mines or trip explosives near the bodies, and also something that I found later in the game, firing your weapon only when loud ambient sounds such as trains sounded their horns. This will give you the ability to go relatively unnoticed by your foes and give you an enhanced cloud of stealth.
Speaking of firing weapons, being a bit of a "weapon connoisseur", I found the weapons to be realistic and well modeled. Besides the fact that the game gives you a greatly enhanced bullet drop that would be seen in real life, the weaponry handled well. The extra bullet drop comes into place to give players an enhanced level of difficulty. The developers actually studied and interviewed snipers of that era and found that most encounters happened within a 200meter distance. The developers decided that it would be necessary to stretch the truth of real-world ballistics in order to give advanced players a bit more of a challenge. Additional weapons unlock as you progress through the story, and you have the option of choosing "load outs" at the beginning of each mission.
Sniping is obviously well done and very gratifying
In conclusion. I think this game is a good buy at the $30 and below price point. It is a nice change of pace that is not seen in many, if at all any games right now. Despite it's downfalls, I still managed to enjoy the game and what it had to offer. Coop should prove to be fun for those who enjoy that kind of experience and while I will refrain from comparing it to any other games, I don't think this will live up to the coop stealth gameplay style that some may associate with greats such as the Splinter Cell series. The linear and repetitive nature of the game just can't help but to be noticed and I feel that a game of this nature should leave the player with multiple ways to go about defeating certain situations. I also like replay value in my games and the AI in this game is a great concern to me. This game just fails in many important areas to give me the true illusion of being a sniper embedded deep within enemy lines.
All in all, I give this game a 6.5/10
PROS-
- Sniper Elite v2 brings an interesting platform in which to build on
- Getting those clean shots on target is extremely satisfying, especially with realistic trajectories
- Ability to use surroundings to your advantage, i.e booby trapping enemies, pathways, and using ambient effects to disguise your location
- Weapons are realistic and satisfying. Ammo is not too plentiful (although mags are referred to as clips)
- Strong story with decent gameplay value (just over 6 hours)
- Beautifully rendered cities
CONS-
- Little to no replay value due to less than smart AI placement and behavior. We could really use some randomizing here
- Small, various in-game bugs, including AI voices continuing after death
- AI's uncanny ability to see through walls
- Very tight, linear gameplay. As a sniper, I'd expect to have certain choices to make
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