Sometimes, a video game just grabs a hold of you and refuses to let go. Sniper Elite 5 was such a game for me, so much so that the moment I finished the campaign, I immediately jumped back in to start mopping up the miscellaneous challenges that I had missed along the way. But more than that, I wanted to simply re-experience the expert level map design that Rebellion injected into the Sniper Elite stealth action formula.
Sniper Elite has pretty much always been known for allowing players to shoot Hitler in the crotch to hilarious effect (and also its slow-motion X-Ray kill cam). But suddenly and surprisingly, with the fifth entry in the long-running series, protagonist Karl Fairburne has some seriously mind-blowingly large and detailed levels to contend with while trying to add peepholes to as many Nazis skulls as humanly possible.
I mean, we’re talking enormous, interconnecting, labyrinthine, serpent-eating-its-own-tail maps here. From small hamlets along a French coastline surrounded by an expansive countryside and farmland, replete with winding streets littered with bistros and apartments; to massive castles that coil up like a freshly baked cinnamon roll, filled with basement tunnels and backdoors to even more backdoors. In some instances, taking what appeared to be a minor branching path would lead to some far-off region of the map that magically revealed a scavenger-hunt side quest, or suggested a possible environmental kill if only you then discovered for whom this trap could be set and how to then lure them into it.
As a longtime Hitman fan, I felt like Rebellion has finally cracked the code that made the last several Hitman entries truly stand out. As a result, Sniper Elite 5 was elevated from an also-ran stealth action title to an elite-tier gaming experience. Even now as I am writing this, I’m flashing back to planting mines to take out an especially pesky motorcycle patrol and its even peskier sidecar, as both the driver and passenger kept spotting me along their route while I slinked around a winding road trying to infiltrate the main gate of a castle infested by the Third Reich. And the subsequent slow-motion evisceration of man and machine the second the front tire made contact with the rudimentary bouncing Betty was as glorious as you’d expect.
I must’ve spent a collective several dozen hours merely hiding in the brush of the first level alone, while scoping enemy patrols and tagging foot soldiers as I mapped out my strategy for infiltration and execution. And that was before discovering an optional objective to take out some nearby anti-aircraft artillery, only to now have to factor this detour into my original planning, lest I allow the Nazi scum continue their scurrilous barrage, battering my fellow brothers-in-arms.
And there were a handful of these moments in each of the ten main campaign missions — well, nine, I guess, considering the final mission is pretty much just a sniping level, although you do get to decide when to take the shot and there is a reward for distance.
I mean, you know a game is great when even just talking about it makes you want to fire it back up for what will no doubt be another impromptu several hours or enjoyment.
Is there some jank? Sure, although not nearly as much as previous entries in the series. But again, it says something when an upstart game can still stand shoulder-to-shoulder with far more polished games in the one area that is most important in my opinion: the fun factor. But that isn’t to say that Sniper Elite 5 is not a good-looking game, because it delivers in the looks department as well. It’s just there are some noticeable seams in the stitching, especially in those that hold the cutscenes together.
And while we’re talking about shortcomings, the A.I. is not necessarily going to win any awards, though to be fair, it’s pretty much on par with anything Ubisoft brings to the table. But none of this holds back what is an overall stellar title, especially in a front-loaded year with plenty of other notable bangers.
Sniper Elite 5 is a title I return to over and over again. It’s a seminal entry that reinvigorated a classic series and finally realized all of the promise that previous entries never quite met, and all of this gives me hope and excitement for Rebellion’s next outing. This is why Sniper Elite 5 is one of the best games of 2022.
