There were 2 guards on the other side of the wall. Both were armed and ready but neither had seen me yet. My target, a Nazi scientist who was very heavily guarded, was just on the other side of the building but I couldn’t afford to take these guys head on. I tossed a rock out from behind cover and ran behind them when they went to investigate. I was in. I peeked through a window and there he was. My target was finishing his conversation somewhere in Berlin when I looked through my scope to take aim. I zoomed in to see this particular Nazi scientist talking to his bodyguard, and my shot was clean. I held down RB to steady my shot and I pulled the trigger. BOOM! My target was down, but the toughest part of the mission was still yet to come. I had to make it back to the rally point alive, and they knew I was coming.
Sniper Elite V2 was first released on the Xbox 360 in 2012 when first person shooters were dominating gaming as the top 3 games played on Xbox Live that year were Halo 4, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, and Call of Duty Black Ops 2. However, Sniper Elite V2 was able to gain classic status by injecting a hint of uniqueness to a saturated shooter market with third person gameplay and a focus on stealth.
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered by Rebellion hasn’t changed much save for the huge leap forward in how the graphics look. The city of Berlin circa 1944 is absolutely stunning on the Xbox One, but the environment isn’t very interactive. There’s a very limited number of spots to climb and the only meaningful interaction you can do with the environment is take cover. In missions where there is a lot of open space, this can make the game very difficult to navigate. However, the characters are quite the opposite. The guards are very aware of their surroundings and really give some lifelike reactions to what’s going on around them. This definitely adds some difficulty to the game and achieves a lot of realism for the stealth element of the game.
One of my favorite parts of Sniper Elite V2 Remastered has to be the element of suspense and fear that Rebellion has captured in the game. Without any awareness meter or any indication of how aware enemies are of your presence, this puts a lot of pressure on the player to be aware of their own actions and makes for quite a bit of suspense. This element is very unique among sniper games and really works for the third person format since you’re able to see the full surroundings of your player rather than what’s in their field of vision which puts the player at a distinct advantage.
The other is the shooting mechanics and animations. Rebellion strived to make the ballistics of each shot as real as possible and it really shines through in the game. The amount of bullet drop over distance is the real standout here. The animation of good shots is also amazing. The camera follows a good shot from the point where it leaves the barrel until it strikes the target which makes for some really satisfying moments when you’ve been trying to land a shot on the target and you finally do after many tries (or in my case many, many tries).
Overall, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is a fun play through and can make for an entertaining campaign but there wasn’t much added in this remaster other than the sharpening of the graphics. This isn’t a bad thing, but the video game landscape has changed quite a bit since the original version of the game came out which leaves this game closer to average than extraordinary like the first time it was released. However, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered can bring back serious nostalgia for fans of the original and some very satisfying sniper kills but it simply isn’t the standout it once was.
7/10
Check Out the Sniper Elite V2 Remastered Trailer:
Xbox One Review
My first console was the original Playstation and I would play Twisted Metal every now and then but games didn't hook me until I played the original Halo at my friend's house. As soon as I picked up that controller, I knew I needed an Xbox and I had to have that game. Since those early Halo days, I've branched out and played any game I could find with a great story and memorable characters but Master Chief is still my favorite. @thenotoriousTGT on Twitter
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