VR games have had a long struggle of keeping players immersed as finicky controls and gameplay limitations are regulars in ruining VR experiences. Sniper Elite VR, by developer Just Add Water (Developments) and publisher Rebellion, is not without those issues but manages to stand above others in its genre with cathartically satisfying Nazi sniping action. In many ways, one can recognize Sniper Elite VR’s resemblance to other games within the Sniper Elite family. This VR experience uses the traits of its cousins to great advantage: a dash of realism by virtue of Sniper Elite’s signature World War II setting makes the experience feel more realistic- immersion comes easily, and the battles all the more consuming. And of course, the gruesome x-ray killcam iconic to the series makes every carefully hit shot even more satisfying.
Sniper Elite VR no longer has the player watching over Karl Fairburne in the third person; instead, we fight in the first person as an unnamed member of the Italian resistance. Gameplay segments are sandwiched between some fluffy story moments of us in our old age, reminiscing about our time in the war. Some light narration is sprinkled on top of the gameplay, adding onto the player character’s narration on his wartime experiences. While VR games like to limit instruction and interface for the sake of immersion, the soft narration is actually quite a good way to motivate the player and orientate them towards a goal, while keeping the element of immersion. Rather than scrambling around confused or tapping out to read the question log, your inner voice speaks to you, “I knew I must defend the tower from being overrun until the bombers come.”
In the same way that people (usually) don’t play Call of Duty for the plot, the simple storyline and level designs are not big of problems in Sniper Elite VR. The game’s 18 levels draw the player in by its ability to let the player shoot the baddest baddies (Nazis) in slightly different ways. This includes (but not limited to): shooting Nazis while defending a tower, shooting Nazis while sneaking around, shooting Nazis while casually walking around, shooting Nazis while running and screaming “DIEEE,” shooting Nazis with machine guns, shotguns, silence pistols, normal pistols, bazookas, and of course, the best of all, shooting Nazis with a sniper. Despite the large arsenal of weapons to shoot Nazis with, all is second to the titular protagonist of the game – the sniper rifle. In terms of raw gameplay mechanics, Sniper Elite VR outperforms most other VR games of the same genre, and this is the truest when it comes to the sniper. Rebellion and Just Add Water have created one of the most functional sniper scopes in VR, in combination with weighty bullet sound design and the iconic kill cam… snipers rejoice! That being said, the handling is far from perfect. Gameplay can be finicky, especially so if you’re on older or less optimized set ups. Our unnamed sniper protagonist also had a tendency to prefer the beer bottle over the ammo case, that is, it was a struggle to pick up items accurately.
The game leans heavily into its WWII setting with its load out. All weapons are bolt action, and the game expects you to manually eject that sniper bullet every single time you take a shot. This sounded frustrating at first, but soon became one of the most engaging parts of the game, as I quickly found myself counting, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, reload.” The game makes you feel the pressure to be precise with every shot and reload. In this vein, the satisfaction doesn’t come with walking in the shoes of Karl Fairburne, but rather, feeling your own skills grow.
Similar to the entire VR genre, the mechanics within Sniper Elite VR aren’t without its learning curve and growing pains, but it makes solid steps towards reaching the full potential of VR shooting mechanics. Now…if only someone can please figure out VR’s notoriously janky player movement controls.
Score: 7.5
Check Out the Sniper Elite VR Video – https://youtu.be/JPe08zsJ-Sg
For more information, visit: https://rebellion.com/games/sniper-elite-vr/
Related: Rebellion’s Sniper Elite VR Now Out
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Steam Review
I remember when I was a little kid, I watched my dad talk to a cowboy robot in a post-apocalyptic open world game. He kicked me out of his office, stating that the game is inappropriate for children, but I think that’s where my love of western RPGs started. Since then, I’ve grown up playing competitive games, interacting with the community, and exploring immersive worlds. I’m definitely an old soul as my favorite games include all of the old Fallout games, RPGs with classical elements such as Divinity: Original Sin 2, and the all-time great Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
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