Sniper Elite V2 is a depressingly drab shooter. The controls are awkward, the mission objectives are repetitive, the enemies are brain dead, and it habitually checkpoints progress at the worst possible moments.
But every once in a while two patrolling soldiers will wander into alignment. You'll take a deep breath as time slows, carefully place the crosshair on the target's head, and squeeze the trigger. A bullet will erupt and the camera will dart after it, swooping and spinning around it until it pierces the target's skin. The view will switch to X-ray mode to show the skull shattering and the brain puncturing as the little piece of metal bursts out the other side and lodges itself in between the second soldier's eyes. Brief, fleeting moments like this will provide a sense of enjoyment, but little else in the game will.
Bullet time
Although you have the option to slink past enemy patrols using stealth and engage in cover-based close-quarters firefights, the implementation of both is too unrefined to rely on. Karl isn't very good at staying incognito and the slightest sounds send all the telepathically-linked enemies into a suicidally aggressive attack pattern, so trying to be sneaky isn't a good idea. Firing anything other than a sniper rifle is a clunky mess and enemies are also crack shots, so peeking out of cover will usually get you tagged with a bullet.
Unsurprisingly, your best method of attack is to stay back and use binoculars to mark ground-level enemies and any snipers hiding in vantage points. Unless you're on a mission where sounds in the environment can be used to stifle your rifle, your first shot will almost always alert nearby troops. At this point, it's just about sitting back and picking off soldiers as they bounce from cover point to cover point, occasionally throwing self-preservation to the wind and wandering out into the open.
Fortunately, disposing of fodder from a distance is quite satisfying. On higher difficulty levels you'll have to compensate for bullet drop and factor in winds altering the course of your shot before squeezing the trigger. However, on the Marksman level your only concern is lining up the shot. Nail the trajectory and you'll be treated to the shower of blood, bone and guts we described earlier.
Sniper Elite V2 is an unremarkable shooter by modern standards, but the satisfaction of its cinematic kills is hard to deny. It's just a shame that these moments are encased in a generally shoddy gameplay experience.
31 comments so far...
Carnage24 on 1 May '12 said:
"Very little mission variety"??? You're a sniper. You shoot people from afar. Pretty much what I'm expecting from the game. As for the colour palette being "murky"? It was WW2. Not exactly known for its bright vibrant colours. Sorry guys but you seem to have knocked the score with some cagey justification. I played the demo and it was brilliant! Definitely a purchase.
Currambo on 1 May '12 said:
Yeh, agree with the guy above, and felt the same about the CVG review. They both seem pretty rushed and not really getting the point of the game!
No mention of Co-op in this review either! And thats one of the big attractions of the game i think!
I'm certainly getting it anyway!!
sonicmark on 1 May '12 said:
Loved the demo, don't get me wrong, but the only selling point for me was the kill cams, though I suspect after approximately 20 repetitions, it would annoy the f**k outta me, it wasn't brilliant, but it wasn't bad either, would've given it another point or 2 because of the different set of pace. Co-op would've been worth a mention and whether the servers were decent or not, ultimately, will buy at a later date when price is reduced.
smp1987 on 1 May '12 said:
Worst review I have read on this game! Yes it is not a Aclass game nut there is no mention off the co-op?? Which looks really good on the videos previews and is a good edition to the game. I have always rated the OXM team on there reviews but this on is the worst I have read in a while.
The game is set in ww2 and its not viva pinata its ment to be dark an merkey.
Carnage24 on 1 May '12 said:
All the reviews I read on here that might be a bit vague always say 'OXM Staff' never the person who wrote it. This review is shockingly bad. It's like the person reviewing it based it all on the demo, which like I've already said I thought was really good. If anyone is buying it then get it from Amazon, it's £29.
Toots McCleggan on 1 May '12 said:
There's alot of love for this review lol I think people built it up too much I enjoyed the demo but to me it was very similar to sniper: ghost warrior but it's a sniper game so I wasnt surprised. I'll probably buy it at some point. Much love Gaz
smp1987 on 1 May '12 said:
This game is not expensive £28 from amazon if you buy it from game it will be £34.99
Spiderless on 1 May '12 said:
Shame, I'd hoped they would fix the enemy accuracy. I probably would have given it a 7 based on the demo, it was pretty awkward but I had good fun. Still, its all opinion. Would have been nice to get co-op mentioned though like others have noted, surely merely the inclusion of co-op is a plus?
Baryonyx on 2 May '12 said:
Well, thats my preorder cancelled. I have enough on my plate, not to say I won't come back to it when it's cheaper.
kronk10 on 2 May '12 said:
This game is awful and i expected it to get this score it looks like everything i hated about the demo was right. It is a SNIPER game i capslocked that for everyone to see because this game is not! How can a game that is meant to be about stealth etc so blatantly put you in a firefight at every possible moment! In the demo i tried everything to sneak past the enemy but all the game wanted me to do was kill everything! That is not the point of a sniper game! the kill cams and realistic bullet drop etc are good but not enough to make it a proper sniper game! Sniper ghost warrior (which i am playing now) suffers from the same problems which annoys me as i would love a proper sniper game maybe something following the story of Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev the famous russian ww2 snipe? Fancy kill cams etc are not enough for a proper sniper game they just are not!
vadersmyfather on 2 May '12 said:
Clearly the key selling point of this game is the sniper shooting, but that does not mean the mission objectives need to be repetitive.
vadersmyfather on 2 May '12 said:
"Muddy" is what they said. But I'm splitting hairs.
The point is that GOW had a muted colour pallette but it also has a whole lot of variety within it.
kronk10 on 2 May '12 said:
Was a bit angry so sorry if this post seemed MAD! i was angry mainly because i really want a DECENT sniper game but all we have are this and sniper ghost warrior which i am playing now and it is so bloody awful i do not know why i am playing it! Sniper games should have the stealth element of thief mixed with a FPS but with variety and above anything choice. Choice to choose your sniper spot your escape route etc
sonicmark on 2 May '12 said:
It's not the first time the reviews on here have been inaccurate so try to get too worked up over it.
Vanquish.
Shadows of the Damned.
Skylanders.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Battlefield 3.
Enchanted Arms.
Just some examples.
CunningSmile on 2 May '12 said:
I found the demo really addictive and as someone pointed out it's only £29 on Amazon so SOLD!
And Kronk not sure if you've seen anything about Ghost Warrior 2 but it's apparently shaping up to be completely different from the (universally reviled) first.
smp1987 on 2 May '12 said:
Why dose everyone get some bent up about a review its just one persons view... they didn't review co-op or any other of the game types. The first game was epic and even if it is on par with the original just with HD visuals it is still worth £27! it is still a solid shooter i think many gamers have forgotten the old days when a 6 or 7 was a good review. Regardless of what OXM say its got 8's on other reviews..
If you don't like it im sure you could get your money back in CEX or Game/Gamestation
GHOSTY05 on 2 May '12 said:
Just as i thought,this will be £15 in a few weeks.
Kill cams are good, but once you fire that first shot, everyone knows where you are and it turns into a shooter and not a 'SNIPER' game.
Cancelled my pre-order and i will wait for max payne 3 and ghost recon instead!
Carnage24 on 2 May '12 said:
Still excited for this! Gonna get Max Payne 3 too. If people want to get Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, then you do could do a lot worse than what Empire are offering. A years subscription to Empire for £40 quid and a free copy of the new Ghost Recon! Bonus!
SidTheSloth on 2 May '12 said:
I found that i was trying to convince myself during the demo that it was a good game because it's a sniper game rather than because it's a good sniper game. Might sound a bit stupid but i really wanted it to be good, but despite some cool aspects there were/are just too many basic things that i just don't think are good enough imo to warrant a purchase. I know it was only demo code but the AI was so shockingly bad that i can't see how it could be completely rewritten between the demo & release, reviews confirming as much. Two playthroughs of the demo were enough to have my mind wandering too, so yeah, very novel but not the game i was hoping it could be
jaydizzzzzle on 3 May '12 said:
I got the full game delivered yesterday, and I have to say that there are plenty of unique factors that the review does not go into.
The co-op (which I have mainly been playing) is great. There is killcount, which is a variation of hoard mode in most titles. This covers 3 different levels with varied terrain and layout. The buildings are easy to defend but the ammo crates are in very exposed areas. Killcount is also available as a single player challenge where scores are put on a online leaderboard to compete with your friends.
There is another one (the name escapes me) where you and your partner have to go to various locations on a map to collect engine parts for your get away vehicle. All parts have to be collected with about 75% stealth or you will have an army on you and requires good communication and tactics. The difficulty again increases with the more parts you collect.
The other one is the game in the youtube clips where one is the sniper and the other is the spotter. On top of this, you can play the whole single player campaign with your friend in co-op as well.
With all the co-op games there is massive variety, we have played several now and nothing is the same and it always has you changing your plan of attack.
With regards to the single player campaign, after the demo mission, it gets a lot better. You have to time your shots to bomb clusters or tannoy announcements. This means that you really have to plan so that you are not caught off guard. Another feature I like is that if you shoot someone and it is not a clean or vital organ kill. They will lie there shouting for help and giving away your position, which in the later levels is bad!
That is my take on what has been a pretty enjoyable and refreshing game....but each to their own I guess
CunningSmile on 3 May '12 said:
The GamesRadar review covers a lot of what you've pointed out is lacking from OXM's review and they end up giving it 8/10, saying that it is flawed in many ways but still a lot better than some other sites are saying.
And welcome to the forum. Stick around.
GHOSTY05 on 3 May '12 said:
Still.. if its only £27 now, what will it be in a few weeks?
I will wait for the used bargains!
comabob on 3 May '12 said:
ANd i will happily wait for lovefilm to send it to me - the demo was fun - not amazing - but certainly fun.
OXM gave Saboteur and Viking both 6/10 and those games were amazing
Bezza89 on 3 May '12 said:
Viking was really good fun, but you can see why it got a 6. Think creative assembly made that, who I found out today are making an alien game... spooky!
SidTheSloth on 4 May '12 said:
If it goes the same way as Binary Domain it'll be about £12, can't believe how low that is already! With regards this one though, just posted this in the GD thread and thought i'd repeat it here as most don't make it across that far:
EDIT: Never mind, reading through all the above comments properly it seems i'm alone in my confusion and you lot are all clued up, that'll teach me to read before writing!
CunningSmile on 4 May '12 said:
Don't worry Sid, we take pity on you.
Basically Ghost Warrior came out last year (I think) and was pretty terrible. They are now working on a sequel that as you mentioned is on CryEngine and looking pretty sweet, set in the Bosnian conflict.
Sniper Elite V2 is a sequel/remake (depending what interview you read) of an old WW2 set Xbox game that was very well received at the time but took forever for this sequel to be released, and which sequel seems to have really divided opinion.
Typical, you wait forever for a bullet to hit from a mile away and then two turn up at once.
GHOSTY05 on 7 May '12 said:
Yep sniper warrior 2 looks much better than this.
CunningSmile on 7 May '12 said:
I can live with the psychic AI and the murky colours, those are jut a programming thing. What is baffling me is the design decision that said the second mission, not one near the end when it's nice to shake things up, but the SECOND mission would be best set in an under ground bunker where you're rarely more than 10 feet away from the enemies.
This is WW2, the first conflict where snipers really came into their own. Why aren't we running around Stalingrad or the Norwegian tundra? Both those conflicts were literally won by the skill of the snipers, and instead we are following the plot of the first Medal of Honour and blowing up missile bases!
MrDaRkAsSaSsIn6 on 11 May '12 said:
Normally I agree with OXM reviews but not this time. This game is a welcome addition to the FPS genre. There are not that many Xbox 360 sniper simulation games and this one is by far the best. Not only did I find the story mode gripping, but the voice acting was quite good aswell. Although the AI in the game can be a bit annoying sometimes, I wouldn't say it ruins the game and definitely would not bring it down a mark. The mission are diverse, as there are assassination missions, infiltration missions but the stealth mechanics in the game I thought were great. The guns feel really well and the sound is authentic. The graphics are fantastic and the X - Ray bullet cam is gruesome and awesome. I am sorry OXM but this time you guys are wrong!
ePg x Ben on 14 May '12 said:
really shocked by the review on this game the demo of this was absolutly amazing.
The graphics of you shooting the bloke through the skull was really cool
the review of this game has stunned me
MyloJoe91 on 18 May '12 said:
i thought the game was pretty good thats all im going to say!