Sniper Elite V2

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Price: $49.99

In first and third person shooters, I've always gravitated towards the sniper rifles.  But in most shooters, looking down a scope just means you're getting shot by someone standing right next to you. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Sniper Elite V2, a game where you're supposed to be sniping 90 percent of the time.  And what's this?  The game is actually kind of fun?  Whaaa?  

To be honest, I was expecting a bargain basement game with a lower price than a normal game and a title like "Sniper Elite V2".  (That's about one step up on the "generic game title" ranking from Gun Shooter Game 3.)  But I was pleasantly surprised at how much effort was put into the game and its core mechanics to mimic (what I'm assuming is, since I've never actually been a sniper) real world rifle physics. Bullets drop due to gravity depending on how far your targets are and the wind affects the trajectory.  If you're looking for more "X marks the spot" sniping, then the easier difficulties are for you. But half the fun of a real world based sniping game is trying to account for all the environmental conditions to get your bullets to go where you want them to go.  

The other half of the fun is the "kill cams" which activate when you score a particularly brutal kill.  You'll know it when you see it, because as soon as you pull the trigger it's as if all time stops  The camera switches points of view and follows your bullet, slow motion, to its intended target.  Once there, it'll show you, in sometimes graphic detail, the damage your bullet does.  This includes broken bones, punctured organs and yes... obliterated testicles.  Probably not for the feint of heart, but if you're playing shooters to begin with, you're probably not the feint of heart.  

When you're not taking out targets from a far, stealth plays a huge role in completing your missions.  You take the role of a World War 2 sniper behind enemy lines, so it makes sense that you're probably not going to run and gun your way to the finish line.  Luckily for you, you have an arsenal of tricks that can be employed to keep your presence unknown.  Throwing rocks will distract enemy patrols, the sounds of distant explosions will cover the sound of your rifle.  

But the game isn't all sneaking around and brutal cup shots.  One of the problems I ran into over and over again was the invisible threshhold I would cross to activate more enemies.  In a game that seems to encourage methodical planning, it's unfair to spend 20 minutes planning and picking off targets, timing your shots to the sound of the church bell only to move forward a half inch and have new enemies appear out of nowhere.  Your enemies also seem to have a preternatural ability to spot you from far away and shoot you with alarming accuracy. Also, is it realistic to not be able to move when lying prone and reloading your rifle?  I don't know because I haven't done it. But, I'd venture to guess you'd probably stop reloading and try to move before getting shot and killed. (If the game showed tombstones of all your deaths, a lot of mine would probably read "Killed by a pistol at 100 yards while lying prone and trying to reload his rifle".)

One of the other frustrating things about the game is it's choice for checkpoints and saving.  The game has checkpoints, but they only serve as points for you to start over from when you die.  Which is nice... except for the fact that the game only saves your progress between missions.  So if you plan on starting a mission, you also better plan on finishing it unless you want to play the beginning of the missions over again.  With missions that can last upwards of an hour or more depending on how methodical you are, that's not my idea of fun.  

But, while annoying, these flaws don't impact the game's fun factor.  You know why?  Because sniping a guy's balls off from across a courtyard is never not fun.  

Rating

Is this game fun? Yes.  Is this game for everyone?  Probably not.  But I'd say give it a "rent" and see what you think about it.  

Recommendations

Silent Scope - Does anyone remember this arcade game from the late 90s?  Does anyone else remember arcades?  I loved this game with it's mounted sniper rifle and the scope with a screen inside that mimicked an actual scope.  I don't think I ever beat that game though.  Never enough quarters.