Sniper Elite

by Namco

Product Features

• You control the fate of an American WWII soldier, trained as a sniper by the OSS
• 1/2Hx5-1/3Wx7-1/2L"; 0.4 lb.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009Z3LGG
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 15, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,466 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

The time is Spring of 1945. The second World War is drawing to a close and the Russians and Germans are locked in furious conflict for war-torn Berlin. There are reports that the Russian secret service (NKVD) are in Berlin to steal atomic bomb technology from the German Army. Control the fate of an American soldier, use your OSS sniper training. As a key member of an invisible, elite group, you are assigned to the most sensitive of missions. Disguise yourself as a German and infiltrate hostile enemy environments using your stealth and sniping skills. Stop Stalin's forces from controlling the world's nuclear technology. The future of the world's geopolitical fabric is in you hands. Deep non-linear levels and sophisticated enemy AI - Freely explore war-torn Berlin and find a window of opportunity to line-up the perfect shot

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fresh take on action/stealth and World War II, December 28, 2005

By 

Robb Boutros (Northford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sniper Elite (Video Game)

Every year there's comes a sleeper hit that somehow seems to get overlooked by the gaming public. In 2003 it was Freedom Fighters. In 2004 it was Ubi Soft's Beyond Good & Evil. This year that award goes to Namco/Rebellion's Sniper Elite. With a fresh, new take on the World War II shooter, Sniper Elite looks to bring some new ideas to the action-shooter genre while creating a new one in the process.

In the waning days of World War II a lone sniper trained by the OSS has crossed into Berlin ahead of the allied push. His mission; to prevent the Soviets from obtaining the technology to build an atom bomb and giving them the upper hand in the arms race.

The first thing you notice about Sniper Elite are it's graphics. While not as advanced as games like God of War they portray Berlin as being a desolate, ravaged city torn apart by war. There's alot of very dull colors which gives the landscapes a very bleak and forboding look to them. It really gives the player a sensation that this is a city that has been abandoned. The environments are pretty large. There are several ways to approach your objective and sniping points are laid out through the cityscapes. There's also lots of cover. Burnt out vehicles and bunkers dot the streets. And you'll need it as you do your best to stay alive.

In Sniper Elite your best weapon isn't a gun. It's your brain. This is what can be called a "thinking man's stealth game". You have to constantly pay attention to your surroundings and plan out every move very methodically. What's the best route to your objective? That depends on the situation. How many guards? Thier patrol routes? Even the wind plays a factor. You also have a variety of other tools at your disposal. Such as grenades, time bombs, and trip wire mines which can be quite useful. The empty lung technique that was featured in Splinter Cell has found it's way into this game and is a welcome feature. The gameplay and controls are pretty easy to get a grasp on. The only complaint I have is that your movments aren't very fluid at times and slow stalking movment is difficult. You spend most of the game crawling which can be quite time consuming. I'd like to see more conventional stealth in future games (ala Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid) so that you don't have to spend most of the time on the ground. Moving is a key part of succss. If you stay in one place too long or fire too many shots from one location the A.I. is advanced enough that it will eventually seek you out and come down on your position. Sniper Elite also features online gameplay with 4 vs. 4 deathmatch modes. There are different deathmatch skins as well as customizable profiles. The only major complaint is that the memory card space is 1.4 megabytes. This takes up quite a bit of room and you almost need a second card to store the game on.

Sniper Elite is one of those games that might not be great but it more than satisfies you. It brings quite a few original ideas to the World War II shooter genre while feeling familiar at the same time. With other games like SOCOM 3 being released at the same time, I'd hate to think that this game might be overlooked like Freedom Fighters was. Sniper Elite is definitley the sleeper hit of 2005 and is well worth checking out.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Snipe!, November 1, 2005

By 

B. McBeth "PSN: DirkPittSpawn" (Warner Robins, GA USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sniper Elite (Video Game)

True to it's name, this game is a fun sniper-based shooter. You start in 3rd person view following behind your character, you use your binoculars to spot the target, and then switch to the sniper rifle scope. You have to control your breathing, stance, adjust for wind correction, bullet drop, etc.-- everything is considered. You have a variety of tools, weapons, etc. to help you as well. (Place TNT down and then snipe it at a distance to destroy tanks for instance)

It is VERY satisfying to sight in on a sniper at long range and have it end in a great headshot.

Mostly you'll use stealth & sniping skills, but every once n' a while the enemy will close in on you for close-quarters combat.
Also note that this game is rated M.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blood, sweat and a few tears..., December 23, 2005

By 

Paul Mayo "Vei Victis" (Wyndhamvale, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sniper Elite (Video Game)

It's been 6 days since I entered Berlin. 6 days of looking down the scope of a Gehwehr 43, or just recently a Russian Tokarev SVT 40. I've blown up tanks, set traps, taken many an enemy out and still I'm a long way from going home. As I wipe the sweat off my brow before looking down the scope again, let me tell you about the world I've entered; The world of Sniper Elite.

On starting the game, I realised they drop you right in it from the start. Berlin, early 1945. The Germans are in retreat, the city in tatters. It's a race between the American's and the USSR to find the plans that Germany have for creating their own nuclear weapon. This is basically the start of the cold war. You are a lone sniper operating for the O.S.S (the precursor to the C.I.A), Your job is to stop anyone who gets in your way and to make sure the Russians don't end up with the plans.

It's almost overwhelming at the start of the game, and while it's the rule of the game, it's good to have a look around the place and get used to moving, changing stances, etc. Make good use of cover, the binocular view and the scope view before moving about, because in the wasteland that has become Berlin, you'll need your wits about you.

Bomb craters will open up as you're walking down the street with a huge explosion, the crack of bullets and the whine of projectiles whizzing past your ears are but a few of the ambient details in this game. You'll also be speaking fluent German or Russian as well, depending on how close you get to the enemy. One standout scene for me is the first level just as you move off, an aircraft trailing smoke and burning flies over head and crashes behind you somewhere in the city.

The shooting part of the game is extraordinary. I've never played a game where I have to take the distance or gravity or the wind into account.

In the guide book that comes with it, aptly named the "survival handbook" there are 3 rifles you can use. Each comes with a couple of tables to work out how to adjust the crosshairs to make a perfect shot. The target is 1.5 milldots high, so aim 3 mildots above his head and shoot. All going well, you've just got a cut scene of a bullet entering the body of an enemy.

The enemy don't just stand there and let you shoot them either. Though sometimes you have to wonder what they are thinking. You've taken a shot and wounded someone, they run off but they run somewhere in the open and stop. That's not something that happens every time however, some get down right devious, I've had them sneak around behind me, or jump out from behind walls and take me out.

Another well thought out part of the game is the fact that if the enemy do get too close you've got close range weapons, (machine guns, silenced pistols, panzershreks, etc) to help take them out. They are going to get close and often. One thing I've taken to doing is to place a trip wire grenade across the doorway of the room I'm in, so that while I'm sniping, if someone sneaks up on me as they invariably do, then I've got some protection. Makes for great fun watching them thrown into a wall. You'll find your weapon of choice being the Sniper rifle however, which is what this game is all about.

The 3 different guns have 3 different scopes on them. the Gehwehr only has a 2x scope, so when you finally get used to it, you appreciate the 4x scope that the SVT has. The Mosin Nagant is a difficult rifle to get the hang of, especially seeing as the scope allows you to see up someone's nose from quite a distance away. Because the Nagant has such a great range, it's a difficult gun to master compared to the other guns in the game due to a greater degree of wind and gravity becoming involved. There is at least one opportunity for a 1000 yard/meter shot with the Mosin Nagant.

The levels are mixes of "Get to this point and kill everyone you meet" to "be sneaky and you'll survive" to "take this bloke out, or else he'll get everyone onto you" or, "protect the bloke running from lots of Germans" which makes for a varied time. The going is slow, but it's very enjoyable. Especially when you've taken the time to adjust your shot to take someone out from a great distance and it's worked out.

There is great ambience in each level and some levels you actually use the sound of explosions to mask the sound of your shot, that way, others aren't aware of their comrade being taken out, nor where your position is. If you've only wounded a soldier, another soldier can actually try and revive him, or carry him to safety. I shot one man trying this and was surprised when he blew up, I'd shot a grenade on his tunic.

If you find yourself up against a tank , try shooting at it's fuel cap on the side, it'll put a fiery end to the bane of all infantry. It's honestly a game where they've thought about almost everything and included lots of detail.

This is the paragraph where I add the "but". It's only a small one, but I think it would have been better to include a pre game level where you are at Westpoint, still training to become a soldier, that way the player can learn all the moves before being thrown in the deep end. It also needed a firing range so you could test out the rates of bullet drop and distance. The only other thing is that in split screen multiplayer, it's hard to see the milldots on the scope, which makes working out a shot quite difficult. Multiplayer needed a bigger scope view. This game may convince me to go online and see how well I'd go against others.

In a nutshell, I'd have to say this war game is up there with call of duty and battlefield 1942. It's tense, makes you think and is an absolute blast. I haven't been able to stop playing it since I got it a very long 6 days ago.

Paul M

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