Customer Reviews

Sniper Elite ( Windows )

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is, in my opinion, the greatest Sniper simulation ever made. Take my word on it : I'm a great fan of all things Sniper related, and I've played just about every game that features realistic (and not so realistic) Sniping, from the bottom of the barrel "CTU Marine Sharp Shooter", to the high-caliber "Operation Flashpoint". Nothing even comes close. The PC version is also MUCH better than the console versions -- the graphics are crisper and the mouse is a god send when compared to console hand controllers, allowing a level of accuracy that you simply cannot obtain on a console.

The bullet physics, which are the "meat and potatoes" of any Sniper game, are incredibly realistic. When taking a shot (on the highest difficulty level) you must account for wind speed, posture, heart rate and, most importantly, gravity.

A long range target will be impossible to hit unless you account for the distance by aiming above the mark's head (the further away the target, the higher you must aim). Wind means that you must also compensate your shot by aiming to the left or right of a target, depending on the actual speed of the wind present in the level. Scoring a head shot on a long-range moving target is incredibly satisfying, as it takes quite a lot of skill to accomplish.

Also, a word of warning : this game is pretty gruesome (mostly because of the headshots), and its most certainly not for the squeamish.

The game physics calculates whether or not your round will be a headshot as soon as you fire and headshot rounds are shown from a slow-motion trailing perspective which follows the bullet to the target.

A direct headshot rewards the player with a fountain of blood, brains and skull fragments which sprays from the target's head.

The entrance wound is also present, so you know exactly where your shot landed -- I still wince and exclaim over a round when it blows through a targets eye or mouth.

Sniper rifles are not the only weapons you can utilize - for close combat, there are a variety of weapons, such as silenced pistols, MP40's, MG42's, grenades, trip mines, time bombs and so on. The close combat is not as fun as Sniping, but it is necessary in some areas of the game, and it does give a welcome change from constant sniping.

The game is no prize pig in the graphics compartment, especially when you compare it to the superb visuals of other games such as Call of Duty 2, but it is adequate for the genre, and it is definitely better than any other Sniper orientated game I've played. The Bloom effect, which is used in many games these days, spices things up a bit, and improves the graphics tenfold.

The environments are also well done, although once again they are not overwhelmingly impressive, but they do suit the style of gameplay that is present. Bombed out buildings and debris is scattered throughout the levels -- the perfect environment for a sniper.

My one complaint when it comes to the levels is that, with a few exceptions, they do seem a little similar, and many objects, such as burning vehicles and debris shelters, are reused throughout the maps. This isn't a huge problem, and it does not reduce the superb gameplay in major way.

The sound in any Sniper game is an important factor, and I'm pleased to say that Sniper Elite features some of the best sound samples I've ever heard in a war game. The gun shots sound brutal, and the background ambiance is great, with mortar explosions, gunfire and occasional distant screams increasing the feeling of danger. One fun feature is the ability to mask your fire when a mortar explodes, ala Jude Law's character in one of the sequences in Enemy at the Gates. You wait for the sound of an incoming mortar (a Vwaaarrrrgghhh kind of sound), and fire just when the mortar lands. Very cool!

The AI is well done and very challenging, but not without a few bugs that do need fixing. Enemies, on the highest difficulty level, occasionally and magically know where you are positioned as soon as you fire a shot. This can detract from the immersion somewhat, but you can set custom difficulty levels, and taking the AI Difficulty down one notch seems to remedy the problem, at least until they patch the game.

Another problem that (thankfully) rarely presents itself is that a single enemy will sometimes ignore your presence completely, even when you are standing right in front of them or firing upon them. This has only happened to me twice thus far, and I've played through half of the game, so it's not a major problem - again, a future patch will probably fix this.

It must be said that if you are a fairly casual gamer and if you are not a fan of the Sniper genre of games, you should give this game a pass. To you, you will probably find this game to be frustrating and boring. However, if you do enjoy Sniper games, you will no doubt squeeze many hours of enjoyment from Sniper Elite. Highly recommended for Sniper fan boys!

I'm not your typical sniper fan but an avid ww11 buff so this game comes to a surprize to me. I've played a long line of wwII games such as COD2, B&A & Earned in blood, MOFH Pacifc and Allied assults which are all great wwII combat similations but this game is a little different than the above mentioned and the difference is what I enjoy the most.

Instead of running and guning or ordering your troops around you are mainly solo and I mean solo. In war know one fights alone and that is true with most soldiers but with a sniper, 9x out of 10 he is alone because he does not want to attract attention to himself moving silently through the rubble.

With Sniper Elite you get to do this and more. Even though the graphics are not state-of-the-art by no means they are suficiant and get the point accross. You have to take out soldiers (Russian's this time) which I like because it seems that almost all wwII themed games these days focus on the Allied side of the wwII and not the Axis. Not saying I wish they won but I like fighting a different adversary once and while. In this game you are represented as an American soldier sent behind enemy lines (Berlin, Germany) at the end of wwII when the Russians had Hitlers SS with their backs against the wall in Berlin where they were defeated. Your job is quit simple, prevent the Russian military from obtaining the Nuculer Bomb plans from the German scientists. Though that seems easy enough it will literally take you 28 missions or so to succeed with this goal and many hours of great gameplay. I don't want to ruin it especially since I am still playing the game so I will narrow it down to and tell you what I like about this game:

Gameplay=1: great stealth gameplay makes you keep your head down and your body out-of-sight (THIS GAME IS not for the quick-fix-war-junkies via COD or MOFH fans)but the patient minded and slow movers taking in the scenery.

Game Physics=1: Awesome, you can't just shoot away expecting to hit your target, you will acually have to aim and take your time but setting the difficulty down to easy will lessen this a bit. Great bullet time effects and grusome blood effects!

Sound=1: It seems as though you were trans-ported to 1945 in the remains of the once mighty German empire! You hear bombs exploding, rockets soring through the air, screams and cries of the wounded, great sound though you may have to adjust your sound acceleration setting on your s card, there seems to be a bug at time making the sound distorted or an ecoing affect.

Graphics=-1: This is were I took off a point because of the overall detail of the graphics and the below adverage pixel count, some levels look better than adverage shooters and others, well not so revolutionary but it gets the job done. Not bad overall, just not great.

Replay Value=1: Once you get through the single player levels you can go online and duke it out will fellow comrades which is about what every other game offers these days to increase their replay value. I am however, not so much into multiplay because of bad past experiences namely (Red Orchastra) which is an awesome Eastern Front Multiplayer combat shooter than raises the bar on realism of war but has some bad players who rather see you dead than to help you out which are on your own team. I believe the multiplayer in this game is a solo advent so you shouldn't have an issue with this.

Overall=4/5: Worth the $29.00 dollars I paid for it! It's stealth gameplay, nerve-wracking missions are worth every penny and it's lengthy campaign will keep you busy for days if not weeks depending of course how often you play. Worth the money but not much more than this.

Final score: 4/5 points

Final comments: If you like to take your time in a game and draw your sites on a relentless enemy, this is the game for you!

"Sniper Elite" is a very well done military sniper simulation for the Window's PC. Though not 100% realistic, it still has the strong feeling of gritty realism, while still keeping the game really fun on a shooter-type of level. But this is not a mind-numbing run-and-gun game -- you must think how you should assault, defend, or snipe various enemy soldiers -- just as in a real combat situation. And the AI is, bar far, the best of any other combat PC game that I have ever played -- and I have played them all (the AI enemy here actually seems to _think and act_ as real soldiers would. However, I would recommend that you play Sniper Elite on one of the higher levels of difficulty to feel the full effect of this superior AI.) You won't be charging around killing scores of enemies within minutes either (but you will kill enough to satisfy your trigger finger!): The authenticity and feels-like-you're-there atmosphere (even being a bit nervous that some counter-sniper may take you out at any minute) is absolutely amazing, as is some of the gore and sounds one might witness in combat. There are just not many games out there with this winning combination of realism, excitement, enjoyment, and playability: This is one of the few that successfully combines all of these elements. A fantastic PC game indeed!

If you are the kind of gamer who loves playing as a sniper and going for that perfect shot, then this is the game for you. I have noticed a few scripting glitches, such as enemies appearing behind me after I had cleared the room already. But that happens rarely enough that it doesn't subtract much from the over all game. The difficulty levels will let you increase the number of parameters you must take into effect for your shot to hit. Once again, if you enjoy sniping, then this game is for you!

developers wouldn't release it with bugs :)

As always - good games don't start free from bugs, but this game is special at this point. As a radical sniper I gave this game try and first what came in to my mind - "I have seen something similar!". Yes - this game uses improved Hitman's graphical engine. Ok, I was a great fan of Hitman series so it was faster for me to adopt to player control. But.. the first level is ruined by AI bugs. It all seems great and etc, but due to bugs in this first level, soldiers ALWAYS know where you are hidden and game starts to stink seening such things. As I am experienced player I overcame this problem, but the first impression was ruined.

On the second hand - there is NO SUPPORT FORUMS. Nor the Namco nor the Rebelion has ANY kind of support. That's riddiculuos.

In overall - A nearly perfect game, which would be a de-facto and de-jure campers paradise - ruined by poor support and patch production.

If you buy this game - be ready to overcome obstacles that I have mentioned and you will get that sweet feeling of being sniper in the war.

I've always loved the sniper rifle in Goldeneye for the Nintendo64. You know that first level, when you use the sniper rifle to take out those guys in the far-away guard towers? I used to play that over and over. Recently I was trying to find a computer game that had that same feeling - because Half Life, Unreal Tournament, Doom, etc. definitely DO NOT have that same feeling.

I wanted a game that you could play slowly and methodically. Where you could sneak around, kind of like in Splinter Cell, but where you could also use ultra-long-range weapons. Splinter Cell is fun, but most of the levels are in enclosed spaces, and feel a bit cramped. Most of the time you take out enemies from extremely close range, and your long-range ammo (stun shots) is very low supply.

So I came across Sniper Elite. I ordered it online. This game is almost exactly what I was looking for. In most of the levels you are roaming around war-ravaged cities with a silenced pistol, grenades, machine gun, trip-wire grenades, TNT, and your sniper rifle. The levels are very detailed, and often when I'm not careful I won't see enemies because they blend in so well with the environment. But fortunately they sometimes don't see me, either.

If you play this game on its hardest setting you'll probably spend a good deal of time crawling on your belly. If you simply run around shooting you will probably die very fast. However, the game isn't too realistic - you seem to be able to take a few more bullets than the computer opponents. But with all the places to hide, you will often not be able to see where they're shooting at you from. More than a few times I've been sneaking around for awhile, thinking there's no one around, only to be extremely startled by an enemy who suddenly runs around a corner shooting at me, or by a grenade that suddenly lands right beside me. All in all, it's very exciting. But there's nothing cooler than having your stealth pay off when you come upon an enemy who doesn't even know you're there, and then taking him out with either a close-range silenced pistol, or with your sniper rifle at distances of up to 300+ yards!

When you play this game online it will be a totally different experience. The points system is set up such that you are rewarded for the number of kills, but not punished for the number of times you get killed. As a result, the most successful players are the ones who run around with guns blazing - just like in Half Life, Counterstrike, Unreal Tournament, etc. Sometimes this type of play is enjoyable, but if you want to pit your stealth skills against a human opponent, I suggest you start an online game that allows only 2 or 3 players (as opposed to 8). Usually these games are much quieter, and much more exciting.

A challenging yet rewarding game. A most welcome departure from the typical WWII shooter where one super soldier mows down hundreds of screaming Nazis. With an original storyline and intense, at times difficult, action, this game is neither for the faint of heart or impatient of mind.

This game is more in the genre of "FAR CRY" rather than the MOA games. Stealth, patience and situational awareness are the keys to this game. One must approach targets carefully and secretively to advance. In the higher difficulty levels, factors such as gravity and windage must be taken into account in order to achieve the "one shot, one kill" ratio. The backdrop is the burned out ruin of the once proud and beatiful Berlin, just days before the Nazi capitulation. It is a very eriery enviornment that adds greatly to the game's overall atmosphere.

If you need a breather from mowing down hords of Nazi's in mass as with other WWII games, I highly recommend this game.

i love sniper games in general especially if they involve an element of stealth and realism. this game has neither. one minute i am glassing the town square, the next second i'm dead because i didn't see or hear the russian infantry that is standing 5 feet behind me. funny, he wasn't there last time i looked at the brick wall behind me. did he beam down from some starship...?

after picking up a panzerfaust (anti-tamk grenade launcher) i have to carry it (without ammo) for the entire mission. at one point i looked like a x-mas tree with all the weapons hanging off of me with no way of getting rid of them.... why do i need all this dead weight ?

sniping is what this was supposed to be about but most missions involve running a marathon through a partially destroyed town. the enemy are 99% invisable and master marksman. they just seem to shoot from all directions and disappear. *IF* i get lucky i might see one of them and when i finally do get to squeeze off a round it is always wildly inaccurate and draws more enemy troops than free beer on a 48 hour pass. i end up running and running until i either stumble on my objective (which is 99% of the time NON-sniper related) and the level ends or i get shot in the back by the invisable enemy - again.

by the way, there is no practice range in which to learn the mechanics of elevation and windage for each weapon. you just drop into the level with a full clip and some instructions. the instructions often fail to fully play a voice recording (like "your mission is...") and i have to guess what i have to do based on clues in the "objective" screen. not exactly the best way to plan your strategy.

and perhaps the most disappointing part of the game is the scenery. they must have saved a lot of time by just cutting and pasting one building over and over in different levels. some scenes are really works of art, others are amature hour. regardless of these shortcomings, the most bizzar aspect of this game is the blatent lack of sniping locations. within any town or building, 99.7% of every map is not accessable beyond street level - you cannot enter a building and go to the second floor or roof to scope the situation. you just crawl on your belly from one barracade to the next constantly waiting for the next invisable shot in the back. this is a cheap way to create artifical difficulty.

and if that isn't enough, you might begin to notice that every other level requires the same objective - it's either get to your contact and proceed, or get to your contact and find out that he's already dead and proceed to the exit, or the weapons cache in the basement or secure the upper level of the roadway, etc. that's it. the same "missions" over and over.

if you like getting shot in the back, you'll love this game. if you're expecting a realistic insertion with a sniping objective, keep looking and let me know if you find one. i was hopeing that version 2 could fix these shortcomings but it looks like NAMCO just skipped town after releasing this stinker. no wonder.

Head shots, Long Range, Reality like,,,talks abt Wind, Posture, heart rate, Aiming, all thosee techniquees. if you are into fast ,12,3 combat shooting games,, this might be just the opposite of what u desire. i like this game overall its exciting Kepping my Blood pumping all the time..COOl stuff!!!