When we talk about war shooters, it is undeniable that the first names to spring to mind are the stainless (although a bit lost lately) brands that respond to the name of Call of Duty and Battlefield. There is, however, a dense undergrowth of certainly less noble productions, at least in terms of mere sales, but which have gradually managed to carve out their good place in the sun.
Among these we can include the saga developed by Rebellion starring the lethal sniper Karl Fairburne, who since 2005 has seen us engaged in the fight against the Nazi forces. And just a few hours after the official launch of his new adventure, we are here to tell you about Sniper Elite 5the latest effort by the British team that promises to bring a breath of fresh air to this peculiar TPS-style saga.
The events that frame the gameplay of Sniper Elite 5 they are, as always, set during the Second World War. Once again our Fairburne will find himself facing yet another plan devised by the ruthless Axis generals, called Kraken, which if not foiled in time could end up inexorably compromising the fate of the war.
Armed fully, therefore, it will be our task to join forces with the partisans scattered throughout the French territory, embarking on the usual series of missions that, including castles, ruined cities and secret laboratories, will keep us busy for about ten hours. Unless we deliberately choose to dedicate ourselves to all the optional secondary assignments, as well as to the collection of numerous documents and collectibles, so as to significantly increase the longevity of the campaign.
Supported by a very good rhythm, the story outlined by the studio definitely lacks on the writing front which, also thanks to a digital acting certainly not excellent and a general direction that is very elementary and scholastic, fails to fully capture the player’s attention. To push us to continue in the hunt for General Möller will in fact be the gameplay of the production which, thanks to the experience gained by Rebellion, presents itself to the appeal in a refined and renewed form, although some perplexities still remain.
The structure of the various missions, set within open maps of considerable extension, will ask us as always to reach various sensitive objectives, allowing us to approach them as varied as ever. Although it is possible to play openly, throwing our heads down at the enemy squads, it is undeniable that Karl’s sniper nature is more inclined to a modus operandi that makes stealth the cornerstone of him.
This predisposition is highlighted in an evident way by the gunplay that characterizes the close encounters, certainly more raw than the counterpart that will allow us to kill from a distance. It is by studying the environment properly, so as to reach the best points of advantage from which to get rid of the Nazis, in fact, that Sniper Elite 5 manages to become more convincing, thanks to a developed physics and ballistics: hold your breath to limit the oscillation of the barrel, calculate the bullet drop index (more or less marked according to the chosen difficulty level), as well as customizing our armament in the way that best suits our style of play, will play an important role in the economy of distance fighting.
Which will be made even more exciting by the usual Kill Cam, controllable by the player in a slightly more varied way than in the past. In a similar way to the X-Ray seen in the recent Mortal Kombat, this feature will allow us to observe the effect that our blows or slashes will have on the internal organs of the unfortunate victims: a more spectacular addition than playful, but which, pad in hand , it is undeniable that it manages to galvanize the player.
The latest trailers released about the game had also highlighted what should have been some of the new features of this episode, linked to the more active exploration of the game environment, thanks to the presence of ziplines and scalable walls. While it is true that similar elements are present within the various maps, it cannot be denied that their impact is decidedly marginal, as well as linked to decidedly more scripted moments and situations, and which end up limiting too much. the extent of their introduction is evident.
In this regard, therefore, we would have preferred the abandonment of playful solutions by now outdated, embodied by the presence of invisible walls which, if contextualized within the action, can only make one’s mouth turn up: seeing a Fairburne unable to cross a bush , or to climb over a simple sandbag, are scenes that, in 2022, we should no longer see.
Where the game certainly cannot be criticized, however, it is with regard to the war possibilities in the possession of our sniper, who will be able to count on a very full-bodied series of guns and other offensive tools, be it mines, grenades and more. . Furthermore, firearms can be freely customized and modified by means of the various workbenches scattered in the play areas, so as to give life to the instrument of death that best suits our way of playing. There is also a series of unlockable perks, divided into three slender skill trees, which will allow us to improve Karl’s characteristics as we play.
Another aspect that emerges in Sniper Elite 5 is the desire to further open up to the world of multiplayer, starting with the main campaign. In fact, this can also be tackled in cooperative, so as to further amplify the fun, as well as guaranteeing new tactical possibilities. There is also an interesting PvP function inside it, which borrows the invasions inaugurated by From Software: by activating the dedicated option, we will be able to open our sessions to another player so that he can enter our game as a sniper of the ‘Axis, whose goal will be to kill us. This is certainly an interesting feature, which will also allow us to get our hands on some accessory skins for our character.
The game in company, however, will not be limited only to this but will also present the inevitable horde mode, in which up to 4 players will have to resist the onslaught of waves of enemy troops, in addition to the usual multiplayer sector, for up to 16 users. characterized by four distinct game modes: the classic deathmatch and team clashes (2 or 4 depending on your choice), we also have the interesting No Passing scheme.
The latter well embodies the spirit of Sniper Elite 5, comparing two teams separated by an impassable barrier, which will have to battle from a distance. We confess that we have not been able to deepen the multiplayer sector of production too much, given that during our test the servers were populated only by reviewers, but, however limited, the games returned good sensations. To see how everything will behave in the long run, as always in these cases, it will be necessary to see how the team will decide to support everything.
As far as the mere technical sector is concerned, the Rebellion production comes with lights and shadows, the latter also attributable to the cross-generational nature of the title. It is undeniable how the general detail suffers from not having been developed in a purely current-gen perspective, a situation that returns elements to the scene that are not always impeccable at the level of geometry. A situation that, however, at least on PS5 (console on which we tested) guarantees impeccable fluidity thanks also to the intelligent choice made by the team to scale the resolution to the game, in the presence of the most chaotic situations.
The general level design, on the other hand (excluding invisible walls), presents very well-structured environments rich in alternative paths and which have exploited photogrammetry to give life to digital transpositions of real environments. On the sound side we are faced with a discreet work, with a dubbing in English / German languages and well-made effects that have the advantage of giving the best in headphones, thanks to an excellent implementation of the three-dimensional audio that we will allow us to accurately understand the direction from which the various threats will come.
On the other hand, the opposing AI is not flawless, not always able to adopt the right countermeasures to our assaults and which, especially in key locations, will make quantity its greatest strength. Side note for the implementation of the DualSense features: the left trigger, thanks to its adaptive resistance, allows us to effectively alternate third and first person aiming, simply by more or less sinking the trigger; as regards the right, however, this convincingly simulates the action of the trigger of the various weapons. Also good is the exploitation of haptic feedback, used to return the vibrations of nearby equipment and vehicles.
In short, Sniper Elite 5 does not betray its past, presenting the usual adventure in which stealth and shooter elements come together in a convincing way. While it is true that not all the promised innovations ended up having the desired impact, it cannot be denied how Rebellion has worked to further refine a formula that has become iconic and recognizable in its own way.
To a close gunplay all in all revisable, the care placed in the development of remote ballistics acts as a side which, thanks also to the improved Kill Cam, makes it even more galvanizing to hit opponents in the shadows. If we add to this an all in all convincing level design, a long-lived and playable campaign also in cooperative, and an interesting multiplayer sector, it is natural to recommend the new adventure of Karl Fairburne also to all those who have never fallen into the role of the lethal. sniper. Veterans, on the other hand, will find new reasons to continue to mow down Axis troops in his name.
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