If you prefer to stay put, puttering generators and the timely hum of planes flying overhead can mask the crash of your rifle, but these contrived elements aren't enough to fix the core problem that stifles the fun. The game rewards you for relocating successfully, though it's too easy to simply backpedal to an area that you've already cleared and then wait for enemies to cool off. If you take the time to spot and tag enemies before firing, you ensure that you have time to relocate to another vantage point immediately after taking your shot. That's not to say that Sniper Elite III is overly challenging, however. Levels are littered with soldiers who perk up as soon as you fire off a noisy round, and since you're about as flimsy as any single enemy on screen, clearing the map with a silenced pistol or a quick flip of the knife is often the most intelligent route to success. Regrettably, you're more often faced with tedious stealth sections than the extended sniping segments that make the game so captivating. Turning off the drawn-out animations is an option, but this boorish display of bloody precision is a guilty pleasure. You kill hundreds of unsuspecting enemies in this manner, watching as formerly distinctive faces are violently torn beyond recognition. It's the feature attraction of the series, and it's better than ever. Eyes pop, lungs burst, and yes, testicles rupture as you pump round after round into the opposition. A quick X-ray view of a perfect kill shot often shows the lead splintering both ends of the skull, forcing bits of brain to escape from the newly opened flesh caverns. The finale of the shot is pure, primal bliss. The crack of your barrel will likely alert anything with a heartbeat nearby, but in that very moment, all that matters is the journey of a single bullet. It's a remarkable scene that all but erases auxiliary threats, letting you enjoy the slow-motion mayhem. Once you fire off that perfect shot, the camera ignores the man behind the rifle and instead follows the round as it leisurely approaches its mark. After perching atop a sniper nest and locating a viable target, you have the option of steadying your breath and adding an additional red reticle that illustrates exactly where your bullet will drop. You're not required to kill everything with a heartbeat in order to progress, but the innate satisfaction that comes with long-range marksmanship is almost too great to pass up. An ever-present objective marker reminds you that just 200 meters away lies a folder of intel that could greatly benefit the Allied forces, and all you need to do to collect it is pick off whatever patrolling soldiers stand in the way. There are various side objectives like shutting down search lights or sabotaging the enemy's explosives supply, but there's still a clear path to completion within every mission. That doesn't make this an open-world game, though. Silent steps often lead to better vantage points, and with so many routes to choose from in any given level, the method by which the objective is completed is up to you. Bullishly rushing headfirst into enemy territory is always an option, but the grizzled protagonist crumples to the dirt after just a pair of well-placed shots. Instead of funneling you down a straight path, each of the eight locations in the campaign presents you with a sniping sandbox where creativity leads to better shooting and stronger positioning. The level design in Sniper Elite III is more open than previous games in the series, often encouraging shots being fired from more than 300 meters away. There's an undeniable satisfaction that stems from the glorious slow-motion kills that abound in Sniper Elite III, but missions tend to promote stealthy, silent takedowns rather than the grotesque headshots it does so well.įortunately, what the game does best is on full display early on. However, every action building up to you actually pulling the trigger of a rifle feels more like a chore than an interesting setup for the perfect shot. Not because the surrounding mechanics are broken or the levels are poorly structured, as the subsidiary elements of this third-person shooter are, for the most part, serviceable. Whenever I wasn't setting up a shot, emptying my lungs, and pumping a sharp metal bullet through the thick skull of an unsuspecting enemy soldier, I was frustrated with Sniper Elite III.
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