Sniper Elite: Resistance – somewhere between frustration and fascination
It’s more of the same. This sums up the latest iteration in the British sniping series pretty well. Shooting Nazis is still a hell of a lot of fun. But would I pay full price for it? Absolutely not.
That threatening detection meter popping up, the adrenaline kick when it turns orange. You’ve taken too long again. You aim, look through the scope, exhale and pull the trigger. The shot whips around and another «Sturmbannführer» dies. As if that wasn’t enough, the killcam shows how the bullet starts its bloody journey and where it hits in slow motion. The skull bursts, bones splinter, organs explode. Yeee-haw!
Source: Florian Bodoky
Sniper Elite: Resistance serves you the usual fare – but is it still fun? Not so easy to answer. Because while there are those ultra-satisfying times when you tear the gonads off a Wehrmacht soldier from 300 metres, there are moments that just seem outdated.
Operation Déjà vu: a story you already know
The plot? Nazis once again have a super weapon – this time a nerve gas called «Kleine Blume», little flower. You have to stop them from using it. You slip into the boots of Harry Hawker, who works with the French Resistance. He’s a bearded Brit with a distinctive voice and a slight Cockney twist in his accent. He reminds me of those similar-looking gentlemen outside British football stadiums who shout «Match scaaaarf, just five quid» in your ear. Karl Fairburne, the US sniper from previous games, has probably taken some time off.
Source: Florian Bodoky
The missions take you through seven large levels, all open and versatile to play, but they lack any life beyond German soldiers. Whether it’s a small French town or a large Nazi castle, everything feels very familiar. And then there’s a dam too. Yep, I know it. The story’s also interchangeable, but you’re mainly here for the killcams, right?
Sniper Elite wellness: a bullet to combat stress
Because they’re back with a vengeance. Those perfect, almost meditative moments. You’re crouching on a hill, looking for the perfect sniper post. Nazis patrol below, unaware they’re as good as dead. The first shot – I can really take my time on that one – goes right for the privates. And bam, another clean headshot. One of them goes for the alarm and tries to call for backup – but he doesn’t make it. The killcam shows in gruesome detail how the projectile pierces a lung. Yep, that’s brutal. But incredibly satisfying too.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Source: Florian Bodoky
The game gives you the freedom to sneak, wreak havoc from a distance – or adopt the Rambo method. Good luck! At higher difficulty levels, Nazis are no longer just blind moles. At lower levels, however, you don’t get the feeling they’re particularly keen to maintain the Third Reich.
Harry Hawker: a blabbermouth from East London
You’ll have to get used to monologues. Harry Hawker yaps incessantly. Karl Fairburne was no poet either, but at least he mostly kept his mouth shut. Hawker, on the other hand, comments on almost everything. «Bloody hell, that was a good one!» after a fatal shot. «Oh look, I found a sneaky little tunnel, how convenient!» after every secret find. Not very charismatic.
Welcome to the map recycling factory
Sniper Elite offers large levels with a few minor highlights. The underground Nazi bunker system is particularly cool. But too often the level design feels suspiciously familiar if you’ve played old Sniper Elite games. Even the killcam wears out over time. It seems Sniper Elite has reached its creative limits when it comes to blood and guts. They’ve stayed with the tried-and-tested model – maybe they should get hold of an anatomy book and add one or two more animations.
Source: Florian Bodoky
The mission design is also rather repetitive. Get documents, kill off higher-ranking Nazis, save someone. Documents are in a safe which needs a key. You’ll find them on an officer sneaking around somewhere. Or you can always use an explosive charge – another option in the constant interplay between action and stealth gameplay. Occasionally there are still a few switch puzzles here and there – but nothing too surprising.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Source: Florian Bodoky
Small innovations, big impact?
There are a few new features, such as the propaganda missions. Throughout levels, you’ll find resistance posters that unlock bonus challenges. Sometimes you have to silently eliminate a certain number of enemies in a short time, or there are sniper challenges where you have to get as many kills as possible from a distance. Sound cool? That’s because they are. Very cool, short, and pretty simple – but without online leaderboards, I have no motivation to play them again. Modifying weapons on workbenches is also back. Silencers, grips, better scopes – nice, but no revolution. Hawker’s special abilities? The exact same as his American predecessor.
Source: Florian Bodoky
In all fairness, however, the Brit is better at climbing than his Yankee predecessor. On pipes, vines and ledges, he moves around more nimbly and with more variety, giving me certain Uncharted vibes. The animated cutscenes with members of the French resistance also contribute to the atmosphere. However, I hardly care about any of the characters – they’re too generic and too grumpy. And they don’t really seem to like Harry Hawker either. Look at that, we have something in common after all. His self-righteousness is almost American, ironically.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Of course, there are some things I don’t get. Why can’t Hawker climb walls? Why did the developers swap the button for a lethal melee attack and stun? Since I played part five not so long ago, I often accidentally send brownshirts to nap time instead of finishing them off for good. As a result, they often wake up and try to get at me from behind just when I’m having a gunfight with their comrades.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Multiplayer: the Axis invasion is back
One mode has real opponents playing Nazi hunters on the lookout for you. A thrill to some, only more of an invitation to spontaneously rage-quit for me. The AI already slaps me around well enough. I’ll spare myself pimply teenagers blasting me away and adding vulgar comments about members of my immediate family via the headset. Unfortunately, I had some technical problems with the pre-release version, so I wasn’t able to form a detailed opinion here.
Sniper Elite: Resistance is available for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and is in the Game Pass. I tested the PS5 version that publisher Rebellion gave us free of charge.
In a nutshell
The war’s over – for now
In the end, one question remains: is the game fun? Yes. Is it new? Not really. If you love the series and just want to keep blasting Nazis to kingdom come, you’ll definitely have fun here. I did, precisely because the game is no Baldur’s Gate. You can finish it in a weekend – I had about ten hours of gameplay when the credits rolled.
But if you’re looking for real innovation, you’ll be disappointed. Unlike the series as a whole, I probably won’t remember much about the game. All in all, the war in Sniper Elite is over. Unless, of course, they choose a different conflict (there’s plenty to pick), rework the maps and fill them with life.
Pro
- Cool sniping mechanics
- Killcam
- Nice to look at
Contra
- Repetitive
- Very little innovation
- Annoying protagonist
Header image: Florian Bodoky
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I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
