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> Results: Sniper Elite
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Sniper Elite is a shooter set during a fictional World War II scenario. The Russians and Germans are fighting for control of Berlin, while the Russians also pursue nuclear weapons technology. You're an American sniper trained by the Office of Strategic Services. You're posing as a German in an attempt to stop the Russians at any cost.
Gameplay centers on your ability to eliminate enemies from great distances, so it is not surprising that the sniping controls and mechanisms are well developed and implemented. Everything you do impacts your aim including your stance, breathing, heart rate, and the dynamics of weather and your currently equipped weapon. Unfortunately the rest of this very long game is not nearly as good. With a singular focus on sniping, the action, exploration and more intense firefights are not effective. The overall presentationﾗgraphics, sound and voicesﾗseems dated but is effective in context. This game will not convert run-and-gun shooters to patient snipers. But for those who enjoy covert long distance shooting, this is a lengthy game with tons of missions and opportunity to work on that game skill.  
Your goal as a sniper is to blow people's brains out of the backs of their heads from a hundred or so meters away. Given that, along with rewarding deadly accuracy with a slow-motion ﾑbullet view' of the kill, it should be clear that this is a very violent game. The cold detachment of sniping makes it even more violent. Perched from above, clicking off rounds and watching enemies drop, you lose much of the visceral intensity of many war games. That doesn't mean the game isn't intense, though. There is constant tension caused by time limits and your limited defenses as a sniper. This results in a game that is brutal, cruel, gory and intended for adults.
The greatest challenge, and greatest thrill of the game, is getting to a good position safely and quietly and taking out your enemies from great distances. You are awarded points based on getting headshots, distance, multiple kills with a single shot, consecutive one-shot kills, and so on. Although the points are thrilling, and the multiplayer action tracks player point totals as well, the true thrill comes from getting long distance kills. Since you see the enemy through your scope, you can see the enemy intelligence at work. They are often relaxed and talking with their comrades while you focus and take aim. They seek cover and use tactics and generally react properly to being sniped. They even attempt to rescue their allies if you hit them with a non-fatal shot. So while you are racking up the ﾑpoints' you are watching enemy soldiers try to rescue their fallen friends while attempting to survive themselves. All of this detached brutality is missing from intense close-action shootersﾗand somewhat of a cognitive dissonance as you are at once thrilled at scoring a long distance hit and yet might feel revulsion while watching a soldier who was drinking coffee fall to a bloody heap as his fellow soldiers scramble for their lives and you coldly line up your next shot. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "sniper" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Sniper Elite |
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