Thanks to the lovely folks at Rebellion Developments, I recently had the chance to get a hands-on look at the upcoming Sniper Elite 5. While the preview only covered the first mission, it was more than enough to get me excited for the full game releasing on May 26th.
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Sniper Elite 5 is the latest in the Sniper Elite series and continues the story of American elite sniper Karl Fairburne in his mission to defeat the Nazi regime. While the story itself is not going to what most people pick up Sniper Elite 5 for, I found the introduction quite intriguing. There are secret Nazi plots to uncover and plenty of leading Nazi officers to kill in incredibly satisfying ways. I’m definitely interested in seeing how the plot develops throughout the full game, but even in just the preview, it’s clear that we’re getting quite a fun story.
The real highlight of Sniper Elite 5, obviously, is the sniping. The series has consistently brought incredibly visceral gameplay, and the x-ray camera when landing kill shots is as satisfying as ever. The best part is that there are seemingly endless options when it comes to how to complete the objective. While I only had one mission to play, I ended up going through it multiple times, using new starting locations and different strategies to achieve victory each time. The fact that I was able to get a few playthroughs of the mission in only two hours during the preview shows just how replayable the full game will be.
The gameplay in the preview was really fun, but what excited me the most was the things I wasn’t able to spend as much time with. The most prominent of those is gun customization. I was able to unlock different ammunition types, and just the introduction of that had me pining for all of the customization options available as you progress further through the game. Rebellion has said that players will be able to “change scopes, stocks, barrels, magazines and more.” The options I was able to see in the menu looked like they would provide even more options on how to complete objectives.
It’s also important to note just how incredible the game looks. The first mission took place in a sprawling estate in France in 1944, and I felt truly transported into the era. The attention to detail is immaculate, which helped with the immersion and enhanced the Nazi-killing experience. I can’t wait to see some of the other locations shown in the trailers since the first level presented such a great preview of what is to come.
Other parts of the game, like co-op, were not available in the preview, but Rebellion claims to have improved on the co-op quite a bit since Sniper Elite 4. Having the option to complete missions with a friend really amplifies the enjoyment of the game, and I couldn’t help but spend time during my preview thinking about how I would tackle missions if I had another top sniper assisting me along the way.
I may have only experienced a few hours of Sniper Elite 5, but that alone was enough to get me excited for the full release. I can’t wait to play the rest of the missions and, most importantly, kill some more Nazis when the entire game releases.
Sniper Elite 5 comes to Xbox One, Xbox X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 4|5, and for PC on Steam, Epic Games, and the Windows Store on May 26th, 2022.
