Sniper Elite V2 Review: Headshot Heaven

Game: Sniper Elite V2

Developer: Rebellion

Genre: Third-Person Shooter

System: PC

Rating: M (Blood, Gore, Intense Violence)

In most shooters the sniper rifle is confined to specific areas or used as a secondary gun to an assault rifle or other weapon on the main character’s person. Sniper Elite V2, on the other hand, mixes the ordinary formula up by making the sniper rifle your primary weapon throughout the game.

Gameplay: Sniper Elite V2 incorporates a lot of elements commonly found in most shooters these days, like regenerative health and cover based shooting, with some elements from the Stealth genre. As the name Implies, Sniper Elite V2 focuses heavily on the use of your sniper rifle over other weapons.

The Sniping in V2 requires you to be more strategic in where you fire your shot since gravity, wind speed and whether or not you’re holding your breath when you fire has an effect on where your bullet will land on a target.

Playing V2 in the same manner as other shooters is not a good idea since rushing into a group of enemies is always a guaranteed way of killed. Finding good sniping positions, setting up traps and sneaking up behind enemies and taking them out quietly with your Welrod pistol are useful strategies to execute before you go loud with your sniper rifle.

Though it’s nowhere near as bad as it was in the first game, the A.I. can be a bit sporadic at times. This can be annoying if you’re trying to stealth through most of the game.

The PC version of the game, unfortunately, has a slight lag when there are too many enemies attacking you at once. While this is more of a minor annoyance, it is still irritating when I look back at the demo and how smooth it ran even when there were a bunch of enemies on the screen at the same time.

Visuals: Graphically, V2 goes for the standard “Realism” look but provides enough colors and contrasts here and there to liven up the basic brown background.

One of Sniper Elite V2’s key features is a particularly detailed and gruesome kill cam that activates when you get a well-placed shot on a target. V2 is not for the squeamish or weak stomached out there. Each successful kill cam is incredibly brutal in details and can range anywhere from a bone breaking head shot to the dark humored, if not cringe inducing, “Gonad shot.”

Sound: The soundtrack is phenomenal, and musical cues are particularly useful when you want to know if someone has found you out or when you have finally killed the last enemy that was hounding you at the time.

Final Thoughts: Sniper Elite V2 manages to bring a feature that is normally considered a secondary weapon in most games and create an incredibly enjoyable experience around it. There are a few slight flaws here and there, but timing a shot to the sound of a falling bomb, firing and then watching the bullet in action provides a uniquely satisfying experience that cannot be found in other shooters.

9/10