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In Sniper Elite you are an American commando disguised as a German sniper. Your global mission is to infiltrate Soviet controlled parts of Berlin in order to prevent the commies from obtaining Germany’s top secret atomic bomb development plans. Sniper Elite approaches the worn out World War 2 game world with a unique story line and it does so through an engaging game play and a solid graphical presentation. Even though the game has been ported to all major systems including the PC, its Playstation 2 version looks mighty good considering the system’s age. The character models have a high polygon count and there is a great variety of character models. The game loads fast and the fps rate is smooth throughout the game. I am very impressed with the game’s maps as they have been designed realistically. By this, I mean that the game world as a whole feels realistic and has not been designed with sniper in mind. This translates into challenging game play that will make you think and rethink various ways of attacking an enemy who boasts clever AI routines. For example, if you try to use your sniper rifle for close quarter battles you will be killed instantly.

Sniper Elite rewards a patient player. There is no rushing in the single player game. However the multi player portion of the game is plagued with many players who try to play the game as it was a Quake 3 deathmatch session. In a multiplayer game mode you will experience a sniper vs. sniper battle with a number of human opponents. If you are a clever player you may eliminate many of the above mentioned “Quake 3 trigger-happy braniacs” from a safe distance. After I finished my single player campaign, I gained new respect for the AI controlled bots after I saw how idiotic many of the on-line human players were. I came across some really good human snipers but overall I felt that the multiplayer portion of the game should have been made such so it unlocks once you complete the single player portion of the game. My rationale is that it felt as though many of players jumped into the multiplayer without even bothering to master the single player experience, which in itself should be considered a great sniper school.

Your rifle in the game is no easy weapon to master. You need to get used to searching for your target by toggling between it and your binoculars. After this routine process sinks in, there is the shooting part. The game does a very good job at simulating the sniper’s breathing movement and how it affects the scope’s movement. Then there is the bullet drop which occurs due to a combination of air resistance and the Earth’s gravitational pull. Once you are on top of all of these game elements you will delight at both brutal and gruesome visual conclusions of your bullets colliding with the vital body parts of your enemy.

Overall, Sniper Elite is a must have game for anyone who loves being a sniper. It is a great teaching tool for game snipers anywhere from the huge maps of the Battlefield series to some of the smaller maps of the Day of Defeat maps. Sniper Elite is also a very good console controller adaptation of a traditionally mouse controller dominated first person shooter genre. If you are serious about being a sniper this is a game that you don’t want to miss. I also suggest getting some good books on being a sniper – check out Amazon.com or your local library… Good hunting snipers!