There’s nothing quite like the feeling of patiently lining up the perfect shot in a Sniper Elite game. You line up the target in your crosshairs, hold your breath to slow down time and steady your aim and then if all goes according to plan when you pull the trigger you can sit back and enjoy some gloriously grotesque slow-motion slaughter as the series’ signature X-Ray Kill Cam kicks in.
The slow push of the bullet towards your target (a Nazi’s testicles, typically), followed by that sickening but strangely satisfying crunchy splash as the projectile bursts through the intended body part (his testes) is like the video game equivalent of the approach to a big drop on a rollercoaster. It’s all quiet apprehension at first but the moment you reach the peak and things fall into place (aka when the bullet pops the testicles), the air explodes into screams of shocked delight and whoops of laughter.
It’s a loop that’s worked incredibly well for the series in the past and, as I found out when I went hands-on with Sniper Elite 5 late last week, it’s a formula that this new instalment is sticking rigidly to. But why would anyone want to change something that’s not broken, especially when it’s still so much fun!
In the video above, you can watch me play through Occupied Residence, the second mission from Sniper Elite 5’s campaign and it should give you a great idea of what to expect when the game releases this time next month. Along with plenty of those familiar ball-busting ballistics that we all know and love, there are also a few minor new additions to the gameplay, some of which seem to have been inspired by the Hitman series.
Taking place in France, 1944, Occupied Residence is a great example of how Rebellion is building on the semi-open world structure it introduced in Sniper Elite 4. Much like the previous game, Sniper Elite 5’s open worlds are small contained maps with multiple routes to your objectives that are often punctuated by areas that serve as perfect sniping and spotting nests. While the levels in Sniper Elite 4 certainly had a lot of scope for exploration and replayability, Occupied Residence feels much busier and more alive than anything that’s come before. Cars, trucks and motorbikes routinely drive along the roads, enemy patrols stalk the forest and the river that runs through it, there are farmhouses dotted around that are full of soldiers to avoid or clear out and of course there’s the sprawling Nazi occupied chateau in the centre. This palatial structure had such an intricate interior that it often felt like I was exploring a multi-levelled maze.