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The Sniper Elite series dates back nearly two decades, though there was a seven-year gap between the first and second entries. Since the second entry, the series has received a new game every few years, continuing now with the all-new Sniper Elite: Resistance. While it may technically be a spinoff of the mainline numbered series, Sniper Elite: Resistance is pretty much everything you’d expect from one, complete with plenty of the classic x-ray kill shots that fans have come to know the franchise for over the years.
A Parallel Story
Rather than play as series lead American-British sniper Karl Fairburne, Sniper Elite: Resistance moves further from the front lines of the war to Vichy France after the country’s initial defeat against Germany. However, the new lead protagonist is not entirely unfamiliar, as those who have played co-op in previous outings should recognize Harry Hawker. Hawker is a British soldier and a member of the Special Operations Executives (SOE) like Fairburne. He is not alone in this mission either, as he has a confidant in Morris Ahmed, who is always on the other end of the radio when Hawker is in the field. Their conversations during the game add some life to the missions that otherwise might have started to feel a bit too isolated.
The main plot of Sniper Elite: Resistance takes place parallel to Sniper Elite 5’s story, and the SOE uncovers secret super weapons created by the Germans that you must find a way to destroy or stop from being distributed at the very least. This means that each mission typically has some sabotage requirement, whether thwarting plans by stealing information quietly or having to blow up armored trains, including the top secret Zugwerfer. There is also the looming threat of the Kleine Blume that you must stop, which is a chemical weapon that even Adolf Hitler banned the use of in battle, but certain segments of the Nazi regime want to use it to push things in the Axis’ favor here unless you can stop them. Hearing about the different elements of the war is very interesting here and really makes the story captivating to keep up with.
Even as a spinoff, Sniper Elite: Resistance has much of the makeup of a mainline game, almost to a fault sometimes. The game’s main focus is obviously on the campaign, which is made up of nine total missions for you to complete. These can vary greatly in how long it takes to beat depending on the playstyle of the player, but the general idea is for it to take about an hour or so per mission besides the shorter opening mission and the super short final mission.
For anyone who has played a Sniper Elite game in recent years, such as Sniper Elite 5, you already will know almost exactly what to expect with the gameplay in Sniper Elite: Resistance. As the name indicates, the focus of the gameplay here is always on the sniper rifle, which is rather unique for shooters that usually have that as a more niche class. You will always have a trusty sniper rifle at your side, as well as two other weapons that you can switch back and forth between, including rifles and sidearms. Enemy weapons can also be picked up and used temporarily, but they are dropped as soon as you switch to another weapon or run out of ammo. This quickly became a frustration where I would accidentally drop the enemy weapon while interacting with something and having to find it again and pick it up, when it would have worked better if we could actually hold the one in our inventory at all times instead of having to drop it continuously.
The signature of the Sniper Elite series has been the gruesome x-ray shots when killing enemies with a sniper and occasionally other weapons. When getting the kill shot, the game will zoom in with an x-ray to the point of impact and show the bullet rip through the entire body, whether that may be the head, eyeball, kidney, or even testicle. While this could be a little over the top for some just looking for a basic shooter, this can be disabled in the settings menu. There isn’t really anything new here in regards to this feature, but I can’t say that I didn’t love seeing it every time I managed to pull it off in the game, especially if it was a very impressive shot.
While some may be looking for major innovation to push the series forward, Sniper Elite: Resistance instead provides players with more of what they loved about the last game. This isn’t exactly an awful thing, though some fresh ideas would have been nice to see here. Still, these are likely being saved for the next numbered entry.
The setup within each mission is pretty much the same, where there are a series of primary objectives for you to complete that are required to unlock exfiltration from the mission and move on to the next. Besides that, there are a few side quests that you can choose to partake in that will affect your final mission ranking. Outside the first and final missions, each mission has one to three optional objectives for you to complete that are marked as blue on the level map. These typically involve you sabotaging or destroying something related to the mission, often with plenty of enemies nearby to try and stop you. There is also a special assassination task found in each of these missions as well, where you simply have to kill a specific person from the kill list found in that stage. The general area for this is also noted on the map and is generally surrounded by lots of other enemies to keep you from getting to your target easily.
By completing the main story mission, you will earn one star for the stage. Another is earned by completing all of the available optional objectives, as well as a third and final star for getting the kill list assassination completed. Even though the kill list tasks have extra kill challenges that require you to kill the person with a specific type of weapon or object, this does not affect the star rating. On top of the star rating, there is more to be found in each mission, with a number of collectibles scattered around. Outside of the second level that has 20, stages three through eight have 19 collectibles to be found, including personal letters, classified documents, hidden items, stone eagles, and workbenches. Keep an eye out wherever you are to see these, and you will likely end up finding at least a handful of them just by happenstance during each mission. For the rest, you’re going to have to look hard to find them by searching every nook and cranny. The most important of these to look for are the seven propaganda posters scattered throughout the game that help unlock missions in another game mode.
For completing the missions in Sniper Elite: Resistance, one of the key elements here is choice in how you want to take on each task. The main option is obviously to be stealthy and snipe from afar and try to be as quiet as possible as you make your way across the map. However, if you want to go Rambo and take on the army yourself loudly, feel free to do so, though I would not recommend it. In many parts of the missions, more reinforcements will be called upon you when you are spotted by sounding alarms, which you need to disable quickly if you don’t want to be overwhelmed by enemies. The Field Report at the end of each mission gives you a breakdown of how you played that specific mission via a four-quadrant grid that includes Lethal, Non-Lethal, Stealth, and Assault. I tended to stay on the Lethal Stealth side on most levels, as I found myself sneaking around using my knife to quietly kill any enemies I could, as well as arming them with explosives to surprise other enemies that came nearby while also using my sniper most often from afar if I could. The game also offers a three-pronged skill tree that you can use to level up in certain ways, such as health upgrades or being able to toss back live grenades. Choosing options that fit with your playstyle is very helpful here, though you should be able to unlock quite a number of them from each category in your playthrough anyway.
Carrying over from the last few entries in the series, Sniper Elite: Resistance includes campaign co-op where you can play with a friend or a random player online. This is something that is a cool feature to have in the game once again, though your mileage may vary depending on your co-op partner. Having a great partner can really elevate the experience, while a lackluster one can tank the experience entirely and make you wish you were playing solo.
Another feature brought back again here is Invasions, where you can jump into another player’s campaign and wreak havoc by playing as a sniper trying to take down the playable character or have another player do the same to you instead. Those who want to focus exclusively on the campaign can turn this feature off, but it definitely does have a level of intensity when you can be attacked at any time by a real player. This can be done through a random match or an invite code if you want to join a friend’s game.
As aforementioned, finding the seven Propaganda Posters in the campaign will unlock missions in a special game mode known as the Propaganda Challenge. These are small stages that you can play repeatedly, where you face off against enemies to test your skills in one of three categories: stealth, combat, or sniping. The goal is to kill as many enemies as possible within a time limit using limited weapons you are given, even with the ability to earn extra time within the challenge. I felt like these were good ancillary additions to keep players interested, though I do not think it was a good idea to lock the missions beyond collectibles you have to search to find in the campaign. Survival mode is back again, though it almost feels unnecessary with how Propaganda Challenges are utilized.
The last game mode available in Sniper Elite: Resistance is multiplayer, which always has a place in any shooter. However, this is far from the main attraction, unlike in something like Call of Duty. The online multiplayer has some interesting modes like No Cross, where literally nothing can be done but sniping due to the barrier in the middle, but it’s still pretty run-of-the-mill multiplayer. Between free-for-all, team match, and squad match, you have some options at your disposal here to play around with that should provide some additional hours of fun.
Besides the lack of innovation, the biggest flaw in Sniper Elite: Resistance is the presence of bugs and glitches that were frustrating at times. A few of these were boundary glitches where my character should have been able to move through an area but was seemingly blocked by an invisible wall that should not have been there, with some walkable surfaces already not being able to be traversed that looked like they should be walkable. Climbing up ladders and vines was also an adventure sometimes, with the inability to jump down when it should have been available or just not being able to climb on at all being an issue. Crouching or crawling through gaps also had its fair share of issues, often requiring you to stand up again and then back to crouch or prone to properly make it through. These collision issues also carried over to interacting with some objects at times, often requiring you to move back and forth to be in just the right spot to interact.
Enemy AI was also questionable at times in the game, especially when it came to investigating sounds. One of the gameplay elements is to be able to toss bottles or set off nearby traps to get the attention of enemies and distract them. However, there were times when I would throw a bottle right near an enemy with no sound-dampening effects going on nearby, and they acted like nothing happened whatsoever. This was something that happened pretty sporadically, though, so it worked well most of the time. I also noticed weird paths taken by the AI at times, but that’s more nitpicking than anything else.
Verdict
Rather than pushing to take things to the next level from Sniper Elite 5, developer Rebellion Developments instead just gives us more of what we liked in that game, now with a new coat of paint in Sniper Elite: Resistance. Besides the new protagonist and setting, the gameplay is essentially the same as you remember it, though that gameplay is still very satisfying at its core, especially the x-ray shots. While there were some bugs that hampered the experience, and it did feel more like an expansion than an entirely new game, Sniper Elite: Resistance is still well worth giving a try for fans of the series and shooter fans alike.
Score: 7.5/10
Pros:
- Solid story
- Enjoyable mission tasks
- Gratifying x-ray shots
Cons:
- Too similar to Sniper Elite 5
- Inability to store enemy weapons
- Needs more polish
Sniper Elite: Resistance was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
