ALERT! I can’t insert pictures because of the red numbers. YOU understand what I mean?
I recently bought Sniper Elite 3. Everything looked very attractive on the rollers, and I, not listening to logical convictions, in an era of gaming lack of fish, decided to play this game. You already guessed how it ended, yeah? I guessed much later and in a thousand kilotons of letters. Actually, a little further down the line – why Sniper Elite 3 is not as bad as it seems, and why it is still much worse than it could be.
In general, there are two reservations at once. First of all, this is not a game in the typical sense of the word – it’s mechanics. We were given locations and enemies, and here we begin to test the strength of the mechanics. That is, this is a kind of local sandbox no plot – so we won’t go back to the depth of character development, atmosphere, etc. Because they simply don’t exist.
Secondly, this is another part of SE. This is recognizable in everything – in gait, in locations, in graphics, in battles. The mechanics have changed here, moving towards large open locations and almost completely abandoning narrow corridor battles. But the game is still recognizable. And this is not the best argument in favor of the game, because the previous parts of the game (if you played, of course) have already become boring to death. So, if you have already played, I advise you to stay away from this part – yawning risks taking you to nirvana with subsequent discussion about the frailty of the gaming industry.
Actually, these two reservations already allow us to say the most important thing – this is not a game for everyone. There are bad games, there are good games, and there are average games. And there are those who appeal to people only with very specific tastes. Sniper Elite was and remains such a game.
I’m done with the introduction https://rise-casino.uk/withdrawal/ and starting to discuss the game. After a short tutorial, we are thrown into a large open location, where it is very dark, which promotes stealth, and where there are many enemies, which is not conducive to sniper shooting off heads. Talking about sniper shootings, it is worth noting that we only need to fire three shots before we are discovered and actively attacked. That is, the usual everyday life of a harsh sniper goes like this: you shoot, run to another point and wait a minute for the “suspiciousness” timer to go down. Then – again. And one more thing. And one more thing. And there’s a whole cloud of enemies at the location! There are twenty of them, no less, and having disturbed one, everyone else from all over the location will come running to help him. Going into the open is not an option at all, our hero is weak, and the opponents surround quite intelligently and shoot accurately. There is only one thing left to do – sneak around, hide behind covers, accurately drill holes in the opponents’ brains and brutally stab them in the throat.
And this fact is actually a little strange. Contrary to its name, You don’t have to shoot with a sniper rifle very often — it’s not too powerful, it’s noisy, and the bullet has great ballistics. And in general, shooting is quite boring, and looking at the spectacular X-ray gets boring after the third shot. Overall, there is too little sniper gameplay in a sniper game. If you were expecting fierce firefights with enemy snipers, then I can disappoint you – they didn’t bring anything like that here.
Well, well, we are not going to lose heart. As I already said, the most effective strategy is hide and seek, binoculars to “mark” enemies, close combat and a “fingerless” pistol. And here it gets really interesting – the enemies are smart enough to notice you even from great distances, and, having discovered the body, they will instantly begin to check the area for the presence of enemy spies. And here any means are used – pebbles, fires to distract attention, tripwires, mines, rare sniper shots, constant movement… Narrow sections of the levels do not allow you to sneak up from behind, but in wide areas you yourself can be surrounded. Essentially, there is wide improvisation, a wide choice of methods – almost any strategy that comes to your mind is feasible (start a local fire, to which all opponents will come running, and you will quietly pass by). The synthesis of “sniper ideas” with “casual stealth fighters” turned out to be quite remarkable. This doesn’t make the game more of a sniper, but there are already good mechanics.
But I bet you sensed a catch. Yes, he really is here. It’s all about the execution of the mechanics. Just coming up with something cool is half the battle. Implementation is the problem. Yes, from here the mechanics fail quite seriously and can drive you crazy. Let’s say that if you are accidentally discovered, it is quite difficult to hide. We need to run to a safe place and wait, but since our gamer ass demands adventure, we will definitely try to complete the game with a raised “alarm level”. It’s just a joke here – just one glance at your shadow is enough for excited enemies to sound a general alarm. And now, like it or not, you have to load. And then, quite possibly, you will have to do more and more. The process of passing SE 3 begins to be split into many small segments, the gameplay loses its solidity, which is very bad for similar games with sandbox stealth. Remembering any more or less adequate representative of the genre, the quiet elimination of opponents as you were discovered turned into tactical battles based on ingenuity, and then back into quiet elimination. There is no such thing in the new Sniper Elite – if you are discovered, be prepared for death or stupid and unfulfilling shootouts. Seriously, your enemies have about the same number of lives as you, but there are twenty times more of them, and they shoot much more accurately.
Conclusion: The main drawback of the mechanics is that apart from the quiet passage of the game there is nothing else – no sniper gameplay, no interesting shootouts, nothing! The game is perceived as normal until the moment you are discovered, but not after. Considering that this is already the third reincarnation of what is already not the best game in the world, the situation is sad. “The Game Isn’t for Everyone” manages to scare away even the audience that was attracted to this controversial concept. However, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the process. Some lulz were still delivered, but the game certainly wasn’t worth the money. It is recommended to buy only during the “era of fishlessness”, and even better – at a sale, when a good half of the cost will be stolen by discounts.
Betty Wainstock
Sócia-diretora da Ideia Consumer Insights. Pós-doutorado em Comunicação e Cultura pela UFRJ, PHD em Psicologia pela PUC. Temas: Tecnologias, Comunicação e Subjetividade. Graduada em Psicologia pela UFRJ. Especializada em Planejamento de Estudos de Mercado e Geração de Insights de Comunicação.

