Rabu, 12 November 2008

Sniper Elite

We play Sniper Elite...

As you would imagine from the title of the game, Sniper Elite is all about sniping. If you don’t have a good aim, make a lot of noise, can’t shoot, or just don’t snipe for whatever reason, it’s pretty much over for you. If you are able to line up the perfect shot and go for the kill, Sniper Elite will be on the top of your list of most loved games. Sniper Elite is for the serious sniper that has the skills and the guts to finish the job.

Sniper Elite is all about sniping as you would imagine

If you are able to to line up the perfect shot and go for the kill...

The setting: 1945 and you are and American soldier that was trained at the United States Military Academy (West Point). Only the best can get in West Point, and only the best of the best make it out. You are trained, ready for action, and working as an American spy disguised as a German that is working against the Soviet secret service, the NKVD, to keep them from stealing any atomic technology. In easier terms to understand, the Soviet troops are coming and you have to stop them. World War 2 just ended and the Soviets forces main goal is to take control of all of Europe. Your name: Eagle Watch. In your mission of taking out the NKVD you will go through a series of rescues, assassination, intelligence, and many assault missions.

In Sniper Elite, you will be assigned one large overall mission, which will then be broken down into small missions once you have made it to the ground. Based upon what move the enemy makes, conditions will always be changing, and therefore so will your objectives. The individual, smaller missions are even quite lengthy and will capture your attention for a while. Things will move quicker once you have the enemy positions known and memorized.

There are a few things you must decide about yourself as a gamer before purchasing or playing Sniper Elite. You must be excessively patient and be able to sit and concentrate on your target without getting frustrated. You must also realize that you will not be able to spot some of your enemies until they are up on you and shooting already. Your compass has an indicator showing the directions of enemy fire, but it can be extremely vague and difficult to read. Sometimes you will have some leverage from a certain special vantage point you are at, such as a rooftop or apartment window, but most of the time your enemies will attack from nowhere after you have killed a target.

You must be excessively patient and be able to sit and concentrate on your target without getting frustrated
You must also realize that you will not be able to spot some of your enemies until they are up on you and shooting already

This will undoubtedly get on your nerves to no end, having enemies take you off-guard and there being nothing you can do about it. It is especially difficult and frustrating in upper levels of the game when you don’t have as many lives to spare. This is where common sense and decision making enter the picture, but sometimes even that won’t save you. For example, lets say you blow up a tank, and out of nowhere two soldiers come after. You’re a goner. If you hadn’t blown up the tank, but instead found a different route around, you wouldn’t have gotten spotted and killed. The problem is, there is no possible way to know that until after it’s already happened. Even though this aspect is frustrating and will make you want to cuss out loud, it is interesting and keeps things from getting boring and monotonous.

The arsenal available to you in Sniper Elite is pretty impressive. You will have access to different sniper riles, MG-42’s, silencer pistols like P-38’s, PPSH41’s, and more. Not only will you have guns and pistols, you will have a set of unconventional weapons, like sticks of dynamite, time bombs, trip wire grenades, hand grenades, and other explosives.

You don’t have very quick response time (strange thing for a West Point graduate, huh?) and your weapons take a few seconds before they are ready. The reason is understandable; you must carry all of your large weapons on you and take your pack off every time you wish to switch weapons. This is realistic though; snipers actually do it that way. The only thing here that is inaccurate is the amazing abilities of your enemy to spot you. Remember though, even all of these cool weapons are useless if you leave cover and are spotted.

In Sniper Elite you will be able to switch from playing from the third person view to the first person view by zooming in and out using your controls. Controls can be fully customized and are easy to understand. Even with this, and somewhat because of this, close range combat is not all that and is kind of flawed. Besides that, you’re a sniper, there isn’t supposed to be any close range combat.

Sniper Elite has both LAN and online play. Your character’s appearance can be customized and you have the choice of playing Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, or Assassination modes. The game is much more entertaining and fun when played like this and much better to face a human sniper than computer-controlled enemy that follows a planned artificial pattern.

Graphics in Sniper Elite are actually pretty good
If you like to blow and go throughout an entire game without ever slowing down, don’t even waste your time with this game

Graphics in Sniper Elite are actually pretty good. The surrounding environment is has great texture and is a blended mix of browns, grays, yellows, and greens-just what you would expect from the armed forces. Death animations are very realistic and heads practically snap back when hit straight on with a bullet, making it entertaining to watch them die. There are many smaller visual movements that you will detect, such as rats scurrying about and fluttering papers.


Above all else, Sniper Elite is only for the patient gamer. If you like to blow and go throughout an entire game without ever slowing down, don’t even waste your time with this game, but if you like to watch the rewards of your meticulously calculated homework, then this is definitely the game for you.

Top game moment: Sitting for five or ten minutes just waiting for the perfect moment to blast the Soviet enemy right between the eyes, and then pegging him.

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