Sniper Elite 5 Review – DOES IT GET STALE?

Sniper Elite has been enjoyed by many fans, especially for its famous kill cams. Although it differs slightly from other first-person shooters, there is still a lot that feels very generic. So why don’t we take a look at what Sniper Elite 5 has done well and what areas that need to be improved?

An Extremely Generic Narrative

The story for Sniper Elite 5 starts with the main character, Karl Fairburne joining an operation to weaken the AXIS forces. Quickly, Fairburne uncovers a secret Nazi plot called Operation Kracken. This starts to cause turmoil between Fairburne and Jeff Sullivan, the commander of the US rangers. Fairburne pushes his case and while ignoring the commander, proceeds to try and stop the Nazi plot at all costs.

To be honest, it is a very simplistic story. Because you get story clips in between the gameplay, it can become rather choppy and a bit difficult to follow. Not to mention that it comes across as a relatively generic story. I mean, it has to be the 100th first-person shooter about fighting Nazis. It seriously comes across as a rather forgettable story that not even the characters can save. However, the story is ultimately not why you play Sniper Elite titles.

Repetitive and Boring Gameplay… Mostly

The gameplay for Sniper Elite 5 has some good moments and some boring moments. When playing the campaign, the gameplay becomes very repetitive, very quickly. Go here. Shoot them. Blow that up. Kill him. Again and again. It quickly becomes predictable, leading to boredom. The majority of the enjoyment comes from the adaptive triggers on the PS5 controllers, and the classic Sniper Elite kill cams we have all come to know and love. The adaptive triggers really help immerse you into the world of Sniper Elite 5, adding to the enjoyment of shooting a Nazi in the face.

Playing the campaign in co-op however, significantly increases the enjoyment of the adventure. Even though the gameplay is the same, going through it with a friend adds in a different type of element. Suddenly, one can draw fire while the other flanks. You can split up and attack from several directions. One can go after an objective while the other keeps a lookout. It quickly becomes more tactical and enjoyable.

What adds a bit more intrigue is having Invasion in the campaign. Invasion is an aspect of the game where another player can ‘Invade’ your mission, adding another objective to kill the invader. There are however a couple of perks for both snipers. The invader gets a perk to help locate a player when they tag an enemy, and the player gets phones for intel on the invader’s location. Even though this adds another level of intrigue, if you don’t want random people hacking into your campaign, Invasion mode can be turned off.

In addition, there are a couple of other gameplay options such as Multiplayer and Survival. Multiplayer has some of your classic game modes, like free-for-all or team death match. However, for those of us who don’t have that competitive edge or just don’t like being killed time and time again, you can play Survival. In survival, you can join up to 3 other players to endure wave after wave of enemies, working together to decimate every enemy in your path.

Average World, Interesting Menus

The world design of Sniper Elite 5 is fine. The character designs are ok, the maps are decent and the actual world looks like what you would expect. Nothing amazing, but also nothing dreadful. There are however a lot of interesting details in the menus, such as all of the medals and ribbons you can collect for completing achievements in not just the campaign, but multiplayer as well. Or the extended stats for when you amend current weapons and equip new ones. I personally like the simplified stats, however, I really like the fact they have this for people who really want to know exactly what that scope is going to do to their rifle.

Decision

If you enjoy some fun gameplay and playing with other people in first-person shooters, then it is a fun title to pick up and play. However, if you depend on a well-written story to take you on a journey, then I wouldn’t bother with this title. Where this game shines is covering its bases. There are elements here for almost everyone. The only question is, is it worth the price just to enjoy part of this game? That is up to you.

By Dillon Van Der Putten – Reviewed on PlayStation 5

Good

Sniper Elite 5 is a perfect example of a game that is just good. There are no real glitches or screen tearing and the game plays really well on the PS5. The graphics look fine, even if the character designs are a little questionable. The problem arises with the game becoming predictable and boring. However, the devs saw this coming – hence half the game being online. So even though playing through the campaign with a friend is fun, it’s not worth the price, in my opinion.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Rebellion Developments. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website