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Sniper Elite 5PREVIEW
move. And hey,even if this whole
infiltration businessis a bust, at least I’ll
get to do a little murder onthe side, right?
So offI go, Nazi hunting.
Immediately as I start sneaking
towards thechateau, Sniper Elite 5feels
like an upgrade over Sniper Elite 4. The
visuals, thesound,the AI of the enemies- it’sall sharper, more realistic, and more
satisfying. Where Sniper Elite 4enemies
would justmill about in the last place they
saw you,Sniper Elite 5’s AI assumes I’m
still in thearea and continues its pursuit
just that little bit further. If I hideously cock
up my plans, I really have to wait for a
chance to tryit all again, or just completely
reevaluate. When attempting a breach of
the chateau, forexample, I die several
times attempting one approach before
calling it quits because loud orquiet, the
patrols andplacementsof the guards are
woven tightly enough to foil my plans.
Though nota puzzle game in the
traditional point-and-click sense, Sniper
Elite 5is already setting me brain teasers.
Risk discovery for a quieter wayinto a
secret room, or blow thebloodydoors off?
Kill the guard on higher ground,
eliminating the potential forhim to spot
me, or risk the closer target outof ease?
Go through the main doors of a complex
or slink myway to tunnels whichwill be
harder toaccessif I’mfound out once
inside?They’re tricky tactical choices.
WHO YOUGONNA KARL?
Youcan save scum (I certainly
recommend manually saving your game
frequently) ifyou’re keento explore every
option presented to you. Rebellion has no
problem with fans changing their minds all
the time, that’sapparent – it just wants to
maximise fun. But these options make the
levels, even just the one I get to try, highly
replayable. You’ll want togive each area
another shot (pun intended) to discover
what youmight have missed. Or maybe
try for some of those subtlerkill
opportunities that you only noticedafter
you’dalready downed everyone with
bollock shots.
Youcan go verysubtle indeed, in fact,
because Sniper Elite 5featuresHitman-
esque ‘accidents’you can use totake
enemies out non-lethally.However, if I’mbeing candid, I’m not exactly sure of the
advantage. The resulting kill cams are less
bombastic, and it’snot really likeI feel too
bad aboutkilling a dozen Nazis here and
there on my way to find an A4 sheet of
paper anyway. At the end of thelevel there
is a chart to show you how loud or quiet
you were, as well as lethal or non-lethal.
I’m sure therewill eventually bechallenge
runs the community constructs around
the idea of these post-release, but likethe
niche 2011horrorfilm Silent but Deadly I
aimed tobe umm... silent but deadly.
But beingstealthy doesn’t mean there
isn’t a little room for fun. Taking a level on
outpost by outpost meansthat youcan go
a bit gung ho onoccasion. Sniperrifles
themselves happen to be blooming loud,
and in this chateau level, thereisn’t a lot of
sound cover to use to disguise the shot.
Instead I use theapproach of slowly
picking offenemies with melee attacks,
before running back out to the French
fields anddestroying thelast target inthe
area with my sniper rifle. If a sniper shoots
his gun and no one is around to hearit,
does it even make a sound?RIFLING THROUGH
On top of the obvious sniper rifles, Sniper
Elite 5will have a selection offan favourite
pistols, explosives, rifles, SMGs, and more
from previous games,and thanks to
workbenches dotted aroundeach level,
you’llbe able to swap yourloadout
around mid-mission. Youcan already pick
up the guns and gear of some of the
soldiers you kill as you go, but the
workbenches add another layer of
freedom, allowing you to always give
those Nazis the personal touch.
If your interestis piqued by Sniper Elite
5 ahead of the May release date,I’d
recommend trying out Sniper Elite 4.
Though 5 is prettier, crunchier and full of
quality-of-life improvements, it does feel
like there is an assumption as you play
that you’ll have seen andfelt theseries’
style before. Between 4 and 5 controls
have been made more responsive, the
vaulting is more intuitive, and the routes
through the levelmore cleverly guided, to
the point that youoften feel like you’ve
discovered each pathorganically. But
knowing howto calculate potential bullet
drop or what weaponry is worth picking
up from dead Nazis feels like presumed
knowledge, and anyone who hasn’t tried 4
may findthemselves fumbling a little with
the finerdetails.Considerthis a warning to
do your historyhomework now.
Imogen MellorTHE PATROLS OF THE GUARDS
ARE WOVEN TIGHTLY ENOUGH
TO FOIL MY PLANS
Great shots are
rewarded with slow-mo
X-ray kills.