Sniper Elite V2 Review

Sniper Elite V2 lets players get creative.

War is hell, and in Sniper Elite V2, you're Hell with a gun.

The story of Sniper Elite V2 isn't anything special. You're a sniper in Europe during World War II, and you're killing people to stop the Nazis from winning the war. Simple and uncomplicated. It's not crazy, it's not going to win any awards, and I appreciate that about the game. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is - a game where you shoot people from far away and sneak around trying to get to your objectives.

It's like Mortal Sniper Kombat Elite V2 or something.

That being said, you kind of have to laugh at how grizzled and badass sounding the main character is. He sounds like Solid Snake and it's a little silly. The graphics aren't anything impressive until you get to the X-Ray-zoom-in-shots of your bullet slicing through someone's trachea and, by God, that is gloriously morbid. It's the WWII shooter version of Mortal Kombat.

The real trial of the game is attempting to do it the way it wants you to. There's not a lot of room for fire-fights and standing your ground with the enemy being less than 50m from you. Your best bet is to keep them at 100m or more to still pick them off.

It's intensely satisfying to play mind-games with the AI though. You're able to booby-trap and confuse them to no end. My personal favorite is putting a landmine on a dead body and watching someone investigate it and then blow themselves to kingdom come.

In the demo you're able to set traps on the sidewalks of a bombed out street and stop an armored convoy as it rolls down the road. When they stop and begin to take cover from you, it's like a horrendous fireworks display watching the plumes of smoke and fire erupt as their safe positions become their graves.

Reading that entire paragraph back to myself right now makes me feel like some crazed sociopath, but honestly this entire game is just one big guilty pleasure. You're able to use rocks to throw the Nazis off with sound and they'll play right into your traps.

The power of this game is in the multiplayer. There's three different versions of it and each one is just as fun as the next. Overwatch has to be the most well made mode, however. You and a friend can take up positions in an area from the main campaign, and fend off wave after wave of enemies for as long as possible. You would think that would get boring, but it keeps you on your toes and if you have a good team, you and your friend will have a blast.

Set some traps and watch the show.

Co-oping the campaign is very satisfying too. I mean, it's just playing the game with a friend. Same story, same levels, just more enemies and no explanation as to why there are now two snipers instead of one. WHO CARES?! THIS GAME IS HILARIOUSLY FUN!!

Looking at the composition of the game and whether or not it is innovative or ground-breaking, the score for this is probably a  7 or so. But based purely on the fun factor, this game is probably a 9 or a 10. It's the oddest thing. The game isn't beautiful, it's nothing new, but it's executed spectacularly. It will most definitely stay under the radar, but if you ever pick it up you will likely never part with it. And if you get a friend and play this? Fuggetaboutit. You'll never stop. This is a prime game to represents the idea that some of the best games aren't blockbusters - some aren't even terribly innovative - they're fun.