A Russian infantryman stands beneath a shelled-out building in war-torn Germany.

The man begins to light a cigarette. There’s a muzzle flash, and in the blink of an eye a 7.92x57mm Mauser round fired from a Karabiner 98 German-engineered scoped rifle enters his cranium. No, this isn’t some morbid anti-smoking campaign from the 1940s. This is Sniper Elite V2.

Sniper Elite V2 is a third-person shooter that takes place in Nazi Germany near the end of WWII.

V2 was developed by Rebellion and published by 505 Games. V2 was released for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on May 2. V2 is a remake of the original Sniper Elite, which was developed by Rebellion and released in 2005.

Sniper Elite V2 puts you in the shoes of OSS operative Karl Fairburne. Your mission throughout the game is to prevent the Soviets from getting key intelligence from the Nazis. While V2 is entirely fiction, the U.S. was in a race to acquire German intel before the Soviets at the end of WWII, see: Operation Paperclip. You’re sent to Berlin to assassinate a German general by the name of Hans von Eisenberg. Von Eisenberg is planning on defecting to the Soviets, which is a very bad thing.

Your main goal is to stop a V2 launch which is aimed at London. The main story, which takes about about three to four hours to complete, is very ho-hum; luckily, the gameplay makes up for that.

Visuals:

V2 runs on the Asura game engine, which was developed by Rebellion. The game looks pretty good, and the levels are highly detailed. The meat and potatoes of the game lies with the X-Ray kill-cam.

The kill-cam in Sniper Elite V2 is unlike anything you have ever seen before. The kill-cam activates when you pull off an organ-splitting sniper shot. These kill sequences are graphic, to say the least. When you pull the trigger on your sniper rifle, the camera slows down and follows the spinning bullet all the way to your target. The enemy’s internals become visible as your bullet pierces through bones, lungs, eyeballs and brains. The models are highly detailed, and not safe for your lunch. The kill-cam is what V2 sets itself apart from any other game.

Audio:

V2 is plagued with corny and repetitive dialogue. The sound effects from ricocheting bullets sound great, and all of the guns sound accurate and forceful.

One problem I noticed is that some of the enemy dialogue is crystal clear even when enemies are far away. This becomes a problem when attempting to sneak up on enemies. I would occasionally be thrown off from enemy positions because I heard them from hundreds of yards away and it sounded like they were right next to me.

Gameplay:

V2 is a stealth game. You’re supposed to sneak up on enemies, trick them into walking into booby traps and not let them know where your position is. There will be some missions where bombs are falling in the background and you can use the explosions to mask your gunfire. The stealth portion of the game works well.

If you decide to run and gun, you are going to die. Rebellion made it a point to make it very difficult for a player to run around with an SMG and survive. With that being said, it’s fairly easy to find a medium between the two. Don’t be put off from this game if you’re not a fan of stealth action.

There will be sequences where you must run from cover to cover with your machine gun, and these sequences lack in the fun department. V2 as a third-person shooter is fairly lackluster, as running from cover to cover whilst using your MP40 is cumbersome. There is a reason this game is called Sniper Elite and not Sub Machine Gun Master.

Now that V2’s gameplay shortcomings are out of the way, we can talk about what makes this game awesome: sniping. Sniping in V2 is satisfying; there’s really no other way to put it. Putting a .30 caliber round through a Russian’s eyeball from 300 yards away is something that just puts a grin on your face. My roommates can attest to that statement.

Let’s dive in to the core mechanics of V2’s sniping. It’s not easy to hit a moving target from 200-plus yards away, and that’s why Rebellion added a feature called Focus Time. Focus Time will allow you to line up the perfect shot. This feature can be activated as long as your heart rate is at a certain level, so you cannot enter Focus Time after you just sprinted across the street to avoid a Panzer tank, which you will do on occasion.

There are four different difficulty levels in V2, all of which affect the way you use your sniper rifle. The easiest difficulty is Cadet. While playing on Cadet, your sniper rifle will be dead accurate. On the Marksman difficulty, gravity will affect the bullets’ trajectory, and you will have a steadier aim whilst lying down or crouching. While playing on Sniper Elite, you must account for an excess of wind, gravity, heart rate, and stance, along with more difficult enemies. The fourth option of play style is Custom. While playing on Custom, you can determine what will affect your bullets’ path and the determination of your enemy.

V2 offers cooperative and adversarial online multiplayer options. Game modes vary from death match to a very fun horde mode. Online co-op lobbies are few and far between; your best bet to find a game is to make your friend purchase a copy for himself. Competitive lobbies are more populated. Online gameplay is solid and even more fun than single player. Headshots are far more rewarding when playing against other humans.

Round Up:

Sniper Elite V2 is original and extremely fun. Each level averages to about 15 minutes; because of this, you will find yourself replaying missions during downtime. V2 just does not get old; you will constantly try to beat your last distance record. The kill-cam will have you coming back for more. With solid online play, and rewarding gameplay, Sniper Elite V2 is a game you should own.

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