I put it out there – I suck at sniping. I rarely play a sniper during multiplayer games as my aim is way too slow and besides, no matter how long I aim, I usually miss. Single player is a bit of an exception as you are challenging the AI instead and quite frankly, AI can be a hit / miss (excuse the pun). Stealth games I am usually quite a master of that. So, my “sniping experience” is limited hence I decided to pick this up – Sniper Ghost Warrior from City Interactive. It promises all things sniping goodness like wind factor, breathing and distance. Overall, it did live up to its promise somewhat however, I would not consider this a sniping “simulation”.
The plot is stock standard stuff – the Isla Trueno (a fictious place that resembles a Latin American country) is a small island that is now being overthrown by a dictator. The island had a couple of resources that benefits the dictator including a decent size cocaine plantation. Of course, this island is backed by the United States hence in comes the team – Alpha Nine. You play the sniper for most of the time. Other times, you will be playing the spotter / short range gun-ho maniac who cannot fire an assault weapon if his life depends upon it.
At the start of the game, there are three levels of difficulty being easy, medium and hard. I went straight on hard because I can; so, my review is based on this difficulty level. This difficulty has the “red dot” removed (meaning the red dot is the “true” aim taking on all factors – basically where the bullet ultimately goes) and the enemies are all crack shots – seriously. What I can do with my sniper rifle is what they can do with their assault rifles shooting from the hip.
So, for me to get a good shot in, I need to rest, aim, breath easily, wait, line up my shot whilst my cursor is still wobbling about like I am seriously drunk as, pray a little then fire - only to hit them just barely. All the enemies do is simply look at me in my general direction and then suddenly I am almost dead – then you will see the muzzle flash. It does not matter where they are aiming at – they can aim at their fellow teammates or the sky and still hit me in the opposite direction. Thankfully, there are others that simply wait for a while, like they are taunting me before shooting me. And there are others just run around looking stupid.
Naturally, the weapon of choice is the sniper rifle, and this comes in many flavours. Personally, I find all the rifles similar in “feel” however I tend to gravitate more towards the MSG90, mainly because it is the most common one you will be going to get. You also get a throwing knife, and this baby is a “one throw – one kill” type of weapon. Sneak up on the enemy, throw it and listen to the most dramatic tumbling effects possible – it is like listening to him falling down a series of steps, even though he is nowhere near any steps. This sound also replicates when he is falling onto a bed of grass. When playing the “spotter”, he uses the assault weapon. This is nothing short of a joke – the recoil is so amazing you wind up emptying a full clip on the enemy because you will miss for the most part.
Sadly, most of the missions are “set pieces” – meaning that you cannot use your imagination or your tactical prowess to complete the mission. If the mission says, “don’t get spotted”, it means just that. If you do, for instance, it is game over. There are other missions where it “forces” you to run away from the scene. Because I was playing on hard, I died like a billion times doing what its telling me. Yet, there is a “saving grace” where you don’t “have” to run as long you know where the enemies lie. Take note of this as the split second they see you, you are dead. Yes, their aiming skills elevated beyond elite mode. Do not believe me? Try it out and you will see.
The visuals are built upon using the Chrome Engine 4; yes, the very same one that was used in last year’s game (2009) “Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood”. I love the Chrome Engine back in the days where the game “Chrome” was released (2003) – a major contender against the Unreal Engine. However, Chrome Engine 4 is not the prettiest sadly enough. The entire environs are confusing to look at. Too much of muchness – one baffling mess. And because you are required to “stealth” at times, getting up close and personal to the foliage makes things a lot worse. Granted, there are far worse engines out there however I expected much more from this engine. I guess overall it is slightly above average at the best of times as it does have nice water effects.
There are sixteen chapters to complete and each should take around 30 mins or less. For me on average took me about 50 mins to complete each chapter as I took my stealth very seriously. Also, I tried to locate all the hidden secrets as locating them somehow enhances the storyline as they are in the form of “intel”. Achievement hunters will be glad that there are 24 to collect yet 5 are earned during multiplayer mode. Looking at the achievements, some are dumb as like the “electrician” – this one requires to shoot 5 cable lines using sniper rifles. Like seriously, who would of thought that was possible without reading the achievement list. Another dumb one is the “Supplier of Death” (kill 2000 enemies) when playing multiplayer. Are they for real? The good news is that all the single player achievements can be earned during a single playthrough.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior is an attempt to be a “sniper simulator” – heck, it even states under the “key features” in Steam – “The most realistic sniping experience in a video game ever, right down to managing your breathing for increased accuracy of sniper shots.”. I did not think it was but what do I know considering I cannot snipe regardless. Seriously though, it is not that “tactical” at all. Just aim and shoot as many rounds as possible as ammo is plentiful. Granted that a timed “head shot” has a nice “Bullet Cam” mode where you can see the ammo flying in slow-motion towards the enemy’s face. As far as a realistic sniping experience, it has a lot of room for improvement along with the lack-lustre storyline that makes you just want to end the game. I guess it could be worse (a.k.a. Sniper: Art of Victory from City Interactive again using Chrome Engine 2 - 2008).
5 / 10