The modern era of theSniper Eliteseries started withSniper Elite 3,hit its stride withSniper Elite 4,and kept up that hot streak inSniper Elite 5. The announcement ofSniper Elite: Resistance, which is an upcoming game featuring a new protagonist and missions that run concurrent toSniper Elite 5, caused fans both old and new to take notice. After spending roughly 90 minutes going hands-on with the preview build of the title,Sniper Elite: Resistancefeels like both an unmissable companion piece toSniper Elite 5and a perfect jumping-on point for anyone interested in the franchise.
The hands-on preview session began with getting dropped into the beginning ofResistance’s third campaign mission, a mostly clandestine affair in a nighttime setting that saw new protagonist Harry Hawker deep behind enemy lines. As with previous games intheSniper Eliteseries, there was a main objective to tackle (in this case, reaching Hotel Terminus and acquiring a top-secret Gestapo document located on the hotel’s top floor) along with several optional sub-objectives along the way. But the path to reach that objective, as well as the approaches taken toward dispatching enemies, are entirely up to the player, leading to a surprising amount of flexibility in howSniper Elite: Resistancetreats its semi-open stealth sandboxes.
Sniper Elite: Resistance Shares a Lot of DNA With Sniper Elite 5
Players familiar with theSniper Eliteseries will feel right at home inSniper Elite: Resistance, as the game shares plenty in common withSniper Elite 5and4. Players start at a relatively neutral location on the mission’s impressively large map, with a pair of binoculars handy to perform some light reconnaissance and tag enemy locations. During this important beginning phase of the mission, it’s obvious how much work has gone intoResistance’s enemy AI in terms of their patrol routes not being static and enemy placements shifting dynamically. Additionally, the particular mission on display in the preview build had various enemy types to contend with. Aside from the typical infantry and higher-ranking Gestapo forces, there were also enemy snipers and soldiers manning gigantic spotlights that made a stealth approach seem like the most viable path to Harry’s objective.
After getting a reasonable readout on the enemies at the mission’s starting point, we decided to take the “silent but deadly” approach and pick off unaware infantry one by one using melee takedowns. As with the two previousSniper Elitegames, melee is responsive and reliable inSniper Elite: Resistance, especially when paired with foliage like tall grass and bushes that allow players to execute enemies and hide their bodies all in one fell swoop. This approach seemed to be doing the trick as Harry continued to make his way through the painstakingly detailed and varied map, at least until we stumbled into a dark room and went nose-to-nose with the Gestapo.
As is typical for theSniper Elitegames, raising an alarm inResistancewas far from the death knell that it tends to be in many otherstealth action games. Even though players can take their time and spend 1–2 hours doing a “perfect stealth” run of a mission where they’re never detected or even raise suspicion, the 90-minute window for our hands-on preview led to me inadvertently rushing through sections I would have otherwise carefully tip-toed through. As a result, there were plenty of times when it became necessary for Harry Hawker to get loud, andSniper Elite: Resistance’s ample cover and satisfying close-range gunplay made that a more than viable response.
Once I had been spotted, it was easy to quickly shift gears and switch to an automatic rifle for close-range encounters, even tossing out a grenade to successfully take out a group of unaware enemies. Once immediate threats have been dealt with, players will still need to flee their last known location, but the mission experienced in the preview build provided plenty of different pathways for escape. In addition to jumping out windows, climbing to the roof, or hiding in empty rooms, there was also an underground tunnel that was easily accessed, eventually giving way to the mission’s highest point of tension – a deadly advance across a bridge leading directly to the hotel, flanked on all sides bysnipersand swarming with infantry.
Sniper Elite: Resistance is Playing to the Series' Strengths
The lack of checkpoints in the preview build meant that each death resulted in starting over from the beginning of the mission. But even with that temporary setback, I was still thrilled to jump back intoSniper Elite: Resistancetime and again to try out different tactics to reach the mission’s main objective. Each time, I got to experience a little bit of the trademark elements that have made the series able to carve out its own unique niche in the stealth action genre, as well as take in and appreciate the carefully researched and crafted levels that recreate a mostly historically-accurate1944 France.
And other than getting to try out the returningweapon customization fromSniper Elite 5orResistance’s multiplayer, the preview build provided enough of a feature-rich experience to show that the title is playing to the series' strength. Guns handle and sound fantastic (especially when sniping), and the signature X-ray kill cam seems to have gotten only more visceral and disturbing in its gory close-ups of enemy deaths. And while the story and objectives are pretty standard fare for a game set during World War II,Sniper Elite: Resistanceis hedging its bets on the actual shooting and sneaking, placing fun at the forefront of the experience.
