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Sneak peek at «Sniper Elite 5»: a murderous playground

27.4.2022

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

As has become tradition, the fifth «Sniper Elite» features hordes of Nazis getting riddled with bullets in slow motion and X-ray vision. This isn’t really that special any more, unlike the rest of the game.

Sniper Karl Fairburne just can’t let go of World War II. For the fifth time, he’s out sneaking and assassinating his way through battlefields filled to the brim with Nazis. «Sniper Elite 5» ships Karl to France. In a preview session lasting about two hours, I was able to extensively explore the level «Château de Berengar».

As in previous instalments, missions consist of extensive levels that can be freely explored. Same goes for this picturesque French castle. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: to steal secret Nazi plans from Obergruppenführer Abelard Möller. So far, so unoriginal. However, «Sniper Elite 5» gets interesting when it comes to finding the right approach. On my first attempt, I started in a small French resistance camp. The levels invite you to replay them, which is why additional starting points can be unlocked.

The main road is rarely the best – but it is the most direct.

A bit like «Hitman», just without the disguises

But I’m not that far yet. I first stalked across a small hill, from which I caught sight of the Château de Berengar. According to my map, that’s where I’d find my target. A little further to the left, a church steeple rose above the treetops, suggesting an alternative route. Goal-oriented as I am, I still took the direct route.

However, as evidenced by the roadblock including a camp that the Nazis have set up in front of the bridge to the castle, this is rarely the best idea. Karl, aka me, wasn’t impressed by this. I slipped into my (fictitious) sneakiest boots and crouched towards the closest sandbags. Already there, I was almost spotted by a scout in the watchtower. This was signalled to me by the white visibility lobe, which grows the longer you’re seen. If it turns yellow, you’ve been spotted, enemies just haven’t sounded the alarm yet. But I wouldn’t let it get that far anyway. Although I exhausted my allowed visibility to the last second, it was enough to get past the barricade and hide behind a few crates.

Already by the first camp, my sneaky wishes falter.

What I didn’t expect: the guard still approached, just to see if anything had just moved there or not. That’s fine with me. A quick prick with my bayonet, and that’s two fewer eyes to hide from. Stupidly, the soldier didn’t have the decency to die silently. His gurgling attracted colleagues from the watchtower. A well-aimed shot from my silenced pistol solved this problem as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to use cover. The guard in the machine gun nest was more attentive, immediately pulling the trigger. One short brrrrt and I suffered my first slow-motion death.

Fortunately, there’s Quick Save. I haven’t really got very far yet. Time to cower in front of the sandbags again. In the process, I spotted a truck driving through the roadblock. Surely I could sneak in there. But as it was going in the wrong direction and I was in a hurry, I tried my semi-silent method again. And by once, I meant about ten times, until silence fell over the entire camp forever. One advantage: I didn’t have to hide the bodies as there was no one left to find them.

Just don’t set off the alarm

Arriving at the castle, a next decision had to be made. I could take the main entrance, which would undoubtedly end in a hail of bullets. Better explore the surroundings a bit. The drained moat seemed to me the most promising option. I didn’t have much time to think about it, as I was constantly being spotted from somewhere. Fortunately, vines grew from the ditch directly to a window that I could climb into.

My target was close by. Only, I appeared to be on the wrong floor. Unfortunately, the passage to the staircase was guarded by two soldiers. However, with a bit of sniping skill, such problems can easily be solved in «Sniper Elite». True, I could’ve thrown a bottle as a distraction. Still, I lugged all those silenced weapons along for something. Stupidly in my rush, I chose a previously captured MP40. It’s not quiet at all, and as I was streaming the game over the Internet, there was some lag on top of that. Two magazines later, the soldiers were lying dead, but now the whole castle was on its feet. Very well, wasn’t worth restarting the mission just because of that.

Once the alarm goes off, the party starts.

In classic Rambo fashion, I fought my way to the office of the Obergruppenführer, with generous use of Quick Save/Quick Load. When lacking ammunition, even my previously neglected sniper rifle came into play. Not my first choice for tight indoor fights, but I was usually rewarded with an iconic killcam when hitting something. The killcam shows a slow-motion shot of your bullet penetrating enemy bodies. Still bloody as ever.

To give myself some breathing room, I left a few explosive gifts with the corpses in the form of grenade traps. After that, I took on the office. Fortunately, I found the keys to it on another officer beforehand. Otherwise I would’ve had to unpack some C4 and wake up the whole castle once again. And after all, they deserved some rest – just like my trigger finger.

Although Möller has a much tidier desk than I do, I found nothing of interest. Apparently there was a second room somewhere. The switch for it was disguised in a movable wall lamp that opened a hidden door. Behind it, I finally found the clues to Project Kraken. With the documents in my hand, I finished my sightseeing tour at the Château de Berengar. I didn’t even have to take the stairs to leave. My friendly host had installed a rope leading directly into the garden. I stifled my wheeeee while rappelling and snuck to the level exit. I use the word «sneak» very liberally. Five more soldiers succumbed to my sniper rifle and a grenade that I lobbed next to an ammo box. Under cover of the ensuing inferno, I made my French exit. Mission accomplished.

An illusion of freedom

The mission could’ve gone differently: instead of going directly to the castle, I could’ve taken a detour via the church. In front of it there’s a small truck. You can sabotage the engine so that it makes enough noise that even gunshots can’t be heard. With this red herring, creep further along the dirt road. A new starting point can be unlocked at a junction. From there, continue across a field of grapevines, where patrolling soldiers are easy to either avoid or assassinate. On the next small bridge, I crossed the river unnoticed. Once on the other side, I climbed straight into the guardhouse and killed the unsuspecting soldier within. After that, it’s a stone’s throw to the castle, where my path was once again paved with corpses, but at least I didn’t set off any alarms.

«Sniper Elite» is reminiscent of «Hitman». At least on the map I was able to play, there were many paths to my target. Funnily, it still seems to come down to around three approaches: pacifist, silent and deadly, or screaming and shooting. A master of disguise like Agent 47, Karl is not. To my knowledge, this did exist in earlier parts, but only sporadically. Karl prefers to rely on his rifle rather than his charm. He’s the typical tough Yank lunkhead of B. J. Blazkowicz’s ilk, before he got a personality in the newer «Wolfenstein» games.

But that doesn’t matter. If the rest of the game also offers enough interesting locations, it should be another entertaining sniper fest. The arsenal of weapons is extensive, skill trees motivate you to level up and complete side quests, and the slow-motion anatomy lessons always elicit a morbid grin from me. And did I mention that «Sniper Elite 5» will be in Game Pass? A recipe for a hit.

«Sniper Elite 5» will be released on May 26 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X.

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Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.

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