niper: Ghost Warrior 2 is a game that was released back in March by 505 games. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 featured Cry-engine 3 and realistic sniping mechanics. For our original review of the game please click here. Siberian Strike is the game’s first single-player DLC that was released not too long ago. Is the DLC worth the price and what kind of content does it offer on top of the original game?

Find out in the review below.

Siberian Strike DLC Additions and Gameplay:

Siberian Strike is the very first Downloadable Content Pack for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 and is set in Russian in Siberia. This single-player DLC is divided into three different missions that take up about 3 or so hours of gameplay depending on how fast you get through it and what difficulty you’re playing it on.

In Siberian Strike you play as Cole “Sandman” Anderson who must find a undercover lab technician who is reporting on Russian arms R&D. The story is exceptional and will do for the small piece single-player DLC, so I don’t actually have any complaints in that regard.

The gameplay structure in Siberian Strike is pretty much the same as Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2. If you enjoyed the gameplay in Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, then you will feel right at home with Siberian Strike. Now is that a good or a poor thing you ask? In my opinion, the original game had a few issues such as graphical flickering and the super-slow paced gameplay that I did not like.

The same continues in Siberian Strike, although the graphical issues are not as severe as the original, however, the gameplay still feels somewhat boring and linear, and it doesn’t honestly bring much new to the table.

Siberian Strike is being advertised as a more of an open world/sandbox, as opposed to the original game. I am going to have to say that’s half true. The maps and levels do feel bigger, but the amount of action and enemies is somewhat underwhelming and there are also areas that are almost impossible to get through without having the enemy soldiers alerted. The level design is much better than the original game, but the efforts have been wasted, because there is just not enough going on in those vast beautiful snowy levels.

The sniping areas are pretty much the same for the most part. In one of the missions, you have to provide sniping cover for a guy who’s trying to infiltrate the building while another mission has you sniping criminal subjects who are escaping and you have to kill them before they get away. There is nothing actually new here in terms of mission types. However, this is just a DLC, which doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel or add anything no one has ever seen before.

Final Verdict

Overall Siberian Strike DLC pack just offers more of the same gameplay that the original game had on top of it. The only big difference between the levels is the map size. The maps sizes are vaster than the original game. However, despite the bigger map space the developers have done absolutely nothing to make good use of it and that is unfortunate.

However, if you actually enjoyed the original game then I’d recommend you buy Siberian Strike DLC pack. It offers the same linear gameplay the original game had with a total of three different missions.

I am hoping that 505 Games are learning from their mistakes and that future downloadable content will be improved upon. Siberian Strike did give the game a bit of improvement such as making the overall levels feel wider and bigger than the original game, even though the space didn’t really get used, it was still nice to be in a bigger world.

I am hoping that the next Downloadable Content pack will provide players with more freedom in terms of how you can sneak around and snipe out your enemies. In Siberian Strike, it still felt limited in terms of how you can take out your enemies without alerting them. The game needs to be less linear and more open than it currently is. Siberian Strike is making the game head in the right direction, but it also gets sidetracked with the same issues that plagued the original.

Siberian Strike is priced at $9.99 on Steam/PlayStation Network and 800 Microsoft points on Xbox Live Marketplace. For $9.99 Siberian Strike definitely justifies the purchase considering you’re getting three new missions with three different difficulty settings that will last for a good 3 or more hours depending on how you play. Overall, Siberian Strike is not a horrible DLC, it’s just for those who actually enjoyed Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

CI Games promises a more open-world feel to the DLC compared to the main campaign. Cole “Sandman” Anderson returns to rescue a CIA operative from a Russian facility in Siberia. With only a simple GPS signal and no assistance, Anderson must rely on maps and good old-fashioned navigation, picking up clues on the way, to rescue the operative.

Of course, touting a sniper rifle and picking off foes from a safe distance never hurt anyone. Except the foes of course.

Siberian Strike is currently available for 800 Microsoft Points or £8.99 – you can check out our rather somber review of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 here. Check out the new trailer for DLC and also the spiffy new screenshots that CI Games has released.

Cole “Sandman” Anderson must infilitrate a Russian military facility located in the Siberian city of Birsovik to locate CIA operative M. Diaz, who went undercover to see if the Russians were manufacturing WMDs or not. He’ll be working alongside Task 121, and only has Diaz’s GPS signal. From there, it’s all rote discovery.

Check out our review of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 here.