The Sniper Elite franchise has become something of a personal favourite of mine over the years, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Rebellion’s historical stealth shooter franchise hasn’t shaken any foundations or pulled up any trees with any of its outings, and has largely been happy to sail around in familiar and charted waters. But it has also consistently delivered solid, well-made games that fans of the genre can’t help but eat up- which is why every time a new one gets announced, if you enjoy stealth games, chances are you’re going to be paying attention to whatever it is that Sniper Elite is cooking up next.
Sniper Elite 5 launched in 2022 and turned out to be a predictably solid game, but when the series returns for its next outing imminently, it won’t do so with its next numbered entry. No, instead, Rebellion is set to release Sniper Elite: Resistance, which, on paper, is a standalone spinoff- though honestly, looking at it, it may just as well be a full new Sniper Elite game, based on everything that it’s promising to deliver.
There are some ways where its nature as a standalone spinoff is very apparent. For starters, it’s clearly making use of the work that Rebellion did for Sniper Elite 5– which, honestly, we need to be seeing more of from the games industry. Asset reuse gets a bad rap, and of course, there are plenty of situations where it is far from desirable, but there are also cases where developers manage to save a great deal of time and money by reusing previous work without having to compromise in terms of actual quality. Like a Dragon does it time and time again, and we’re not opposed to Sniper Elite doing the same.
There’s also the fact that Sniper Elite: Resistance is being billed very much as a side story. For the first time in the series’ history, players won’t be playing as American soldier Karl Fairburne, with British Special Operations Executive agent Harry Hawker instead stepping in as the protagonist, in a story that will see him going after a mysterious and deadly new Nazi war machine in Occupied France, running parallel with the events of Sniper Elite 5. Then again, that’s an intriguing enough premise in its own right, while more importantly, story has never really been what most people come to Sniper Elite for anyway- so Resistance being billed as a narrative sidequel shouldn’t end up being much of a factor.
In the areas that matter (at least in the context of this specific series), the game is making all the right promises, however. Something that Sniper Elite games have become increasingly better at with time is letting players loose in large, open-ended stealth sandboxes and letting them accomplish a variety of objectives however they wish. Delivering Hitman-style gameplay (but obviously not quite as expansive), the series loves to reward players for being creative, and emphasizes player agency and freedom above all else. That is combined with strongly designed maps that are also densely packed with compelling optional content to take on.
All of these are boxes that Sniper Elite: Resistance looks set to check. Of course, things could always go wrong, and we haven’t actually played the game ourselves yet, but everything that has been shown of it so far (which is a fair bit of gameplay) has looked incredibly promising, while hands-on previews by various outlets have also suggested that the game is looking likely to deliver another dose of that open-ended historical stealth sandbox experience that the series has effectively got down to a science by now.
There are other reasons to be excited about Sniper Elite: Resistance as well. The Nazi killing genre is one that has obviously always been a classic, and we’re never going to say no to more (even though we just got a good, healthy taste of it not too long ago in the form of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle). Blasting Nazis in the most hilariously gruesome, creative, and brutal ways possible, with x-ray shots killcams and everything, is what many of us come to Sniper Elite for, and it looks like Resistance won’t disappoint in that area.
You’ll likely have noticed that much of what we’ve spoken about so far isn’t necessarily unique to Sniper Elite: Resistance. No, in fact, “more of the same” is a very accurate way to describe this game, based on everything that we’ve seen of it so far. It’s not a numbered sequel, and in this sense, it’s definitely treating itself like that- though then again, even Sniper Elite 5 didn’t necessarily change things up from its own predecessor that much either. So yes, the upcoming Resistance is definitely looking like it’s going to be a very familiar experience for anyone who’s played any of the series’ last couple of outings- but there’s strong appeal to something like that. You know exactly what Sniper Elite: Resistance is going to be, and chances are, it’s going to be good.
Given the fact that this is a standalone sidequel, there will probably be some who’ll be wondering just how much bang for buck they’re going to get from the game, especially with it being sold as a full priced $60 game. Based on what Rebellion is saying, however, it doesn’t look like that should be much of a worry. According to Rebellion, the game’s campaign will be about as long as Sniper Elite 5 was, which, as per HowLongToBeat, can be anywhere between 10 to 40 hours long, depending on how thoroughly you’re playing it. Even if you’re only looking to stick with its campaign, then, it will have plenty of meat on the bone.
Beyond its campaign, meanwhile, the game will also feature a co-op survival mode, as well as a PvP multiplayer component, the ability to play the entire campaign co-op, and an Invasions mechanic for the campaign. Again, there’s not much here that, in terms of the broad strokes, won’t be familiar to anyone who played Sniper Elite 5 – that’s definitely a running theme with this game – but if there’s one thing that it seems like we can be sure of, it’s that Sniper Elite: Resistance is at least going to have plenty of content on offer, right out the gate. Will Rebellion add to it with post-launch support? The studio has been known to do that with pretty much all of its games, but this isn’t technically a numbered, flagship release, so it remains to be seen how heavily it will be supported. Perhaps that will depend entirely on how it sells.
Either way, as a fan of the stealth genre – and honestly, after the last few years, of the Sniper Elite series – I’m all aboard the hype train for Resistance. No, it’s not the sort of shiver-inducing hype that you get with the biggest of the biggest releases- Sniper Elite never pretends to be anything more than a AA series, after all. But as a series that consistently delivers well-made and engaging stealth sandbox experiences, even if they never really revolutionize anything, Sniper Elite deserves the recognition it gets, and then some. Hopefully, it will continue to attract eyeballs with Resistance’s looming launch.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
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