If you’re a little less familiar with Sniper Elite than we are at this stage, here’s the rundown on what to expect.
If you’re here for more of that, Sniper Elite: Resistance has you covered.
All in all, Sniper Elite: Resistance is pretty much as you’d expect for the series at this point.
We’re not expecting anything revolutionary with Sniper Elite: Resistance, but another rock solid shooter launching day one on Xbox Game Pass will be something to be cherished nonetheless.
Excited for this one coming to Xbox Game Pass in January?
Following the success of 2022’s Sniper Elite 5, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to experience more covert sniping action when the Rebellion team invited us to try out Sniper Elite: Resistance earlier this month. Similar to its predecessor, this upcoming Sniper Elite sequel is set in Nazi-occupied France, a more familiar setting from World War 2. We’re already anticipating the release of more virtual testicles early next year.
Like other recent Sniper Elite games, Resistance had an incredibly large mission for us to complete. Rebellion is really settling into its rhythms when it comes to making these expansive open sandbox levels, which are set across a vast nighttime landscape with possible objective routes stretching as far as the eye can see. These were some tough Nazis, so we had to play through parts of this one quite a few times during our preview session. In the end, we approached the level from a variety of perspectives; Resistance still has a lot of different paths and combat options.
In case you are not as familiar with Sniper Elite as we are at this point, here is a summary of what to anticipate. Developer Rebellion throws you into expansive, Hitman-style open levels with a cohesive plot. Typically, your objective is to eliminate a powerful Nazi boss, destroy some of their heavy equipment, or just escape difficult, behind-the-lines situations alive. Yet, there are numerous optional paths and side objectives along the way, which greatly expands the experience’s variety and replayability.
We especially enjoyed the option to go slowly and locate some “temporary” weapons that are lying around and can significantly help you turn the tide in your favor in this preview level. One of our runs in this preview mission led us to discover a silenced Kar-98K rifle that we could use whenever we wanted. For example, in Sniper Elite games, you frequently have to mask the sound of your rifle firing with background noises at specific locations. Despite having very little ammunition, we were able to use it to eliminate an annoyingly well-positioned guard patrol, which was very helpful and nicely rewarded our exploration of uncharted territory.
Prior to that, however, we have to acknowledge that we were caught being a bit too combative, which led to some close combat that ultimately resulted in our deaths during past runs. Although you have the means to escape these trouser-messing scenarios alive, possibly with only minor gunshot wounds, Sniper Elite: Resistance never feels fully at ease when played in this manner. To be clear, the simulation in Sniper Elite is designed to be played through the eyes of a cunning, skulking sniper guy. We advise you to play as closely as possible to this playstyle.
Rebellion has once again done a good job with the actual feel of the weapons. The series’ well-known x-ray kill cam is back, and the team’s period-appropriate bolt action rifles are always a blast to use. After a few games in this series, it never gets old to watch Nazi skulls shatter and enemy brain fragments squelch as you shoot a rifle through their head from a great distance. More of that is available in Sniper Elite: Resistance.
Even though Rebellion’s technology seems to be quite similar to more recent releases, the game still manages to look pretty, especially in this nighttime setting. We were playing on a PC version of the game. As groups of soldiers comb the terrain for your location, Nazi search lights shine up at the sky, which effectively immerses you in the setting. Although the team is unlikely to take home any graphics awards, Sniper Elite: Resistance accomplishes all the necessary tasks to market its expansive WW2 sniping scenarios, and we hope that this also applies to the Xbox Series X and S.
At this stage, Sniper Elite: Resistance is essentially what you would anticipate from the series. Rebellion seems to be building on the massive, multi-objective levels we’ve seen in the previous games, but we also like the 1940s French setting, which is more reminiscent of World War 2. Sniper Elite: Resistance isn’t going to be anything groundbreaking, but it will be a solid shooter that is released on Xbox Game Pass on the first day, so it will be worth keeping.
Can’t wait for this to be available on Xbox Game Pass in January? Share your cunning sniping strategies below.
