Believe it or not, almost twenty years later, Rebellion Developments’ Sniper Elite series is still releasing titles. This year, it’s Sniper Elite: Resistance, and for the first time in the series, you’ll be playing the game as the infamously British Special Operations Executive, Harry Hawker.
The game is still set in 1944, specifically during World War II, and will have you rustling around the bushes in France.
For anyone who played Sniper Elite 5, Resistance runs parallel to that game, expanding on the Vichy France update. The game tells its own story. One that’s far from the frontlines, deep within occupied France.
With Sniper Elite 5 being one of the most highly rated games since the franchise launched, Sniper Elite: Resistance has some big French shoes to fill. After just a few hours of popping off enemy testicles, here are my first impressions.
We Can’t Have A Shoot-Up Without Guns
Before we go any further, I’d like to clarify that I think Jason Statham is great.
Ahem.
When you first start the Sniper Elite: Resistance campaign mode, you’re greeted by a somewhat familiar voice. No, it’s not Jason Statham, but it could be if you had to close your eyes and imagine for a bit. Harry Hawker is not only voice acted in a particularly Statham-like voice, but his character is one that I could easily see Statham play in a movie.
You’re a solo Special Operations Executive with a sniper rifle in your hands, a Marlin UD42 on your back and a silenced pistol on your hip.
Mortal Kombat Meets Uncharted
While the game throws you a few prompts here and there on how to do things, you can easily ignore these tutorial-style popups and forge your own path. Dropped on the top of a turret across from a dam wall is where the game starts you off, and my first task was to watch a bullet fly in slow motion through an enemy’s skull.
The X-Ray Cam in this game is still an absolute win, and if you’re into that crazy kind of gore, you should at least try the game out just for that.
The rest of the enemies remained a little hidden. So, I packed my subsonic-loaded rifle onto my back and whipped out the good ol’ pistol. Climbing ladders, swinging across ledges and latching on to vines, I embraced my inner Nathan Drake.
Sneaking around in the tall grass and silently popping bullets into heads is extremely satisfying, and Sniper Elite: Resistance makes you feel you’re the perfect assassin.
Guns Blazing
Once I had obliterated a couple of flak cannons on the damn, it was time to go deep into France and track down a missing double agent.
In this next mission, I ditched the rifle and ran through the front door with Marlin at the ready.
Dodging bullets, silencing rung alarms and bandaging my bleeding wounds on the go proved just as exciting as stealthily taking enemies out perched atop a bird’s nest, but I did die—more than once.
With co-op available in the main campaign mode, multiplayer options and a few new modes to try out, you can be sure I’ll be sniping more and more over the weekend. So be sure to stay tuned for a full review of Sniper Elite: Resistance, coming soon.
Bottom Line:
Sniper Elite: Resistance has so far provided some good, fun hours of game time. Will the next few hours prove to be dull or will the addition of an extra player at my side just add more to the experience? Guess you’ll have to wait to find out.