Saturday, December 7, 2013

Review of Sniper Elite V2 - Xbox 360

Sniper Elite V2 - Xbox 360
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $19.32
Today's Bonus: 3% Off
Buy Now

First of all I've been playing games since Radio Shack put out Pong...yes, I'm a 43 year old gamer. I dig several different types of games and mainly it has been the Battlefield series since BF was only on the PC. Now, I really have to give this game 5 stars even though it has a couple of flaws. It is a very refreshing change from the other First Person Shooters (FPS) out there Yes, I understand this is a third person shooter until you scope your rifle.

The mission will suck you in and the kill cam is awesome and I never every got sick of that. I played through the whole game, which I must say was short, but very enjoyable. I even bought the DLC, as who would not like a chance to shoot Hitler be warned that it will take most people just 25 minutes to beat at a $10 price tag.

The game also allows for campaign co-op to where you can have a buddy play the campaign with you which puts a different element to the game, in other words some re-playability after you complete the game on single player. You don't get as many full kill-cam shots playing with a buddy but it is a lot more fast paced and it's cool to share in the awesome shots you make with a buddy.

Seriously, since this game is so different and well put together I had to give it 5 stars. I mean really, look at Sniper: Ghost Warrior Sniper Elite V2 blows that game away in many different ways. The kill cam in this game is way better, the AI's are better, the missions are better, and you don't get hung up on the environment (at least I didn't). Both games do have issues with AI spotting you though; I mean the regular soldiers not snipers, from a good distance. It is a lot worse in Sniper: Ghost Warrior though. They will spot you in that game even though you are hidden. The only thing I can say about Sniper: Ghost Warrior that is better is that you sometimes have a cut-scene before a mission to show how you got to the area you are in. In Sniper Elite V2 you just all the sudden are right in a fox hole with German or Russian soldiers. With that flaw aside it's worth picking up for $50 bucks for sure.

Another cool element to the game is the challenges which are very tough alone and makes for a cool extra to test your skills with a buddy. It's a still from the Horde mode in Gears of War, but what the hell it should be copied because it's fun and challenging.

If one of your hobbies is playing games a couple of times a week and you want something fun and different in the FPS campaign category (oh, and the thought of being a sniper is cool to you) look no further, grab a copy of this game.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

After the first play-through, I didn't think I would want to play it again because it is so linear and no variety in the weapons and enemies, but it's turned out to be kinda fun. The main reason is that I had a lot of trouble with the missions the first time through, then on replays, realized that even though the game is linear, there is more than one way to approach a goal in a mission and almost every mission has a very easy way to play it once you know how. So finding the easy approach has been an interesting challenge.

Plus I kept finding "tricks" to the game that I didn't find or understand at first.

For example, when there is noise, some graphics appear in the upper-right corner of the screen. I didn't realize what that was for at first, but finally saw something about it disguising the noise you make. In most missions, the key to keep from getting swamped by enemies is to shoot foes when the noise graphic comes on. If he's isolated, nobody will know what's happened. Even if an enemy sees the guy go down, they can't tell where the shot came from and thus won't return fire.

Another feature I didn't use much the first time is to use the binocular's right-trigger feature to mark as many opponents as possible with red arrows. Once the fighting starts, it's very helpful to know where the enemies are, especially if they try to outflank or charge you.

This is really stupid, I know, but I didn't stumble across pressing up on the left analog stick to jump-zoom the rifle until after I played the game a couple of times, and that really made things easier, especially when shooting very distant and/or small targets like gas tank caps.

Even though it is a fun game, I don't think that it is remotely close to being worth more than $30. While waiting for the price to drop, try Timeshift, which I think is a much more interesting, fun game and it's currently under $20.

Best Deals for Sniper Elite V2 - Xbox 360

Overview:

Pros:

Perspective on sniping feels fresh and engaging; kill-cam always a blast; single player provides plenty of tension-filled challenging moments; multiplayer fairly solid.

Cons:

Linear mission design; campaign can feel repetitive well before it's over; A.I. spotty at times; graphics have room for improvement; lack of enough voice acting and music.

The game brings a pretty unique feel to traditional point-and-click sniping. Bullets drop almost as soon as they leave the barrel of your rifle, and when this is coupled with wind, there is a good amount of fun guesswork involved in trying to get that bullseye headshot. When you make a particularly good kill, there will be a very grisly, spectacular, and satisfying killcam showing your bullet going through an X-ray rendering of the enemy's body, piercing through bones and organs. The single player overall is worth a playthrough, as it definitely throws quite a few curveballs that'll challenge even the oldest veteran of the shooter genre. The multiplayer is pretty solid and models itself closely after the gameplay of the single player.

On the downside however, the mission design itself is quite linear. All missions lead you through a narrow set of waypoints that don't allow for even the slighest veering off-course. You never get the sensation that you can approach a battlefield at a different or better angle, as encounters feel very much scripted. Also, the campaign itself becomes a bit formulaic and dry well before it's over, as each mission is nothing but a "go there and kill those guys" type of thing. The enemy itself slowly starts to feel like rifle fodder once you become used to the generic A.I. You will run into quite a few situations where enemies foolishly run out into the open and turn your backs against you. In one encounter, I threw a grenade towards a group of two soldiers that was a bit inaccurate, killing only one of them. The other just stood there and was completely oblivious.

The graphics are fairly decent, but start to look very rough around the edges, literally speaking, at farther range even on maximum settings with maximum antialiasing. Lastly, there is a lack of enough voice acting in the game. The single central character carries the majority of it, who does a fair job, albeit it being somewhat corny with its deep voice. There is also considerable room for more soundtracks in the game.

Overall, it's worth the buy and playthrough, mainly because it'll likely feel fresh if you're a seasoned veteran of the shooter genre. The multiplayer may also keep you there for a while if you enjoy live tactical combat with others.

Final Score: 7.0/10

Honest reviews on Sniper Elite V2 - Xbox 360

Sniping games are my favorite and I was really looking forward to playing this one. But it just has way too many flaws.

1. The AI are amateurish and completely random and intept, like something built 10 years ago. Sometimes they go down with 1 bullet. Sometimes with 4. After you shoot them they act like they were hit with a stun gun, then they just go full force attack. You shoot. Same thing. It's really bad. They can spot you from 150 yards away when your laying down and magically hit you every time. Then all of a sudden with no warning, your health starts going down and you die. That's when you realize that they sprinted 150 yards to stand in front of you and shoot you. Even if you had time to switch weapons and fire at them, don't bother. The weapons are equally abysmal.

2. The sniper rifle is cool and pretty accurate most of the time. The slow mo bullet animation and x-ray is the best part of the game. Yet sometimes you can hit an AI square in the head. Once again, he acts stunned and keeps going. The other two weapons are a joke. The machine gun only holds 11 bullets at a time. It's a complete roll of the dice when 2 or 3 germans come at you. Usually you have to empty a clip in one or two just to put them down. That's when the 3rd one comes up and blows your brains out. Or, by the time you reload, 3 more germans have killed you from 150 yards away.

The trip mines and other weapons like that work about half the time. I laid a trip mine at an entrance and 4 germans literally stepped right on it and nothing happened. This happens a lot. Resulting in me getting killed a lot from that flaw.

Overall, this game is a technical mess that ruins the game play. I have never played a game where I got killed so many times on each level. The best strategy is to get 150 yards away, snipe. Run up until the next batch spawns. Run back 150 yards and snipe. It's obvious the developers really went on the cheap when making this game.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sniper Elite V2 - Xbox 360

Unlike playing Sniper Ghost Warrior you felt like you could actually survive a bit without some random 1 mile away person kill you instantaneously. That's not to say this wasn't challenging or easy, but made it MUCH more realistic.

Pros:

1) Every kill felt "fun" The gory, yet not too gory, kill cams gives you great sensation of enjoyment. I personally had a lot of "ohhhh" "ahhh" moments lol.

2) Pretty long campaign.

3) The ambient sounds masking sniper shots AWESOME touch!

4) Smart A.I. they took cover and fought like a normal person should.

Cons:

1) Kinda hard to find ammo for non-sniper weapons. It was almost like they wanted you to use a sniper inside homes and on stealth missions.

2) Still amazed getting hit in the leg could still leave you running full speed towards your enemy. Doesn't happen! Would have been nice to see the enemy try to help a really injured person like that up like they do for fallen comrades.

Overall a very good game to pick up and play through in a day or two.

Buy Fom Amazon Now

No comments:

Post a Comment