It’s a bit unfortunate that the Sniper Elite series is still as enjoyable as it is. You’d think that after 11 entries, tearing Nazis limb from limb with lead would get old. How often do we need to keep reliving a World War II power fantasy, anyways? But in a sobering present day where Nazism still rears its ugly head, the series will always be a source of catharsis for those who want a safe way to vent their frustrations.
And so here I am again in 2024, this time shredding Nazis in Sniper Elite: Resistance. Set to launch on January 30, 2025, the latest entry in developer Rebellion’s ultraviolent third-person shooter franchise is Sniper Elite 6 in everything but name. It’s another World War II adventure that turns enemy lines into a bloody immersive sim where stealth rules. In my first hands-on demo, I was dropped into a mission for some very familiar action. And while that might be something to critique in another series, I can’t say that taking down Nazis in the most brutal ways possible still doesn’t have a sick charm that I need right now.
Lock and load, again
For my demo, I was dropped into a basic infiltration mission. With three guns on my back and some healing items in tow, I’d need to sneak into a city and make my way toward a building at the heart of it. It’s a long journey that takes me through weaving city streets and lots of optional buildings that I can explore to find guns, intel, and collectibles. How I get there is up to me — as is how I decide to deal with any Nazis in my path.
While I control a deadly sniper, I’m quickly reminded that the opposing army can tear me apart with ease if I slip up. In the very first stretch of the level, I’m dropped into a small field full of grass that I can hide in. After botching a stealth kill as I learned the PC controls, I was suddenly swarmed with soldiers, who tore me to bits. Each time I alerted an enemy during an attempt, I was met with an endless wave of Nazis who would run in from wherever they were on the open-ended map to hunt me down. In one try, I holed up in a small room and tried to machine gun them all as they came through the door. I made a great heap of bodies, but it was clear that brute force wouldn’t be enough.
The joy of a good Sniper Elite mission is that each attempt teaches you a little more. Rather than following the same exact path through the city each time, I altered my route as much as I could after each restart. In one try, I snuck into a building on the west side of town and found a silenced sniper waiting for me. In another, I discovered a zipline that would get me close to the city’s central bridge without passing through a soldier-infested perimeter with patrolling cars driving in circles. While I didn’t actually finish the mission during my playthrough, I’d eventually work out a reliable route that would get me to my location quickly while only leaving a body or two in my wake.
Taking cues from some of the best stealth games, Sniper Elite: Resistance does seem to be reinforcing its sneaking mechanics to make that type of gameplay more viable. The mission I tried featured no shortage of ways to distract guards, from sabotaging generators to cutting power to spotlights (so long as I could find some bolt cutters in the area). Every time I make it to the bridge entirely undetected, I feel like a ghost in the night.
But of course, this is a series that revels in its violence and Sniper Elite: Resistance is no different. The key is its signature kill cam, which kicks over to an X-ray view when I perform a key kill. When I sneak up on a Nazi and stealthily kill him with my knife, I’m suddenly watching as the blade punctures his organs. In my finest moment, I steady my sniper at an opposing one on a far-off roof. I take the shot and everything goes into slow-motion as the bullet travels from my barrel to his eye socket. It’s grotesque, but I can’t say that it doesn’t feel satisfying.
I’m not sure that any of it feels new coming off of Sniper Elite 5. If anything, I’m reminded of Hitman’s World of Assassination trilogy. The three games in it are virtually identical, with each just giving players more creative levels to play with. The same is true here; I’m just enjoying another well-built Sniper Elite mission. Maybe there are more surprises waiting in the final version, but I imagine that Resistance will mostly function as a welcome batch of wartime playgrounds for players who just want to take out more Nazis in the safety of digital space.
Something tells me that there will be a big appetite for that come January.
Sniper Elite: Resistance launches on January 30, 2025 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.