Sniper Elite III continues the vein of its predecessors in an exciting new stage: the theater of operations in North Africa during World War II. Despite his faults, his eventual monotony and modest ambitions, the game rests on good foundations that make it an acceptable option for lovers of tension sharpshooting, besides presenting undeniable improvements in design with a little more than effort and imagination by Rebellion could have resulted in a degree of true height. In terms of approach and stage III Sniper Elite is a prequel to its predecessor, V2, which took place in the closing days of World War II, during the Battle of Berlin. On this occasion, Rebellion opted for a more exotic location: Allied operations against the German Afrika Korps, one of the most interesting war theaters in tactical and operational terms of the conflict. We will once again take the role of elite sniper Fairburne Karl, who must use their skills as much as possible to hinder the ambitions of the Italian and Nazi forces in famous historical battles like Tobruk, Gazala and Gaberún.
At the core of their mechanical, Sniper Elite III continues the commitment of the franchise between substance and entertainment, offering the advantages of being a tactical shooter with the flexibility of certain mechanisms of arcade vein. As expected in these securities, the basic mechanics integrates two aspects: the stealth needed to find a good place from which to annihilate your goals and change your location as needed; and discipline, marksmanship and mental calculations needed to hit the target despite the recoil, wind and distance.
As for stealth, your character will spend most of the time walking or crawling chest squatting land, navigating through all accidents of ground, walls and other objects to be covered most of the time. Certain items such as broken generators or reconnaissance aircraft will mute your shots, but it will often be necessary to fire once and change your location as soon as possible to avoid being detected with a second shot. Fortunately, giving a very commendable evolutionary leap, the game design left the halls of his predecessors and adopted more open environments, with 2 entry points in both campaign and multiplayer, which adds strategic possibilities and gives a different feel. Also fail interesting entitled typical scenarios in North Africa: ruins, souks, bazaars, mosques, towers, rocks, blinds, beads, veils and balconies in urban environments; canyons, dusty roads, mountains, bushes, palm trees, ravines, gorges and secluded cave systems serve to acclimate the natural features of the Maghreb and other regions, while sniper nests, camping, tents, boxes of supplies, war machine, barbed wire, improvised trenches, watchtowers and military service environments flavor.
In general, the design of environments and scenarios is successful to offer interesting possibilities to the game of cat and mouse that define every action sniper. Binoculars are useful to reconnoiter and mark targets tool, while the camera works well as sniper mirror and can be modified with more types than in the previous delivery. Moreover, the proper implementation of environmental and physiological sounds (heartbeat, insight moments, etc..) Not only adds immersion, but offers strategic opportunities to those who are smart enough to take advantage of the sound of a shot in the environment.
The second pillar of Sniper Elite III is, of course, the simulation of snipers, and, as mentioned, contains solid foundations that combine some depth with flexible and simple arcade mechanics. The look is activated by right, while the E key allows entering a transitional mode maximum focus when your pulse is stabilized; less realistic settings in this mode indicates the exact point where the bullet will fall calculating the recoil, while in more professional ways lack of assistance. There are limited health regeneration, but generally 1 to 2 sniper rifle shots represent certain death. Apparently Rebellion sought a more convincing ballistics rifles through extensive testing Garant and others to elements such as parables, paths and wind deflector more realistic; in any case, satisfactory shooting element. On the other hand, the most characteristic of the franchise gimmick, the X-ray kills, you can see in slow motion which organs and parts of the enemy’s anatomy are drilled and fractured by our bullets, return with more cameras, enhanced detail and the same bloody and endless satisfaction before. As for weapons and accessories movements have at your disposal guns and grenades, but they are a very minor aspect of the dynamics of the game, except for close encounters in the campaign.
All this means that the mechanical frame III Sniper Elite is solid, if not exactly stellar; Unfortunately, these positives are balanced by a rather chronic lack of content in the game affects the extent becomes monotonous. The campaign, as is tradition in many FPS is a formality that serves as training for multiplayer with a few scenes and medium design (although better than its predecessor).
For its part, the multiplayer also suffers a lack of maps (there are only 5) and modes that are intended to make the experience bored after a relatively short time. The stellar way, of course, free Deathmatch, a cruel war of all against all in which reflexes and position are the basics. There is also Team Deathmatch, King Distance mode where the winner is the one who achieves a greater distance shot; No Cross and mode, in which the teams are located on the shores of an impassable canyon, which means no contact between enemy camps and murders exclusively long distance. Finally, there is a way of challenges that can be completed alone or in teams, ranging from waves and Overwatch defenses until the peculiar way in which a person handles the rifle binoculars and other equipment to form recognition and murder.
As for the sound, praise the dive and the care of it, which allows you to expand a bit on your range of strategic possibilities; German and Italian rivals your shaft is convincing and adds a point to the immersion of the campaign, although sometimes its limited selection of stereotypical messages can be tiring.
Sniper Elite III represents an undeniable improvement over its predecessors and hit in the evolution to more open maps and more complex situations in the inexhaustible world tension and lurking snipers, but suffers in many ways less successful: little variety, lack of content , maps and few modes, monotony, presentation of resale, formulas and solutions made, poor campaign and a multiplayer which is not intended to attract our attention for long. This set forces us to consider that we are facing a production medium level without too many ambitions. However, the delivery does its job: it is functional, funny, visceral, violent and not ashamed to be just a video game. Hopefully further effort by Rebellion achieves refine and adjust the final series, which certainly is intended to entertain and please, but not to leave a lasting impression on us.