I’ve always enjoyed the Sniper Elite series. There’s long been an oversaturation of WWII-era shooters since the days of Medal of Honor on the PS1 (if not Wolfenstein 3D), so it’s fun to have a focused alternative. At the same time, Resistance brings absolutely nothing new to the table (and honestly feels more like DLC than a new game), those who are fans of the series will find some enjoyment here.
The visuals and audio are fine. The fun comes from the over-the-top snipes, showing organs and bones alike exploding. There is something very satisfying about hitting very long-range kills. What hampers the experience, however, is the inconsistent enemies, who are both incredibly stupid yet have the senses of Daredevil. The game can become supremely frustrating when an enemy soldier can react in ways that defy the game design. It’s strange because Sniper Elite V2/3/4/5, though they possess their own issues, didn’t seem to struggle so much with this.
Similar to the recent Hitman series, the game consists of a handful of large, sprawling maps, with a set number of mandatory (and optional) objectives to complete. The sandbox approach to these maps increases the replayability of the game, partially making up for its rather short length. Your initial playthrough may only take 10-15 hours, but fortunately, the game allows you to adjust the difficulty for a greater challenge, and you can unlock different starting points and different gear loadouts.
There is a narrative but honestly, it’s just kind of there. Granted, these games aren’t known for their storytelling but it’s a ho-hum story about preventing some Nazis from unleashing a new weapon or something. The voice acting isn’t offensive but with such a bland story, you just sort of tune it out. I think going forward the series should really consider a new focus (maybe leaving behind WWII and going to something else like Korea or Vietnam, or even going further back, for the sake of variety).
Overall, your enjoyment of this game will depend on how much you‘ve enjoyed previous ones. It feels like a slightly-stretched out DLC for Sniper Elite 5 (which I found to be a vastly superior experience). There isn’t a lot of variety and the lack of innovation in the series is really starting to show. Furthermore, the inconsistent enemy AI can make it a slog to play through. There’s enjoyment to be had here but you’re honestly better off with the other games in the series.
Josh is a lifelong gamer, from the days of playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES to plowing through the RPGs of today. He enjoys taking games of all eras and can be found on X @agentclarke001.
