Title: Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
Available on: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Developer: CI Games
Publisher: CI Games
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Version Tested: Xbox One
Official Site: Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
Release Date: November 22, 2019
Where to Buy: Microsoft Store, PSN Store, Steam, GOG.com
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is the latest game where you take on the job of killing people, for money. The big difference between this title and some of the other ones on the market is that stealth isn’t really important.
You aren’t supposed to be sneaking around a building, blending in with the surroundings. This isn’t like Hitman. There aren’t any costumes to put on or armed guards to try and sneak past.
Instead, the latest installment in the long-running series is all about keeping your distance. Sniping has always been the key here, but in this game, it’s even more important.
You have other weapons, should you decide that’s how you want to go. If you decide you need to kill up close, you have that option. The drawback is that you are running a very big risk of being killed yourself if you go into a situation, guns blazing.
It’s better to find a spot far away from your targets, check the wind, check the distance and set up for a single shot kill. The realism of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is that the wind plays a very big part. You can think you have the shot line up. Then you take the shot and see it wind away from the target.
It’s not an exaggeration to think people who have experience with rifles and long-range shooting are going to have more success with the game. It’s that realistic.
Unfortunately, that’s kind of where the realism stops. While the world that has been created in the game is pretty, taking people down and taking people out doesn’t have the heft of some other games.
No weight in your decisions
Say what you want about the Hitman series when you take someone out, you’re in the shoes of a cold blood killer. When you kill a person, from far away or up close, people notice.
There’s a feeling of taking someone out of the world. The same can’t be said for Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts. Part of that is the world isn’t filled in.
There’s a story, but it’s not worth noting. You are someone who has been outfitted with top-notch equipment. You work for an organization that has enemies.
You kill people for “money” that can be used to upgrade your character. But there isn’t a reason to want to survive the missions or save anyone’s life.
That’s likely one of the things that makes Hitman so good. There are innocents you can choose to kill if you need to, but you’re making a heavy decision.
In Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, there are no innocents. The people you’re going after are either their targets or their goons.
It also seems odd to be saying it, but the bloodless deaths don’t help the situation either. In a game where killing is the main point, taking someone out leaves a corpse, but not a puddle of blood.
The Hitman series not only encourages you to go non-lethal with bystanders but has a bit of a blood drip when you don’t. This game wants you to kill everyone and shows you no drawbacks when you do.
It’s a Pretty World
While the act of carrying out your contracts leaves something to be desired, there’s something to be said for the way the game was put together otherwise. The beginning of the game largely takes place in arctic tundra and it does the surroundings well.
It helps that winter has officially descended on my part of the world. Still, when I was in the moment, trying to find my target and finish my contract, I felt cold. The crunch of the snow helped. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts made me feel as though I truly was traipsing along the ice.
The same goes when I got to other areas of the game. I expected to walk outside and see and feel the same atmosphere as what was in the game. That’s because the graphics in the game are plenty pretty as well.
As in the picture above, when you get to a scene where the sun is coming up over the horizon, it’s breathtaking. You want to check out everything the world has to offer before you start laying waste.
There is also the fact that the world and the maps aren’t small. You’re going to have to traverse large areas in order to get to where you’re supposed to go. This also allows you some freedom in how you want to approach.
Unfortunately, the game isn’t offering anything like a destructible world, so once you run into a bunch of inaccessible doors, the realism wears off there as well.
Verdict: Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts scratches a special kind of itch. Hitman fans who want to get in and get out of a situation without having to use the stealth aspects of those games could find something they really like in this title. On the other hand, the complete lack of a story is a real problem. Not knowing why your character is doing what they’re doing doesn’t help in the slightest. There’s something fun here, but it doesn’t quite finish what it started.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts Review
Sniping relies on physics
Decent Sized Maps
The story is an afterthought
Realism drops off once the bullet leaves the chamber
