The Sniper Ghost Warrior series has been around for a while but hasn’t attained the popularity of the World War 2 set Sniper series. Being set in the present allows the game to play with newer weapons, allowing for more of that movie sniper experience, but for some reason the series just hasn’t gelled. The last game, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, added a bit of a Call of Duty flare, telling the story of a rogue special operations sniper being searched for by his equally adept brother. Sadly, that game did not fare well critically or at the cash register, and the developer decided to pivot the series. What we have here is a game that is inspired equally by the Sniper series as well as the Hitman reboot, and while a step in the right direction, it still has some way to go to compete with those franchises - or at least gain some traction with fans.



Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts eschews the scripted story of the previous entries and takes the Hitman approach of creating a sandbox with a simple backstory in which you can play. Like Agent 47, you are the nameless Seeker, a merc hired to take on these assassination contracts and given a high-tech mask that gives you various abilities. Using these new talents is vital for your survival as you're all alone against the multitude of enemies, and you need all the help you can get to find a safe way to your target.

Like Agent 47, you are the nameless Seeker, a merc hired to take on these assassination contracts and given a high-tech mask that gives you various abilities.

The first contract has you dropped off in the snowy wastes of Siberia tasked with finding “Bio-Ivanovsky” in his remote military base and lab. Once you find him, you are to eliminate him, find a sample of the virus he is developing as a bioweapon, destroy his research and recover intelligence or the undercover operative who gathered it. Along the way you have various challenges that you can complete, including a Bounty, that frustratingly isn’t properly explained to you as well as make X number of headshots or interrogate X number of officers. It’s all designed to create replayability of the levels just like the various Hitman challenges are. While the idea is solid (why not copy the best?) the execution is lazy. Where Hitman challenges you to complete your mission in increasingly creative ways, who didn’t spend time scouting the map looking for that obscure environmental kill, the challenges here are never anything more than your usual trophy stat collections.



This idea of copying someone else’s homework but not getting it quite right carries on to the map design. The maps are expansive and varied in terms of elevation, nooks and crannies. But the map is difficult to navigate as it is all snow-covered. Where the desert maps of Sniper 2 made finding your way easy by breaking up the environment with buildings and easy to see pathways, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts doesn’t. I found it extraordinarily tedious wandering about checking my map every thirty seconds or so to make sure I was headed in the right direction.

Making things more realistic, but ultimately more frustrating, was simply running into enemies as they are well camouflaged and having to run away before your minimal health bar is depleted in quick succession. Tapping L2 gives you a handy Assassin sense that highlights pathways and way points once you upgrade the mask, but does not immediately highlight enemies. That is something you can upgrade the mask to do, but I would’ve preferred that this be made available much earlier as part of the initial tutorial, it would make the landing much softer into this harsh, unforgiving environment. Now I know that the hardcore Hitman fans play without the Assassin’s Sense on, but given the environments you are in, it is much easier to at least guess at who the enemies are than as you can see them in the crowds.



Once you do reach a perch overlooking your target operating area, the game shines. Scouting the area with your binoculars and picking out your targets is a satisfying experience as this allows you to study their patrol routes and plan how you are going to take them out and in what order. Spending time studying the movements is essential as if you do not plan this properly, you will alert the enemies who will have a supernatural sense of where you are, forcing you to retreat so that things can cool off.

Dialling in your scope to compensate for elevation is crucial, otherwise you will shoot high and wide and more so over longer distances.

Adding to the tension and sense of realism is the sniping mechanic. Identifying targets with your binoculars and not your scope, will mark the enemies but crucially give you their relative elevation to your position. Dialling in your scope to compensate for elevation is crucial, otherwise you will shoot high and wide and more so over longer distances. The other real-world factor that you have to compensate for is windspeed and direction; luckily your scope and mask will give you that information including a handy bullet drop indicator that allows you to compensate. This mechanic is a great addition to the game, forcing you to constantly adjust your aim and rely on holding your breath to compensate for scope sway. There is no quick-scope kills in this game - planning, patience and reading the conditions are vital to success.



To break the monotony of long-range sniping, the game requires you to infiltrate enemy areas in order to complete your objectives. This means that the game will become a bit of a stealth game mixed with some run and gun action once you are discovered. While the mechanics here are as good as any run and gun FPS, aiming down sights is quick and responsive and enemies will swarm you, but thankfully there is no COD style waves of enemies, it is at odds with the style of the game.

If the developers had allowed the Seeker to use disguises making it more interesting and yet sometimes easier to infiltrate, the game would be better for it. Right now, you must hope that the AI detection is a little off and that when you think you are hidden by a crate or in the shadows that the game actually shows you as hidden. Despite this, infiltration is a tension filled game of hide and seek and if you scouted properly and identified as many enemies as possible your job will be much, much easier.



An interesting idea that doesn’t quite make narrative sense is the RPG-lite skill and equipment upgrade system. Upgrading skills doesn’t make sense as you are supposed to be one of the best and the instant mask, suit and gadget upgrades are nonsensical as you don’t even have to go to a pick-up point to get the upgraded equipment, you just choose the upgrades you can afford and they are miraculously added to your arsenal. This is a minor nitpick, but it still bothers me.

If you have completed all the Hitman challenges and are tired of shooting Nazis in the nether regions, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is a great substitute while we wait for new installments of those games. It is a promising new direction that they are taking the franchise in and I hope the developer gets the chance to iterate on this formula as we desperately need a modern sniper game.