Lying on a high cliff overlooking the enemy warehouse across the lake, marking the target more than 2000 meters away, I aimed, set the sights, adjusted to the wind direction, held my breath, pulled the trigger… missed the shot. . Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a stealth-based milsim and the 6th installment in the series starting in 2008. Contracts 2 follows a similar formula to its predecessors but certainly the most challenging, with different sniper scenes that are almost as long as the title of the game. It boasts one of the most realistic and challenging sniper mechanics I’ve played with some nice visuals, but the game’s story and layout seem a bit dull and unpolished.
Set in the fictional Middle East dictatorship of Kuamar, the powerful new autocrat has decided to invade a neighboring country, the world’s response is to send a man and his sniper ta. The story itself feels all too common for military shooters, the stereotypical evil dictator and his friends no longer good, and it’s your job to put a bullet into them. After a brief tutorial walks you through the different mechanics to snipe and the different gadgets to play with, you’ll be off to action with your first target. From there, the campaign spans a series of individual contracts in which you track down and assassinate members of a criminal network, and when you don’t shoot bullets in the head from more than 1000 meters away, you will have to interrogate enemies growling, damaging communications, and sabotaging equipment. To help you with this, you can use a multitude of gadgets, a drone that helps mark hard-to-reach targets and hack CCTV cameras as well as a variety of different special ammunition according to reality. , from standard armor-piercing and anytime-anywhere explosives to sci-fi style tracking bullets and bullets that don’t affect wind or distance.
With each target to assassinate there are many ways to do it, you can make full use of the flaming gun, locate the target, fire and exit, or you can use the environment to get creative. . In a similar style to the Hitman game, I can lure one of the key targets underneath the transport crate and will have a well-placed shot to knock him down with it. It’s the kills like this that I find the most enjoyable from the game, the big final moments, and the creative bonus that allows you to kill your target in a variety of ways. Those calculated snipings against a mile-long target at great distances are great and are considered a standout high point in Contract 2, but unfortunately the rest of the game feels a bit lifeless and full of supplements. After being transported by helicopter into each new area, you’ll have to go through an iterative process like sneaking around enemy clusters, interrogating certain enemies for information on your next target. Follow along and the occasional close-up and personal shootout with your assault rifle and pistol. For the sake of fluidity, the devs had to add something in between sniping from vantage points, but unfortunately these other elements feel very rushed, even though you play from first person and have standard automatic rifles and loaded grenades do not. feels like a slick FPS, but instead it’s an inevitable, repetitive mechanic that keeps me constantly searching for the fastest way to get to my next goal.
Contracts 2’s power comes from that point in addition to getting to a vantage point, scanning the area, planning moves, and executing attacks feels very rewarding and really feels like you’re behind the scenes. vi, with a lot of weight behind every small adjustment or decision. . Instead of rushing in to destroy the target and get out of there, I want to take my time, scrutinize and map out the attack method. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had with a sniper rifle in a video game, the mechanics are very realistic and challenging at first, but once you’ve adjusted to the target distance and wind direction, you start to feel like a real sniper. Unfortunately, compared to other mechanics, stealth is pretty basic and minimal against tiny enemies that all seem to struggle with hearing, right from all fighters and The newly acquired helicopter is flying through Kuamarian airspace. The movement in general looks a bit too robotic and very jerky, I think I’m wearing an old suit with the way you climb the ledges in the rare bit of climbing you have to do, it makes me turn my back just to see it. The intuitive layout of the HUD and menus is also quite confusing, for a game with a fairly simple premise and core mechanics that come with a jumble of different menus, upgrade screens, HUD options, and more. The customizations can be quite overwhelming until you get used to how they all come together, it feels like this element of the game takes the tiniest chunk of the budget.
Vis Visual Contracts 2’s world and objects are amazing, currently only a last generation version (PS4/XBOX One) but the CryEngine powered graphics still hold up against some of the most optimized games. next generation that I played. As expected from a game that requires you to take pictures from many kilometers away, the display distance also extends for miles, even without looking through binoculars or viewfinders you can see small ant-like figures. Going back and forth where the target is, all player and object movement is also very smooth thanks to Contracts 2 running at 60fps on PC and next-gen consoles. All of this becomes an aesthetically stunning world that really plays a great role in adding realism and immersion while traversing the rocky and sandy terrain of Kuamar.
Overall, the experience of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is quite attractive. On one side, there’s the adrenaline pumping thrill of hitting a high stakes hit from thousands of yards away to knock out one of the big targets and hurl it out of it while chaos ensues, but This has been ruined since then have to overcome the hidden mechanics and complicated fps that keep you trying to rush to the next sniper’s nest. Sniper gunfights and the broader process to execute kills once you’re in position don’t get stale or boring and are probably the most fun I’ve had with a sniper in video games But I also find these very interesting. moments so frequent and apart, it feels almost unused. The previous 5 versions of the series followed the trend of having solid sniper mechanics but never penetrated the FPS world like Call of Duty or Battlefield, and unfortunately Contracts 2 does not deviate from this trend. That’s not to say it’s a bad game or should be ignored immediately, the sniper’s experience alone is enough for me to recommend you give it a try, but be prepared to see some difficult aspects along the way.
GameRev has been provided with a digital download of the game for the purpose of this review.
