author: Luc
First Look at Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 – The Most Beautiful Sniper Game in History, But Is There More to It?
After last year's success of Sniper Elite III: Afrika, the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series is facing an extremely difficult challenge. We took a closer look at the third installment of this series in action.
This article was written prior to the game's release.
This text was based on the PC version.
- FPS with an emphasis on stealth;
- Player assumes the role of an elite sniper;
- The game takes place in Georgia during a new cold war;
- The campaign is several-hours long;
- No multiplayer on launch;
- Crafting system and several types of weapons to modify.
A sniper rifle is a must-have in any self-respecting shooter game. Although it’s much more demanding than other, more popular weapons, preparing to take a shot without so much as a twitch has a surprisingly vast army of fans. But when we take a look at the video game market, it turns out that productions devoted strictly to the depiction of the marksman's craft are extremely rare. When the first Sniper: Ghost Warrior debuted in 2010 it had virtually no other option but to be successful – the lack of any competition (apart from the appreciated, but a bit aged Sniper Elite) paired with a great concept meant that even despite several distinct shortcomings the production could boast sensational sales. Its sequel, however, turned out to be mediocre. Now, in confrontation with last year's Sniper Elite III: Afrika, CI Games has an extremely difficult task at hand when it comes to the third installment in its series. We had an opportunity to check into the progress the developers made so far at a special presentation.
Alone behind enemy lines
The presentation started in a traditional way – with a story-based introduction to the atmosphere and background that will accompany us when playing Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3. We are going to assume the role of an American ex-marine who is sent to Georgia, where at any moment a new Cold War can break out between the United States and Russia. The details are still kept under the wraps, but the most important is the fact that we will be completely alone in the combat zone. We can't count on any help, and the people we encounter will be indifferent at best to our presence. In an interview with the developers we managed to find out that this time we will play the entire campaign in one particular region. This doesn’t mean, however, that Georgia will always look the same.
"Part of the action takes place in urban areas, others in the woods or within more open spaces. Each map will be varied and will force us to use completely different tactics. Even if we go back to the same map further into the campaign, we may find it necessary to modify our strategy. In our game, apart from dynamically changing weather, we’ve also implemented seasons", said Alek Sajnach, Narrative Designer at CI Games.
