Sniper Elite 5 is the latest in the long line of titles about hunting fascists in WW2 as a lone operative. The franchise is still basking in its uniqueness even now — it's one of the few shooter games where tactics are actually involved in the gameplay. While Sniper Elite 5 mostly hits the mark and makes itself worthy of its predecessors' acclaim, it misses a few shots that make it far from perfect.
The game has been out for more than a week and the verdict among the game's community members (or players) point to some rather disfavorable sentiments. The game isn't without its issues as both a shooter and a stealth-based title. Some of these issues have disappointed series veterans at the very least and at worst, they even ruin the progress. The game's developers will certainly have to blitz in some quick fixes for these problems.
8 Make Attachments & Guns More Accessible
Most of the time, players will just be sniping and picking off enemies from afar or in the shadows in Sniper Elite 5. Even so, the previous games offered balanced variety by letting players unlock guns and advanced attachments as some form of progression. In the previous games, these equipment pieces are simple enough to obtain.
Sniper Elite 5, on the other hand, went a little too far with its gameplay twist. The title made it so that acquiring some attachments and guns is based on campaign progress instead of weapon performance. By doing so, the game can lock out some players from obtaining certain attachments and guns.
7 Consistent AI
It's often hard to cook a perfect and responsive AI for stealth games but even so, Sniper Elite 5's AI came out half-baked. Common complaints include AI that "cheats" by automatically knowing the player's location after they accidentally fumble a stealth or sneaking run.
Sniper Elite 5 sadly also hasn't fixed some of its predecessor's AI problems where even an MG42 gunner from a thousand yards away can pick off a detected player. Other times, the AI can be unresponsive, which is noticeable when their comrades are getting killed by an unseen enemy one by one. It's this kind of inconsistency that can throw off careful planning and skill.
6 More Realistic Helmets
Helmets are supposed to add a layer of difficulty in Sniper Elite games. They spice things up by forcing the players to target other body parts or wait for better opportunities. Sniper Elite 5, however, makes the enemy helmets a little too tough. In some cases, the slug even bounces off their helmets, which is both hilarious and frustrating as that typically doesn't happen to rifle ammunition, especially from a direct shot.
While it's understandable what the developers were going for with the idea, it's just poorly executed. Sniper Elite 5 is a game that touts its semi-realistic bullet physics involving wind, elevation, gravity, and even bullet drop. Having helmets that don't obey the rules of war doesn't exactly help with the attention to detail.
5 Less Frustrating Invasion Mode
Axis Invasion Mode is Sniper Elite 5's attempt at incorporating some nail-biting multiplayer PvP for the title. It functions similarly to invasions in Souls games where the invader will have to fight another player in the latter's own campaign sessions. The difference is that here, the whole Invasion Mode turns into a frustrating waiting game.
There's no time limit (at the time of writing) and little to no indication of the invader's whereabouts. Players can disable this multiplayer feature and play offline but the XP reward will get docked or lessened. There's more incentive in playing with the Axis Invasion Mode on.
4 Less Railroading & Invisible Walls
Despite the "open-world" design for Sniper Elite 5, a lot of players within its community consider the game as a step back from the older titles when it comes to exploration. That's because Sniper Elite 5 is one of the most linear games in the series. It does present alternate paths for players to pursue but even those mostly boil down to option A or B.
Apart from the obvious mission railroading, Sniper Elite 5 also has some discouraging invisible walls. Some areas seem to open up to players only for them to be met with an unseen barrier. The game at least needs to close up these inaccessible areas more visibly or just close off pathways to lead to dead ends.
3 Smoother & Faster Movement
One new feature for Sniper Elite 5 is the verticality. It seems the game took its cues from Assassin's Creed's parkour system. Players can now climb walls and small, visible barriers. Problems arise when it comes to inclines or other environmental props. Sometimes, the players can get stuck on a bunch of rocks while still being able to climb man-sized walls.
This form of inconsistency in the animations and movement leads to janky traversal. Apart from that, other movements are also slower. From switching weapons to vaulting, the game needs to increase its animation speeds; committing movement mistakes is made more annoying due to the slower animations.
2 Better Ending
Without spoiling anything, do expect Sniper Elite 5's ending to be lackluster, at the very least. One would say that that kind of ending is almost tradition for the series; the previous titles also resembled B-movie levels of inconsistency and quality. However, Sniper Elite 5 could have easily broken the mold.
As it is, the game's ending is low-stakes and campy. It's not much different from watching an ending of a Saturday morning cartoon where the heroes celebrated in the cheesiest way possible after winning. Worse still is how the game refrains from making itself too ridiculous despite bordering on the absurd and comedic. It didn't need to shy away from its campiness anymore after what it presented.
1 General Bugs & Glitches Fix
As expected of a game that's still a bit fresh from its release date, Sniper Elite 5 is full of bugs and glitches. One of the worst ones includes a notorious bug in certain missions that force players to replay the mission several times in order to progress.
There are also numerous glitch triggers; even something as mundane as skipping a cutscene can break a mission. Crashes are also a bit rampant. Combined with the game's janky movements and unfriendly multiplayer, the developers have a lot of work cut out for them in the next few weeks or months.
Sniper Elite 5 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.