Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Being my first foray into any Splinter Cell game, this is the first time I was introduced to the series protagonist Sam Fisher. I'm glad that story wise, it was pretty accommodating to not make me feel like I required previous knowledge about anything. Plot wise it's pretty simple: a terrorist group is threatening to do bad stuff and it's up to you (and your team) to stop it. After the tutorial mission you get access to your mobile base (the Paladin) and can then get the money you make on missions based on your performance to upgrade it and expand your customizable arsenal. Whoever is paying you also rewards you for the strangest things. Killed three enemies with a grenade? That was cool! Here's $30k! Shot some one with a non-silenced pistol while using some poor sap as a human shield? Have $10k!

I'm being sneaky!

Gameplay wise you can try be Rambo (kill everything loudly) or Solid Snake (sneak past everything, or kill them quietly), with most missions leaning in favour to the latter (some even as mandatory) as Sam's impressive agility is counteracted by his highly fatal allergy to bullets especially on perfectionist mode. He could probably take more hits if I geared him up in combat gear instead of stealth gear though - but that's how I like to play. A few, side mini-games also break up the tedium of sneaking now and then throughout the solo campaign which I feel was a good inclusion. There are also side missions, most playable as two person coop, and the usual FPS team PvP. Mostly, against AI anyway, it is a lesson in displacement and flanking.

Graphics wise it is very good, way better than Sniper Elite V2 for example - but the control scheme is almost identical to that game, complete with cover mechanics etc. I didn't have a problem with it but I thought I'd mention it here since a few readers posted their dislike of it. It also still crashed out about 10 times during my play through which is irritating, has subtitles that are slightly off from the actual voice acting (I always turn subtitles on) and occasionally has small logic flaws in the missions. Due to the stealth imposed nature it also feels more like a puzzle game than a shooter in some sections which might put people off. Still, if you don't mind all of those then you are in for a good time. I give it 4 bullets out of 5.

Update: Just played the cooperative mode and though there are only four missions it was very enjoyable. So much so that I am upping my rating to 4.5 bullets out of 5!Your mileage may vary though if you team up with a random who doesn't use voice chat.

Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army

The only good Nazi is an... undead Nazi?

 

I've had this game for awhile now so I'm a little surprised I didn't do a review of it yet. Some of you may recall the annoyances I experienced while trying to play it cooperatively, which killed the game for me. However, I decided to go through it again solo after being uplifted by playing Sniper Elite v2 which obviously eliminated the severe flaw of frequent disconnects and then being unable to reconnect to your friends problem. That said it still crashed out on me twice.

While the story is shallow ("and then there were zombies!") the gameplay itself works well with the sniper vs undead theme. Most enemies require head shots (or heart shots) to be put down permanently and there is ample opportunity to snipe and survive waves of the walking dead during the story... and by walking I mean at a leisurely and casual pace.

Given that the majority of your foes need to melee you, this actually makes the game easier than the original (where grunts would shoot back, take cover and lob grenades) as you can even avoid them or kick them down with your own melee strike. The few enemies with firearms can be a bit of a problem, depending on where they catch you but generally distance is your friend and that very useful cover system is made quite redundant as long as you have Doom level shooting experience.

Most of the maps will also be familiar from v2, though they are heavily modified decor wise. Overall it is still a fun game which is easiest cleared if you keep your cool from the jump scares and shoot carefully because really, these zombies have no chance against a well armed marksman. I give it 3.5 bullets out of 5 (for solo play).

Sniper Elite V2

My only previous experience with Sniper Elite was with their Nazi Zombie game and I pretty much rage quit over the very poor mechanics of very often getting dropped from a coop session and not being able to rejoin. It quite killed my interest in the whole series until this game was made freely available for one day. I grabbed it and proceeded to play through the single player story on the hardest setting (why play anything less?) that features almost zero HUD and realistic bullet drop.

While it still crashed out on me twice and it has the one path with a few detours typical map setup for the missions the story is not bad, the areas are gorgeous, the mechanics of stealth vs speed are great (I am a Thief fan), and fighting enemy sniper teams and armor are fantastic! The slow motion, sometimes x-ray, kill cam also brought a smile to my face each time I saw my targets organs and bones shatter (sometimes explode) from my rounds, but boy did they get me a fair number of times too. Fortunately you don't take realistic damage or a health bar, instead it uses the troll methodology of "if you get hit too much consecutively you die, but hide for awhile and you regenerate" making it a rather fun 6-7 hours of gaming.

A little lower and you would have got "nut-shot" cam.

The little touches of having the sunlight cause enemy sniper scopes to flash once in a while are awesome too, and it happens to you as well if you wait too long while aiming since unaware enemies suddenly spot you after awhile. I must admit the whole experience has rekindled my desire to retry the Nazi Zombie one, maybe just in single player this time - and definitely ups my interest in the other Sniper Elite titles. I may not buy them for me due to my own rule, but I still buy games for others. So while I sit here humming the main theme of the game as I type, I can't help but give it 4 bullets out of 5. I haven't tried coop on it (no one to try it with) so that may alter the score depending on how it goes.