Sniper Elite 5 turns World War II into an immersive sim

digitaltrends.com:

Since 2005, Rebellion Development’s Sniper Elite series has perfected sniping gameplay with detailed bullet physics and a joyously gory killcam. While these games lend themselves to some intense sniping shootouts, they could often feel too linear and restrictive for a game about sneaking behind enemy lines and taking out Nazis as you see fit.

Sniper Elite 4 took the first step in making levels more expansive and emphasizing player freedom. Now, Sniper Elite 5 is taking those ideas one step further as a World War II sandbox that finds itself somewhere between Hitman 3 and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in its structure.

I got to play Sniper Elite 5’s second level and see the more open-ended level design and deeper weapon customization in action. Although it doesn’t reinvent the series’ formula, the level I played showed that Sniper Elite 5 has refined this experience into the intense sniping immersive sim I always wanted Sniper Elite to be.

While Sniper Elite 4 took place in Italy, Sniper Elite 5 brings series protagonist Karl Fairburne to the area around Normandy, France, as he tries to take down Nazi Abelard Möller. Rebellion says the events of D-Day will play out during the game, but I played a mission that takes place much earlier.

Titled Occupied Residence, this level tasks the player with sneaking into Möller’s office in an occupied French Chateau to retrieve documents that reveal a secret Nazi plan to attack America. Occupied Resident actually didn’t require me to assassinate anybody, but it still managed to leave an impression as one of the best levels in the series thanks to strong design and some of Sniper Elite 5’s new gameplay elements.

At the start of the level, I was dropped off at a French resistance