Sniper Elite: Resistance Preview – Stealth action comfort food

thesixthaxis.com:

For once, Karl Fairburne has given up the spotlight for the Sniper Elite series, passing the baton over to his long-time shadow and understudy, Harry Hawker. You might be wondering who on Earth this Harry fellow is, especially if I told you that he’d actually featured in Sniper Elite 3, 4 and 5. Didn’t spot him there? Well, you might have been playing solo, as Harry has been the co-op player’s silent avatar for all those games. Now he’s found his voice though – which happens to be a talking bucket of gravel – and has gone behind enemy lines to fight alongside the French Resistance in Nazi Occupied France.

There’s yet another German Wunderwaffe in development, and Harry has to team up with the French Resistance to sniff out the clues that lead to the weapon and destroy it. Our hands on with the game took us to the walled city of St. Raymond, the HQ of German military intelligence, and where the Resistance informant known as ‘Vertigo’ has seemingly gone into hiding after Gestapo flood the city. Throw in a few bonus objectives, like taking down targets on a kill list, and there’s a good bit to do while you’re in town.

What’s immediately clear is that Sniper Elite: Resistance is sticking to and subtly evolving the formula that’s been so successful through Sniper Elite 4 and 5. This is a large open sandbox that’s crawling with enemies on patrol cars and bike travelling back and forth, and snipers watching from the rooftops.

You have to sneak your way through this vipers’ nest, avoiding the attention of patrolling guards, timing your takedowns, and gradually working your way through to objective points on the map. In this case, it was investigating the dead drop site in the city’s cathedral, trying to get into Vertigo’s flat to search for clues the Gestapo might have missed, and hopefully manage to find their hiding spot to help them get out. It’s a pleasingly dense level with plenty of buildings to duck into, a secret tunnel network that cuts between the cellars of several