Rebellion’s Sniper Elite series has long been a bit of a standard for tactical third-person combat, with its emphasis on stealth, sniping, and meticulously planned operations. The recently announced latest installment, Sniper Elite: Resistance, takes the franchise into the heart of occupied France, where players will engage in a hidden war against the Nazi war machine. We recently went hands-on with a PC build of the game at Gamescom, and it’s clear that while the game stays true to its roots, it also brings a few new tricks to the table.
What we know
Sniper Elite: Resistance is an open-world, third-person shooter that continues the series’ tradition of blending stealth, tactical combat, and precise sniping mechanics. Set in the dark days of World War II, the game introduces a new protagonist, Harry Hawker, an agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) tasked with thwarting a dangerous new Nazi weapon deep within occupied France. The game’s campaign, which can be played solo or in co-op, offers multiple ways to approach each mission, with various infiltration and extraction points that allow players to tailor the experience to their playstyle.
The trademark X-ray kill cam returns, as visceral as ever, showing in brutal detail the impact of each carefully calculated shot. Advanced gunplay physics also make a comeback, requiring players to account for factors like wind, gravity, and heart rate. In addition to the core campaign, Sniper Elite: Resistance includes unique propaganda missions that let players step into the shoes of a French Resistance fighter. The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, though a release date has yet to be confirmed.
What we saw
During Gamescom, we were invited by Rebellion to experience a hands-on session with Sniper Elite: Resistance on PC. The demo featured a single mission set on a sprawling map, and while we were only given 20 minutes to explore, we pushed ourselves to see as much of the level as possible. This meant foregoing cautious sniper tactics and going with more aggressive, on-the-run firefights to maximize our time with the game – as a Sniper Elite mission normally takes 60 to 90 minutes to complete.
What we thought
It quickly became clear that Sniper Elite: Resistance delivers the kind of gameplay that fans of the series have come to love. The core mechanics remain as solid as ever, with the X-ray kill cam providing a gruesome yet satisfying payoff for well-placed shots. There’s something deeply rewarding about lining up the perfect shot, adjusting for all the environmental factors, and then watching as the camera follows the bullet to its devastating conclusion. However, as much as this feature is a highlight, it’s also very familiar, to the point where it might feel like more of the same for long-time players of the series. Having said that – its impact at the end of a carefully planned mission is as satisfying as ever.
The level design in our demo was a standout, offering glimpses that Resistance will have plenty of opportunities to experiment with different approaches. Going faster than we normally would across the sprawling map encouraged us to think on our feet and adapt our strategy as we navigated various terrain, from city walls to underground tunnels. This kind of design not only invites replayability but also gives players the freedom to decide how they want to tackle each mission, whether through pure stealth, long-range sniping, or a combination of both. While the timed demo didn’t give us too many chances to experiment with this, there were plenty of signs that the full game will be rewarding in this sense.
Visually, the game impresses with its detailed environments and atmospheric lighting, which help to create a tense and immersive experience. The audio design is equally strong, with the crack of gunfire and the crunch of footsteps in the underbrush adding to the overall sense of realism. That said, the game’s familiarity in terms of gameplay mechanics might be a double-edged sword. While the formula is undoubtedly still strong, those who have played the previous entries extensively may find themselves yearning for something a bit different, and we’ll see how Resistance will cater to that in the final game.
Overall, Sniper Elite: Resistance seems poised to deliver exactly what fans of the series want: a finely-tuned tactical shooter with a well-executed narrative and a lot of replay value. While it may not break new ground, it doesn’t need to – sometimes, refining a winning formula is all that’s required to keep a franchise feeling fresh. We’re eager to see how the full game shapes up when it finally releases next year.
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