With more military titles focusing more on pick-up and play systems that can easily be understood by a large audience Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 does the opposite and instead focuses more on tactical slow-moving gameplay through challenging missions throughout the middle east. It's not your run-of-the-mill military shooter that rewards patience and planning. However, the game's movement system can be frustrating since even a small ridge can prove annoying to move past. Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 definitely won't cater to everyone and forgoes the high explosions Michael Bay focus most military games have devolved into and more on professional military missions.

Players take control of Raven, a deadly sniper contracted to take down high-value targets throughout the Middle East in the lawless borders between Lebanese and Syria. Raven is your typical military man, confident but professional. He knows what he's doing and understands the circumstances around his missions. All of this is told in the traditional flurry of mugshots, confidential documents, and other military jargon most are familiar with.

While most of the narrative is forgettable the writers weren't afraid to touch on specific real-world topics. The idea of powerful countries ignoring crimes against humanity but willing to dive into conflict if certain commodities are at risk such as oil. It's not driven to the player's head in a preachy way but instead complements the overall narrative, Raven is here to kill high-profile targets to avoid a war if the oil pipeline is disturbed.

When on the ground Raven is placed in a semi-open world with a variety of objectives. This usually involves taking out high-profile targets with your sniper rifle and optional objectives such as destroying satellite links. On occasion, optional bounties will come into play and you can choose to take them out but they're always guarded by an elite soldier. The maps themselves are open but linear with specific paths leading to the next area but each open space offers enough variety that the player can choose to take things slow, avoid conflict, or kill everyone.

While the option is available going loud is strongly discouraged. You have the option with a default standard weapon of your choice, C4, and other explosives to kill your enemies in droves but not every enemy is the same. You have standard cannon fodder but also riflemen, snipers, and heavily armored enemies. Enemies will send reinforcements and even bomb your area if they're aware of you. This doesn't mean the AI is smart, just cautious and precise, they can hit you with insane accuracy and see you effectively but when in active combat they can be easily taken down in close quarters without much challenge. Some will even run in a linear line as you take them out 1 at a time.

During harder difficulties, the game does not show any mercy and you'll need to be near perfect in your executions. The problem is that movement is not great and even a small ledge can be an obstacle to walk over. Since enemies can see you decently having to stand up to get over a ledge that is ankle-high is just annoying and high risk. There's also this weird glitch where you can go below the water surface but not going into a swimming animation.

Sneaking isn't the best and only has the most basic of features. This includes enemy indicators and using the surrounding flora for cover. You can toss rocks for distractions and tag enemies with your binoculars. If you get close Raven can perform a brutal takedown but you'll need to hide the body after or interrogate the enemy for information. Interrogations don't always work and repeat the same voice lines, sometimes with miss-matched VOs that I just found funny. Despite if they provide Raven with the information he kills them either way violently.

The best part of Raven's missions is the sniper challenges. Once you get to the nest your job is to find your target and take them out. It sounds simple but as the game progresses the number of variables starts to add up. Targets must be lured out but this comes at a risk as they're usually guarded by other snipers and NPCs who can find your location. This means planning accordingly with your binoculars, planning out the best route, and taking the shot with is cinematically shown in graphic detail with heads exploding, body parts being ripped off, and more gory details. On easier options, a dot is provided to showcase the differences in wind, distance, and movement with Raven able to slow his breathing for easier shots. On hardest options, this is taken away and it offers some of the hardest experiences in gaming as it's now all on you to determine the shot.

Despite the targets being high profile, they're a dime a dozen. After a while, they bleed together and eventually you get into the motions of being told this person is bad and go put a bullet in their head.

Planning plays a huge role in Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 with raven given a lot of sophisticated gear to play with. This includes a drone, a complementary rifle turret for simultaneous takedowns, and a variety of weapon options. The sheer amount of choices put Battlefield 2042 at shame with a collection of scopes, bullet types, weapons, and cosmetic choices becoming available either by gathering collectibles in the world or by buying them with the money earned through contracts.

There's a leveling system but unless you're a completionist much of the game's optional challenges and bonus rewards are unnecessary. I found a loadout that works for me and just used that for the entire 10-hour adventure without any need to change things up. In a way that works by ensuring the player never has to use something they don't want to but it also means you don't need to experiment with the game's massive options. 

Visually the game is appealing. The graphics and presentation aren't anything unique but the developers did an outstanding job crafting the world, the character models, and the overall presentation. This level of quality is shared with the voice work with Raven and his handlers. While the NPC dialogue is hit or miss the main cast does a great job.

The PlayStation 5 version does offer haptic feedback which can be turned off. It's a cool gimmick and provides force feedback as you aim and shoot your gun. Personally, I enjoyed the feature as it gave more weight to my actions whether that's aiming down my rifle or about to pull the trigger.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 goes against more mainstream military shooters but offers something more resembling an actual soldier. The planning, the gadgets, and the overall narrative come together for a more appealing tactical shooter. Moving Raven does require some work but the overall options made available to the player means you can head into a contract with everything you need. Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 provides an excellent sniper sim that gives you the chance to brutally take down targets in cinematic glory.

Review Copy Provided
 

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed