Play as the role of a sniper in Georgia, near the Russian border, trying to find out what happened to your brother and working with the government to stop an evil group from their plans in the area.
General Gameplay
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a FPS shooter in which you play as a sniper, but have the freedom to be a sniper, play stealth, or be “full guns out” to take out your objectives in this open-world game.
Audio
The audio is a mixture of gunshots, explosions, soldiers, and other characters speaking. It also has animals and other nature background sounds that come with an open world game. As a mature title there is a lot of strong language in the game, mostly equal to an R-rated movie. During our play test, we did not run into anything that would be of concern; the in-game audio is mostly voice over with some music that is from the country of Georgia. Again, keep in mind that the game is rated M for mature and that the language is strong. Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 does support 5.1 surround sound and clear headset sound. Do monitor extended usage of the headset with your gaming family members.
Visuals
Being in a open world, the graphics are a mixture of urban areas with buildings that you would see in Georgia and its villages with people walking around. Also, there are areas that are more in the style of military installations that have soldiers walking around, guarding and doing general day-to-day work. The game does a good job of conveying the feeling that you are in an area in which you are behind enemy lines and urgently need to figure out where to go and what to do next. There were some glitches in the game that could result in the need to restart a mission or even reload the game altogether, which was annoying at times. Also, there were parts of the game in which the graphics just looked very low res and dated, but nothing that would-be game breaking. During our play testing we did not notice anything that would be too offensive, but again, keep in mind that as an M-rated title there will be more mature content such as soldiers, noncombatants, and animals being killed and other war-related things going on. The game does not support a color-blind mode, and during our playtesting and special needs testing that we did notice that there were parts of the game when the reds and greens were harder to distinguish. The best thing to do is adjust your monitor settings to help your gamer better see the game itself.
Controls
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3’s controls are designed to be played from a FPS (First Person Shooter) perspective. The game’s controls are easy enough to use to play as a Sniper. The left and right thumb sticks are used to move and see as the player; buttons are assigned to use gear, jump, run and perform other actions that you would do in the game. The game does not need any type of special controller to play but newer PC gamers might have a better experience using a controller, but more advanced PC gamers should be ok using the keyboard/mouse settings as well. During our playtest, we only noticed gamers that were new to FPS games having trouble with the controls, but that was only for the first hour or so. We did notice during our special needs testing that the controller setup was a little complicated for some of our autistic gamers, but again, after playing the game for an hour or so they got used to the controls.
“Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a different style of game in which you can either snipe, run-and-gun or be stealth about your approach, but do understand that at the end, you are a sniper.”
Delivery
Those looking for a modern-day setting where you can play as a Sniper may like the game. During the testing we did enjoy the game; it has a lot to do, from going after HVT (High Value Targets) to side missions, rescuing civilians and finding secrets locations. However, gamers who have played single-player FPS games that are in this type of setting did get bored of the game because of the “rinse, wash, repeat” layout of the game. The story of the game is somewhat “B-Rated” in its style of writing, and can be predictable in where it is taking you next in the story. We ran into a lot of “glitches” and “bugs” in the game. At the time of this writing of this review a lot of them were addressed, but there are others out there that have not be addressed. Are they game breaking? No, however, they are annoying and may cause you to either restart a mission or reload the game. The loading in the game is LONG – up to 5 minutes to load one area to another, but there is no in-game loading once the region is loaded. In all, Sniper Ghost Warrior is not a bad game, it just needs more polishing to be a great game.
Family Friendly
If you are wondering how or if Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 fits into your digital library, it all depends on who is playing the game and what type of FPS action game that they are looking for. During our playtesting, the FPS fans in our playtest loved the game. Yes, it did have some “rinse, wash, repeat” missions to it but it was a fun “rinse, wash, repeat” style that they liked. Also, the game does have some fun aspects to it but don’t expect it to be an easy cakewalk unless the gamers who is going to play it is somewhat experienced in open world FPS titles. One of the good things about Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is that it allows you to approach any mission with either going guns blazing, fully stealth or even as a sniper picking off your targets from afar. Another thing that we liked in the game is that if you play as a Sniper you have to make the necessary adjustments to your gun including adjusting for distance, wind factor, and bullet trajectory. Some may see this as being too micromanaging in the game, but it shows the care that went into the experience of being a sniper – not just running out there and shooting an enemy, but taking time to calculate your shot. Our special needs gamers really liked this factor and this made it a more enjoyable experience. Being an M-rated title you have to be careful with who is playing this in your digital family, but if you have fans of this type of series, it is worth a look.
Closing
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a decent sniping, open-world game. However, the repetition of missions and some game glitches keep it from being a great game.
