Sniper Elite: Resistance Review (Xbox Series X)

STAFF REVIEW of Sniper Elite: Resistance (Xbox Series X)

Friday, March 14, 2025.
by Brent Roberts

For years, game developer Rebellion have taken upon themselves the mantle of the undisputed king of Nazi elimination in the most outright goriest ways possible. From environmental deaths to pinpoint accuracy with sniper rounds, the number of ways you can eliminate your enemies have been dramatically enhanced throughout the game's acclaimed lineage. Now though, Rebellion has released another entry into the Sniper Elite series, titled Sniper Elite: Resistance. This latest entry isn't a direct sequel to Sniper Elite 5, but more of a 'spin-off' adventure that aims to keep this series fresh and alive, but does it succeed? Let's find out.

Let's begin with the storyline as this is supposed to be a 'spin-off' and not a direct sequel. During the events of Sniper Elite 5, British Special Operations Executive (SOE) Harry Hawker is tasked with uncovering a lethal plan by the Nazis to turn the tide on the D-Day invasion, which they have learned of the plans. Using a deadly nerve toxin the Nazis call "Klein Blume", Harry must progress through the multiple levels and decipher the details relating to this threat and provide the allied forces a chance at survival when their boots hit the shores of Normandy. The premise behind the storyline is a well thought out sequence of developments, and it's through these story missions that we see Sniper Elite: Resistance's greatest accomplishments, as well as their biggest shortcomings.

When making game sequels, and even 'spinoffs' it's the responsibility of the developer to bring about new and innovative changes that keep the gamer locked, loaded, and excited for the future of what the series has to offer. In Sniper Elite: Resistance though, we see very little of that within the game. While it could be noted that after the events of Sniper Elite 3 or 4, we as the public have seen a downward trend in game offerings, but I would pause and ask myself, is this really a downward trend? You have a campaign that takes about 10 hours to complete which does seem very short, however, based off your playstyle, you can easily double this time if you're hunting for all the collectibles that the series is known for having throughout the missions. You also have tremendously large sandbox levels that offer you multiple pathways of your choice and each one of them will force you to adapt your playstyle to match the environment. In the midst of these levels you will notice the return of all the collectible hunting as well, so should you want to get 100% completion throughout the game, it will require you to hunt through every inch of the level as you recover personal documents, military blueprints, official Nazi documents, and yes, even those hard to find Stone Eagle statues make a return appearance.

From the outside you would be quick to think that Sniper Elite: Resistance offers everything we have come to love about the Sniper Elite game series, but regrettably what looks good on the outside doesn't always mean things are good when you look under the hood, and that, I'm sorry to say, is where this direction is taking us. Having played a pre-launch copy I'm not going to touch on all the bugs and issues that I faced, as 99% of them have been patched thankfully, but let me walk you through where Sniper Elite: Resistance falls short of hitting its mark.

In Sniper Elite: Resistance, you have the main play menu which is tiled, Windows 8 style, and you'll notice that everything from Sniper Elite 5 is there, and they have added a new feature called Propaganda Challenge. These are optional challenge missions which I'll touch on a little later, but for now let me show you why this mode is now forced upon you to apply to the campaign. Within the campaign itself you have your loadout choices. Primary (Sniper Rifle), secondary (Machine Gun) and Handgun will be your weapon choices as you would expect, and you will be able to outfit your character with a large amount of kit options and choices from landmines, grenades, bandages, first aid kits and everything else you have come to expect from Sniper Elite 5.

Here is where and how these propaganda challenges come into play. Within these large sandbox missions you will have to find one specific "propaganda poster" placed somewhere amongst the level and interact with it to unlock the propaganda missions themselves. When you are near the poster in question you will hear a paper shuffling sound, almost like the sound of a poster blowing in the wind. If you're not listening or paying attention because you're too focused on shooting the testicles off Nazis, then there's a high chance you'll miss these posters, and even larger chance when you're trying to search through the missions that are at night and even in the rain as well. Right now, you're probably thinking, well if this is optional then why do it at all? This is where we find the hook. In order to unlock some of the best weaponry and attachments in the game, you will need to find these posters AND go through the challenges themselves to unlock them. These challenges range from three categories: Sniper, Combat, and Stealth, and each of them presents a different gameplay challenge to overcome.

Stealth challenges require you to be confined to a smaller section of the map, but you will have over 20 enemies to face and start with 90 seconds on the clock. The objective is simple; score as many points as you can within the time allotted. Now it goes without saying that 90 seconds isn't a long time, however, when you do a stealth takedown (lethal or non-lethal) you will get time added to your clock. You are also starting with a very limited assortment of weapons and kit, so you will need to make sure with shots you make. A good tip is to use distractions from bottles, whistles and even other bodies to start peeling your enemies out from the main groups and patrols and then make your move.

The Sniper challenges put you in a set location (such as a rooftop) and ahead of you will be all your enemies that are already marked for you, and it's your job to eliminate them all within the time you're given. In this challenge to increase your timer you will need to find four specific elite snipers that, when you take them out, will increase the timer on your clock. Within these missions the game will also throw vehicles as well within your sights and it'll be up to you to use your ammo modifications to eliminate them. This is quite a challenge rather than the stealth ones given that you're not forced to move around, and your centralized location provides a fantastic point of view over all your targets. I find that a great strategy is to just align your cursor which is shaped like "^" onto your enemy from behind cover, then snap up, hold your breath, let the round fly, then immediately sink back into cover.

The combat challenges combine the previous two modes into one massive combat situation where you have to utilize all your skills and abilities to complete. The name of the game is the same, score enough points within the timeframe. Upon completion of these challenges you will be rewarded with new weapons that have some of the highest damage in the game and unlock some of the best attachments that will allow you to silence the audible distance of your weaponry. For example, you may have a sniper rifle that when maxed out for silent killing, will be audible for a range of around 55-60 meters, however, when you complete these challenges you can drop that audible range down to distances under 35 meters (there are pistols that are louder than this), and when you combine the weapon and attachments with the ammo mod of subsonic ammo (quietest ammo in the game) you can even drop that audible range down to under 20 meters.

Now I can understand why these were kept behind the wall of the challenges, as they literally make you an unstoppable silent killer, but I would have rather seen these as normal unlocks through the workbenches in the later levels rather than forcing you to navigate throughout the entire missions looking for where these single posters are located. Obviously now with the internet you could call up a video and look at these locations to help you, but I can't recall how many hours I lost just running throughout the entire level trying to hear the 'paper sound' of the poster. Not only that, but there are also only seven challenges and once you've done them all and unlocked the weapons/attachments, then there's no reason to ever go back into them again unless you want to try for another high score.

What this basically means is that the only addition to Sniper Elite: Resistance is broken down into just a temporary means to an end, and at this point in the game, there doesn't really seem to be any reason to go back through the single player campaign unless you're wanting to go collectible hunting. There is also another massive downfall for this game, and that is you can only unlock some of the best weapons as well if you go through and purchase the one level DLC that is available now, which again has you going off to kill Hitler in several entertaining ways of your choosing. So once again, your best gear and equipment is now hidden behind a paywall for DLC.

Sadly, the negatives don't stop there. There are no new enemies to face within the game but there is the addition of one new vehicle unit that is found only in two of the nine missions. The end of the game involves you also having to take a shot at the main antagonist just like what you experienced in Sniper Elite 5. The similarities continue as well since your objectives are almost identical to the ones in the missions of previous Sniper games as well. Being that this is a new character, you would also think that they are unique in their skills and abilities, but sadly even the gameplay is absolutely identical to Sniper Elite 5 and provides nothing unique or special that pertains to the character to differentiate.

In previous games you could sabotage generators, vehicles, and alarms to generate sound masks to hide your shots, but if you want a trick to level up fast in the game, don't kill anyone. I know it's weird hearing not to kill anyone in a sniper game, but you get XP bonuses for knocking people out rather than eliminating them all together. This involves using your rifle as a last resort and focusing on pistol and close quarters combat. There is an ammo modification called "non-lethal" ammo which knocks out enemies. It doesn't go through helmets, but a torso shot will incapacitate your enemies. Once you drop one enemy you have a choice to hide the body or not. Personally, I would use it as bait as other enemies will see them sleeping or knocked out and come running over to their aid. While they are focused on their knocked-out teammate, they aren't focused on your position.

I've been a fan of the Sniper Elite series since its first release. I saw the potential and I understood the dream and direction that they wanted to take this series. Each entry seemed to innovate and be creative, and while yes, there were issues starting out, the series tended to peak like the Star Wars Original Trilogy. The first one was groundbreaking and while maybe not perfect, it couldn't have set the stage any better for the second installment. This was undeniably better than what came before, and the third entry only sealed the deal on where this is going. Now though? This feels like The Last Jedi kind of disappointment. Nothing really seems fresh and interesting, instead just reskinned missions that could have easily been DLC for Sniper Elite 5.

Personally, I feel that Rebellion has the incredible talent to see this back and even make this a better series. How? Simple. New experiences. New times in history or even set in the future. New events. I wanted to love this game, I really did. I've spent weeks with this game trying to find ways that give it more value or worth outside of a glorified DLC pack and I failed. I wanted it to be the Empire Strikes Back or even Return of the Jedi. This time, however, the Rebellion lost the battle but can still win the war with A New Hope.

**Sniper Elite: Resistance was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Suggestions:
Time to take this expertise to new experiences not found in WWII. Time to innovate and be creative. You got this.

Overall: 6.8 / 10
Gameplay: 6.0 / 10
Visuals: 6.8 / 10
Sound: 7.5 / 10

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STAFF REVIEW of Sniper Elite: Resistance (Xbox Series X)

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