Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts (2019)

Playtime: 2h20m

Played: 2025

Intro

SGWC is an FPS in which you are dropped into a sizeable map and have to find items and kill enemies. Obviously, the game expects you to snipe some of those and it features range-finding, wind and bullet drop mechanics.

Review

I love Sniper Elite and Hitman (and Fallout, in which you can also snipe a lot), i enjoy sneaking around in big maps with various ways to get to targets, and i like the sniping mechanics. They've even managed to put in a good tutorial this time. So this game is perfect for me right?

Well, no. It has some minor flaws like enemies moving around too quietly (IMO), the annoying weather and the overly restrictive climbing. I can live with that, and maybe even with the weird respawning enemies and bounty areas. But no manual saves? In a game where you can easily spend 1-3 hours on a map? Not knowing which enemies you've taken out before or after the checkpoint is awful. Having to repeat your steps is worse, it's also why i don't like soulslikes.

Conclusion

Checkpoints are bad enough in smaller, simpler games - they definitely don't belong in sprawling games with lengthy missions. Such a shame, the game was quite good aside from that.

As my first foray into the franchise, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts lets me dive in on what it means being a covert operative in the modern era; set amidst the backdrop of a conflicted Siberian nation.

One of the game's strengths is its ability to introduce fresh challenges in each level. Whether I am tasked with eliminating targets from a distance (with a satisfying slo-mo camera angle to boot) or navigating close-quarters combat situations, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts does a good job keeping me on my toes. The constant need to adapt myself in large maps keeps the gameplay engaging.

The inclusion of unlockable traits is a welcome addition. These traits allows me to customize my character's abilities and approach missions in different ways. Normally I thrive in going the stealthy path and taking out my targets from a safe distance (for the namesake of the franchise) but it does open for players preferring a more aggressive playstyle. That's thanks to the ability to tailor your skills, which adds depth to the game.

The game excels as well at providing a sense of accomplishment through its mission structure. Completing objectives and missions yields points for you to spend on your personal upgrades and inventory, adding replay value to the mission for players to unlock further or playing through missions through a different angle. However, as much as story intrigue goes, the overarching plot of fighting against a separatist nation in Siberia lacks the memorability for me after a while.

On a side-note, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts suffers from an occasional issue where movement can become stuck during gameplay. This recurring glitch is rather counter-productive when you try to find a different path through the terrain, making it a drawback for the flow.

Overall, the game's varied challenges, customizable traits, and rewarding mission structure contribute to its appeal for stealth and sniping game fans. Movement issues and shallow story aside, I hope to see with the sequel, being up in my backlog, the improvements to enhance and add further stability and substance into it.

SGW:C is a mixed bag. Many aspects of the previous game (Sniper Ghost Warrior 3) Carried over. The story is nonsense but the game basically takes place where the previous one ended. The story is you have a mask that talks to you from the CIA or Illuminati and you go to siberia to kill bad people. The mask has superpowers from its supercomputers inside it such as the ability to track targets and other things, making a lot of the game much easier for you. In addition to basic weapons (such as long range rifles) you have secondary weapons as well all of which can e customized a bit. There is also an ingame upgrade system for your character, allowing pseudo DX:HR kind of pathing for your playstyle.

All in all these things are good and in many ways better than the previous. The in game economy and upgrade system is fairly balanced and by the end of the game I had maxed out my guy pretty much and found myself where i wanted to be. There aren't endless little annoying little side missions or meaningless pick up things taht yield no reward. There are a few in game collectible and 'target of opportunity' type assassination missions which are fun and rewarding. The combat is pretty nice in the sense that your super mask computer will track your shots in ways that are very easy to understand. Some mechanics of this scope-shooting FPS are similar to the previous and some art a bit different from what I remember. (For example in the previous one you had to manually calculate how much the wind would affect your shot and this one makes it more easy to anticipate where the shot will land by actually drawing a vertical arc, you only have to accomodate for distance.)

The game also looks nice and is every bit as gory as the first with dismemberment and popping melons with your suppressed forty-five. joy!

Unfortunately the game dials it back a few notches. This is a fairly linear and contrived game. You have exactly five maps and they are somewhat big and not connected. They have different 'areas' that function as loading zones between them and confine a battle to particular area. It totally doesnt feel open world at all. The vehicles in the previous and open world bits are removed in this game, and you dont have a hideout any more. The game also isn't that long or absorbing. They basically streamlined the game into objective based missions that feels a bit arcade-like.

I have to admit I didnt much like the previous one but I thought this series might be worth another 'shot' in the sense of anything resembling hitman contracts or an ala carte open world mission-based sniper game. However that wasn't really what this was.

Still, I enjoyed the game for what it was. A Very advanced UI for snipery-stealthery shooty-shooty. You also get cool toys like a remote drone and a sniper turret that you can use as secondary sniper position (wish they expanded this idea as it would have been cool to have a robotic spotter!)