Sniper: Ghost Warrior for PC Review

The fictional South American country of Isla Trueno is currently in hell, under the ruthless regime of an evil dictator. Sounds like a job for Superman? Hell no! I’m not allowing that cape wearing, blue and red flying thing anywhere near my favorite protagonist, who for a change, is a human. It’s been a while since we’ve played a sniping game, don’t you agree? Counter Strike, Call of Duty, Team Fortress and Bad Company 2 are a few games which promise much gratification, when you sit in the rear with the gear and pick off the heads of your opponents. But then, these are games that have Sniping as a vital part of the progression and not the main element of game play itself. Unrewarding right? I remember playing Sniper Elite when it was on sale on Steam. It made me jump around like a kid who had been given the green light inside a candy store. When I saw Sniper: Ghost Warrior on Steam, it was déjàvu. After I saw the trailer, it became evident that it was that time of the year again, where I’d take an off from work to sit back and spend the rest of my day shooting people from the bushes like a hideous mug. I had my apprehensions though, because the brain behind the game was a small and unknown company from Poland, named City Interactive. I could barely contain my excitement, so I decided not to care and jumped right into it.

As a highly trained special-ops sniper codenamed Razor Four Six, the game puts you in the mouth of the madness to stop a ruthless dictator and his reign of terror. Unlike most of the other FPS games, Sniper: Ghost Warrior creates scenarios where your sidekicks are brutally ignored and you’re put in-charge of the situation. Most of the times, I found myself alone in the dense jungle, moving from cover to cover and shadow to shadow to evade the prying eyes of the enemy AI and pick off selected targets without drawing too much attention. My only aides were my Sniper rifle, silenced pistol, a knife, a radio that often came to life with instructions and a rope. I was not even 10 meters into the terrain and a cut-scene instructed me to pick one of the two bad guys standing atop a bridge while my partner took care of the other guy. The feeling of being 2-3 feet away from the enemy who speaks in a foreign language and marches around in a bravado fashion as if declaring “I’m untouchable, you n00b!” never gets old. As sweat trickles down your forehead and your finger feels that familiar itch, knowing that a single shot will reveal your position to the enemy, is a priceless feeling. The game looks beautiful with thick vegetation, beautiful palm leaves, beaches and wooden bridges all around and you in camouflage, ready to strike swiftly and invisibly while keeping an eye on every movement.

For those who rather prefer to grab an assault rifle, jump from the cliff, miraculously land on their feet and then shoot the living life out of their enemies while John Wayne smiles from the skies need not lose heart. Ghost Warrior offers missions where you get to unleash that adrenaline with an assault rifle and some rapid fire. One of the missions includes saving your spotter – Rodriguez who’s been held captive by the enemy. The game is surprisingly realistic with the player having to take care of wind speed, direction, gravity and for longer range shots, even the Coriolis effect produced due to the earth’s rotation. All these factors have to be calculated in your head before you go for the kill. When you go for the shot, the game pays you off for your patience. A camera follows the bullet’s trajectory up close and blurs out the background, as that long barrel sends the bullet spinning in the air towards its target and the poor guy succumbs to your stealthy awesomeness. Your missions include assassinations of selected targets and providing sniper fire to the ground troops from a vantage point. The AI is brutally realistic as well and can sometimes spot your movement from as far as 300 meters away! Well, you thought only your country had snipers? If Story mode bores you way, you can hop into the multiplayer mode that relies on match-making and throws you along with 9 other players into a highly tactical environment as you outsmart and out-aim them to finish first.

Sniper: Ghost warrior is a game made for those who wish to take a break from that mad “bang-bang-bang, Grenade in your pants!” rush and have revisited the dictionary meaning of Tactics, Precision and Stealth.