Sniper Elite 5....

Third time lucky. Kind of. I still agree with what I've said about Elite 5(here and here); And to be true I've not got more to add about it. But the game had remained on my mind. In talking to a friend about it I think I softened my view of it. Two thirds of the game or thereabouts remained that I'd not seen. Story and narrative of a character I've brought through the franchises last two iterations. So I got back and played some more. Embracing the 'quirks' and mechanics(intentional or not) as much as I could. Yes I was annoyed at those quirks and I did curse them at times. Why have a shine high wall I can't hop over..... Why have invisible items block a way in an open area. Odd animations etc etc. As the game went on they were not so in my face. Thankfully.

Some more quality assurance and testing with dev action on those would have been nice and gone a long way. But it is what it is. It's new and it's more Sniper Elite content. Again It's not like I was paying for the game; Access to it via Xbox Ultimate(on PC). I may as well get more value from that.

So I pushed on. Completed the campaign, saw the cut-scenes. SE 5 still strikes me as a disappointing game overall. Maps as big(or bigger then 4 but with the design and shape of 3's in ways. Hard to explain how that effects things. Large maps but less of an open world feel. That said there are some great maps; Two early on that stand out are War Factory and Spy Academy. Both are large detailed and allow for a lot of leeway in tactics.

 

Would I recommend 5 above Elite 3 and/or 4. No; But if you've gone through those two games, if you've joined the journey then you may as well play out 5. Obviously it's more easy for me to say that given I have access to it for 'free'. You need to be 'into' the franchise to get the most form 5. 

Am I glad to have seen the end of the game.... Yea. I guess. The story plays out and I can say I've seen and done it. I'm not sure I can say I've enjoyed it but on the flip side I can't say it has a horrendous experience. There's too much 'meh' to be excited but enough of the 'same'ol, same'ol' to ....... like.

SE3, 4 and 5 all have memorable moments. Interesting screenshot content and set pieces I'm glad to have experienced/played out. SE 5 it's not a game I'd go back and play again but then again I've never really played 3 or 4 again either.

SE 5 has mechanics and improvements that I wish were better or reverted(brain squish back to being squishier etc).

I got used to the perk system pretty easily but again it's a system that could have been better if it wasn't for the PvP influences(like not being included at all). It does give an added investment in abilities from a progression perspective....... But makes me think the game wasn't balanced properly re difficulty settings in the first place. It doesn't feel to me like it enhances play-style, it's progression fluff for the sake of it. Too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Ending maps and leveling up, getting popups, unlocks and achievements is all good and fulfilling. Can't complain there. 

The very last mission is 'A' sniper shot. One shot, one kill(achievement trick shots aside) in a lot of ways felt anticlimactic. Given mission 8 and how it played out it should have 'felt' good to get that shot.

Stats on the (xbox/pc ultimate)achi's are telling.

Less than 5% of the playerbase did the last (post campaign) end of the game. Less than 1% did so with the long sniper kill. That's 1% ending the game with a 'real' sniper kill.... One of the few times I'm part of anything that's (top)1%. 

7.69% completed the campaign. Which makes me wonder why 2.69% didn't just go on and do the end boss kill!

7.93% completed mission 8 but 7.69% completed the campaign which is odd as mission 8 is the end of the campaign.... Who( 0.24%). completes mission 8 but not get credit for the campaign? 

Less than 10% of the playebase used sound masking to stealth and kill. I got that one and didn't do it on purpose!

Less than 8% killed 350 enemies with a rifle(and this is a sniper game eh!)

My snobby sniper stat analysis aside mission completion %

Mission 1 - 33.57%

Mission 2 - 24.62%

Mission 3 - 14.24% (did some players skip this?)

Mission 4 - 15.71%

Mission 5 - 13.23%

Mission 6 - 11.23%

Mission 7 - 9.38%

Mission 8 - 7.93%

That's a lot of falloff from start to finish, but that over 66% of players didn't finish mission 1 says a lot about the game and about it's first impressions.