The Sniper Elite series has once again raised the bar for ridiculous sniping with its latest entry, Sniper Elite 5. Headshots, groin shots and basically any kind of body part shot are the name of the game in this series. Your final shots are followed by gory animations that tell you how badly you maimed your victim. If you think that all sounds a bit exaggerated, you’re right!
This series thrives on such reactions. As story and character development recede, Sniper Elite 5 has been praised for its impressive world design and customization options. Despite its ridiculous exterior, there’s plenty of depth to the way you take out your enemies. It sets a pretty high bar for all the World War II sandboxes that follow. If you’re looking for more games to bust that absurd, gory, or just plain sneaky itch, you’ve come to the right place.
6 Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3
If you’re not quite fed up with open world sniping action, consider the Sniper Ghost Warrior series. Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, the most recent entry, is the first game in the long-running open-world series. The gameplay here is more tactical than Sniper Elite, meaning you won’t see slow-motion kill cams with gore and guts.
Instead, you consider your environment, the characteristics of your rifle, and your own breathing rate to align each shot. The open world is accessible by car and you can stop at any number of safe houses along the way. For less experienced players, getting up close and personal with stealthy melee attacks can balance the difficult, tactical nature of sniping your enemies.
5 Hitman 3
What could be cooler than taking out the Nazis hundreds of yards across a map? How about taking someone out while wearing a giant bird suit? Hitman 3 tries to answer this philosophical conundrum by putting you in the shoes of Agent 47, the world’s deadliest assassin.
In a story that takes you around the world as you try to uncover a massive conspiracy that could unravel secrets from your past, Hitman 3 devises hundreds of different ways to take out enemies. From sabotaging a car, to cooking poisonous food, to good old-fashioned gunfights, rest assured that everything on these huge maps is usable and every strategy will work.
4 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
While not a sniping simulator, Ghost Recon Wildlands offers a large open world for you to explore and destroy, just like in Sniper Elite. The tactical shooting for which the series is known is the backbone of the game’s combat, as you’ll use a dynamic weather system and the day/night cycle to plan your attacks and defeat enemies.
A wide variety of vehicles are available, allowing you to travel to missions in style in different environments. There are 21 areas in the game, each with a leader that you can take out to weaken the cartel’s power. While there’s no Dark Souls-esque invasion mode here like in Sniper Elite 5, you can join up to three friends and tackle missions together.
If you’re up for more stealth action after Sniper Elite 5, why not try the king of the genre? Metal Gear Solid 5 continues the historic Hideo Kojima-led series by extending the linearity of previous Metal Gear Solid games and giving players a massive sandbox to play in. Describing a Metal Gear plot would take hours, possibly days, but you play as Big Boss who leads a mercenary group called the Diamond Dogs on a quest for revenge. More than that and you’ll have to start taking notes. Whether you’re throwing out decoys or running around in a cardboard box, sneaking is the name of the game.
The depth of each of the game’s systems is astounding. From vehicle selection to AI companions, to a full base building system that allows you to transport captured enemies or animals straight from the battlefield, the game will amaze you with its attention to detail. And for those who want to move at their own pace, Metal Gear Solid 5 has it all. Each mission can be played in any order, giving you an incredible amount of freedom.
2 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
If wide-open worlds filled with lush jungles and breathtaking landscapes aren’t for you, you might want to take a stroll through Sun City. In Rainbow Six: Vegas you don’t exactly drink expensive cocktails poolside or lay down at the craps table, but it’s the next best thing. First released in 2006 for the Xbox 360, the title was a refresh of the classic Rainbow Six formula.
You take charge of Team Rainbow as they attempt to take down Irena Morales, a terrorist determined to destroy. The slow, tactical combat from the original games is still intact, but with a few welcome additions like health recovery. A diverse set of accurately modeled weapons and an excellent cover system give you the freedom to control your squad exactly the way you want. You probably can’t get down at the Bellagio Hotel anytime soon, so try this as your next best option.
1 Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
If you’re a little burned out with strategically taking out enemies with tactical shots, it might be more your speed to run with firearms. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is a high-octane FPS that may not share many gameplay elements with Sniper Elite, but gives you one more chance to take down some Nazi bad guys. The game is set in the 1960s, in an alternate timeline where the Nazis won World War II.
While it may sound absurd at first glance, the game’s story is rich and continues the excellent story from the first part. There are plenty of options for stealth here, and you need to be mindful of your surroundings as it can get hectic as you jump out of cover. Sure, maybe you’ll shun the whole methodical route and run like a bat out of hell while double-wielding your heavily upgraded weapons. Whichever route you choose, rest assured that the blood and blood of Sniper Elite will be here.
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