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The defining feature of the Sniper Elite series is its unique X-ray deathcam. Land a killshot with one of the game’s sniper rifles and you’re rewarded with a slow-motion sequence in which you get to see the internal damage wrought by the speeding bullet as it enters then exits its target. Sniper Elite and Sniper Elite V2 are otherwise adequate third-person shooters that largely function as delivery systems for the game’s unique take on enemy death.That’s not a surefire ticket to sales success, which is why it’s refreshing to sit with Rebellion’s upcoming return to the series, Sniper Elite III, and find what appears to be much more of a well-devised game around the neat-o deathcam. Everything from tighter controls to larger, sandbox-style environments nod to the sort of shooter play that’s so popular these days. What worked before in Sniper Elite games? What didn’t? Our recent look at the game brings the reassuring confirmation that developer Rebellion is asking the right questions.
New theater, same war: Sniper Elite III sticks to the World War II setting of its predecessors, though it’s technically a prequel. The game shifts the action away from Europe and into plains and mountains of North Africa, to look at an earlier moment in the war.

Players once again step into the role of Karl Fairburne, a German America OSS sniper, as he’s sent off to support Allied forces. Our demo didn’t delve heavily into the plot, but Rebellion’s confirmed that, over the course of the story, Fairburne learns of a secret super weapon program that threatens to turn the tide of the war … unless he can stop it, of course.The defining feature of the Sniper Elite series is its unique X-ray deathcam. Land a killshot with one of the game’s sniper rifles and you’re rewarded with a slow-motion sequence in which you get to see the internal damage wrought by the speeding bullet as it enters then exits its target. Sniper Elite and Sniper Elite V2 are otherwise adequate third-person shooters that largely function as delivery systems for the game’s unique take on enemy death.
That’s not a surefire ticket to sales success, which is why it’s refreshing to sit with Rebellion’s upcoming return to the series, Sniper Elite III, and find what appears to be much more of a well-devised game around the neat-o deathcam. Everything from tighter controls to larger, sandbox-style environments nod to the sort of shooter play that’s so popular these days. What worked before in Sniper Elite games? What didn’t? Our recent look at the game brings the reassuring confirmation that developer Rebellion is asking the right questions.

New theater, same war: Sniper Elite III sticks to the World War II setting of its predecessors, though it’s technically a prequel. The game shifts the action away from Europe and into plains and mountains of North Africa, to look at an earlier moment in the war.Players once again step into the role of Karl Fairburne, a German America OSS sniper, as he’s sent off to support Allied forces. Our demo didn’t delve heavily into the plot, but Rebellion’s confirmed that, over the course of the story, Fairburne learns of a secret super weapon program that threatens to turn the tide of the war … unless he can stop it, of course.
Gameplay
Going the distance: The most immediately noticeable difference between Sniper Elite III and the two games in the series that precede it is its more open environments. A quick peek at the map for the second chapter, which takes Fairburne to Gaberoun, an oasis in real-world Libya, reveals a sandbox-style environment. The sprawling enemy encampment that your mission plays out in offers any number of routes and approaches to each objective.
Stealthy progress and sniper fire are still at the heart of the game, but it’s realized in a way that feels less like a shooting gallery than the past two games did. The camp at Gaberoun is a maze of trenches, tents, supply pallets, and defensive emplacements that you can approach however you like. The layout of the map makes it difficult to simply sit and snipe the whole mission away from one location, but in forcing players to relocate, Rebellion creates opportunities to remind players that firing a giant rifle is only one part of the sniper’s job.
The Sniper Elite series has always been tagged as a “tactical action” game, but here you really get to employ proper tactical thinking. The Gaberoun mission calls for you to eliminate and collect intel from multiple enemy scattered around the map. How you get to each one — and deal with any nearby backup — is the challenge, and the layout of the world provides a lot of flexibility for whatever your approach is to tackling that challenge.