Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts Review

"Whispering Performance Issues"

Campaign

February 17, 2020 at 4:16pm
By Jason Stettner

This is the latest entry within the Sniper Ghost Warrior series, one that acts as a sort of spin-off. You’re being dropped into certain war situations with a series of goals to tackle. It’s almost open world, as you battle within hubs in order to progress and gain a better score.

This takes place across the harsh terrain of Siberia with a series of unique locations and missions to tackle. There are a decent selection of these, but it does also seem somewhat more random as you work through them. It removes an element of the narrative aspects as they feel like loosely connected scenarios. I do like the concept of playing a level, then being able to leave and come back as I progress to unlock additional benefits.

It just seems like a campaign that lacks structure which will certainly feel different from previous entries while also being odd for most that are used to a traditional setup for storytelling. It does actually feel a lot less about telling something cohesive and more about giving a series of missions with various goals to work on if you choose to do so.

Gameplay

This is a first person shooter with some options for customizing the loadout you take into war situations. This is focused on sniping so stealth is a friend and a valid option of playing. I will note that the detection system wasn’t the best here, so it is somewhat difficult to play this while being stealthy.

The sniping options do carry a lot of depth, and value so it’s nice to have a title focus on these elements. It is futuristic so expect some advanced gear and options to allow traversal within the worlds. The levels are quite varied visually and in terms of scope. You get to tackle a decent range of biomes, with unique structural designs and natural aesthetics.

I found the performance to be generally awful with frame drops and tearing on Xbox One X. Keep in mind that these might have been patched since, as this has taken an extended time to write out. Moving past that, it handles alright with some interesting difficulty as you’re limited on levels for traversal and sometimes need to be a tank sniper against high odds.

The Conclusion

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts takes the series in an odd, yet interesting direction while also lacking the necessary polish to deliver a smooth experience. It definitely has performance issues and wasn’t quite as interesting as the previous game. I like the hub setup, at the same time it felt as though the narrative took a back seat in this one. It has some neat concepts such as choosing how you tackle situations and when.

The concept of leaving, then returning and that was distinct. I had some issues with the setup and it does feel slightly more limited in scope. It’s like they aimed high, but weren’t quite able to deliver once again. It’s a shame as there’s great potential with this series, as I did honestly enjoy the previous one. I had a much better time with that one than I did with this entry.

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Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 5.8