Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

Prowl the wilds of the Philippines as a sniper

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 follows the story of Sgt. Cole Anderson, a private security consultant and his CIA partner agent Diaz as they investigate a tip that terrorists might be dealing on a Biological weapon in an old Russian radar complex. The story runs short and missions are fairly brief but there is some enjoyment to be found here.

Game Play

Many of the things that players want out of a sniper game, Ghost Warrior 2 provides but some of them it doesn't. On the easier skill modes, targets are pointed out to you, indicators will guide your aim so distance and wind speed are less of a factor. The helpful aids might be a little too helpful, as shots taken with this information are a little too easy. The hardest difficulty setting does away with these aids, however, and makes the game challenging enough to be interesting. Distance and wind speed both effect bullet trajectory and you'll have to make use of spotters and range finders to make shots. targets, too, are not indicated on hard mode and you'll need to search them out in order to meet objectives. Missing a shot can alert the target that their life is in danger, but again Ghost Warrior 2 likes to hold your hand and makes the AI slow enough that targets won't get to ground fast enough to spare them your follow up shot. Instead of rewarding skill and punishing failure, Ghost Warrior 2's system of aids can make the game redundant and un-challenging at times. There are times when you're allowed to plan your own mission and meet the given objectives your own way, but these are few and far between. Mostly you'll be pulling the trigger exactly when you're told in order to get past the mission.

Presentation

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 uses the CryEngine 3 graphics engine, so the landscape and everything in it is up to the high standard we've come to expect in modern games. The landscape is mostly jungle with some building complex's, so there isn't much variety but it's all beautifully rendered. The story is fairly generic terrorist versus good guy, with some political back-stabbing and it runs its course pretty quickly, but that might not be a bad thing.

Pros

• Looks like a modern game, great visuals like you'd expect
• Physics engine is top notch and things react realistically

Cons

• Short story and campaign missions are over very quickly
• Challenge on easy and moderate settings has too much hand holding and makes the game too easy