[As Originally Written on SNo2.]
Sniper: Ghost Warrior has been an interesting if flawed series thus far with three entries to its name. While the first game was beyond mediocre and the second improved upon the formula in many ways but still didn’t offer much in the way of quality, the third time may actually be the charm for City Interactive. It’s by no means a perfect game but it is well on its way to being a decently good one and presumably once the upcoming patches hit and hopefully fix some of the glaring issues, we may finally see a competent modern day stealth-sniper title to rival the WWII and Cold War settings of Sniper Elite.
Game Informer gave the original game a 4.75 and the sequel a 5.0 however the review for the third game, which released on April 25th has yet to hit the web so all I can base general criticism on is that of the other sources I’ve read- averaging about a 5.5 or so typically. I personally gave Sniper Elite 2 a 6.5 out of 10 way back when if you care to read the somewhat broken review here (pictures and whatnot have disappeared). The one thing that can be said about the CI team is that they do put a lot of thought into fixing the series with each entry and in many ways although they didn’t nail things with the first or second games, they’ve made some vast improvements since then.
It has been a few years since we last saw the series (approximately 2013) and yet despite the graphical update some of its ideas are still rooted in the past, which isn’t so much the previous console generation but rather the stealth genre tropes as a whole. It trades in a lot of the linear mission structure for a faux open world which still essentially keeps the main missions linear but offers something along the lines of Horizon: Zero Dawn’s experience- being linear as far as story but offering a plethora of side content. So in that aspect, Ghost Warrior 3 is an interesting look at a stealth genre still dominated by Metal Gear Solid even today.
There is nothing wrong with the typical fundamentals of Ghost Warrior 3’s mechanics- they’re actually pretty standard or at least entertaining and interesting for what they seek to accomplish. Yes, there’s something to be said about originality or the lack thereof, considering the majority of its ideas can pretty much be found in other series such as Far Cry or Ghost Recon, however that’s not to say they don’t still work in this particular environment. What is fundamentally wrong with Ghost Warrior 3 and has always been a sticking point for the series is purely technical in origin. The graphics look okay for the modern brand of consoles yet they periodically crap out and muddy textures and slow animations and cause any number of experience-breaking hiccups. There is also a whole host of glitches waiting to derail your otherwise competent experience.
If it weren’t for the slew of technical problems within the game’s current build it could actually be a potential competitor with Sniper Elite in terms of recently released sniper and stealth titles. However, as it stands right now the only games that Ghost Warrior 3 trounces in that category are the first two in the enjoyable yet extremely flawed (and sometimes broken) series. All the self-same mechanics pretty much from Sniper Elite are here as well- slow motion kill cams, holding your breath and adjusting your aim, and so on.
If it didn’t feature the prominent technical glitches that it does at times, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 would go up in stock by at least another whole point in my mind because what it does offer is some tightly controlled action and stealth despite the lack of creativity at times. It is an exciting adventure even though the story can and should be virtually ignored as it is irrelevant in the long run. The game’s best asset is the variety of main story missions that it offers- side content aside, the main missions are varied and different to the point that you never feel like you’re spending too much time doing one of something rather than a slew of tactically challenging and engaging quests.
You’re offered just enough main content to appeal to any of the three main approaches you can choose to take in the game- dubbed so creatively as ‘Sniper,’ ‘Ghost,’ and ‘Warrior’ skill trees respectively and covering long range combat and gadgets, stealth mechanics, and all-out assault tactics. Although you could take the main missions and map them out as linear chapters like any other first-person shooter typically would, they’re still spread across the open hub world which also features the occasional other activities we’ve come to expect such as outpost clearing and bounties. There are over twenty-five main missions and these are all well-executed and thought out in comparison to the slew of side content that seems an added thing just for the sake of giving reason to the creation of an open world for an otherwise linear experience.
One good concept that the game employs is the ability to carry out pretty much any mission at any time without having to unlock a certain segment or progress through other side content first- something Far Cry and other games have been guilty of in the past in attempts to get players more invested in side activities. If you really want to just tackle the fifteen hour campaign essentially then you’re free to do so without having to collect the collectibles and take out ‘Most Wanted’ bounties. However, if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling around the decently sized map please be aware that fast travel points will always be infinitely more pleasure than utilizing the horrid driving mechanics that feel stilted and look graphically incompetent compared to the rest of the content.
For largely the same reason that Sniper Elite is an engrossing experience and one that I’ve enjoyed from V2 through Italia, Ghost Warrior 3’s base combat and gameplay are the highlights of the experience easily. This iteration in the series does a much better job of actually making all-out assault a viable combat option and not limiting you to previously sub-par stealth and typical sniping elements present throughout the game. Although the skill trees are relatively limited and not as fleshed out as you would come to expect in an open world title, each of the three different trees does offer some basic improvements upon the experience and makes this the most sound entry in the series as far as gameplay goes for certain.
Stealth seems to have definitely improved this time around which is a good thing considering it can be the most useful weapon or ability in your arsenal in most instances. The AI has been overhauled in comparison to the eagle-eyed soldiers and crappy AI of the past, however there are still some technical glitches here and there where their attempts to flush you out of cover result in them laughably positioning themselves perfectly in your line of sight for easy takedowns. Despite the mild AI bug encounters, for the most part gameplay has improved in nearly every sense over even the previous iteration.
I feel like ironically Ghost Warrior 3 could’ve used a little more development time despite being delayed here and there, if only to actually live up to its full potential rather than fail to capitalize on some of the aspects it dares to offer. You’re fairly limited in what vehicles you can drive or operate and also in what particular objects and outposts you can interact with which kind of diminishes the point of making the game a living open world and definitely mainlines the experience a lot in a more linear fashion. You are afforded a surprisingly large arsenal of weapons and technical gadgets however I feel like a lot of what is on offer is underutilized and nonessential in the long run as you can easily get by with just your guns and wits.
In terms of upgrades I’ve already established that the upgrade paths themselves are fairly basic and could’ve used some additional work, however the actual upgrades to weapons and equipment are also fairly limited in scope. This isn’t so much a terrible thing since what is offered is fairly decent, however it seems like a missed note and something that could’ve only improved the experience overall as well- a recurring theme throughout this game. Although it was initially supposed to feature a multiplayer system of some sort as well, the game has thus far failed to implement that and as such is largely not as replayable as it could’ve been with more time put into ideal content and additional upgrades and elements.
The graphics are one of the lower selling points as they come in and out of focus as I’ve mentioned and can attribute to some frustrating environmental glitches along the way as well. The two most annoying and egregious technical hiccups are the lengthy load times and prominent crashes in-game. I could deal with Skyrim taking three minutes to load because that was last generation and Bethsoft’s world was truly gigantic and still is even by today’s standards, but I cannot understand why anything in Ghost Warrior 3 should take five to seven minutes to load at any given time. As far as crashing goes, you’d better hope you’re not in the middle of anything important because as far as I can tell the game will crash at any given time and lead to some very frustrating sessions (at least until they presumably patch that glaring flaw).
When all things have been said and done, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 surpasses it predecessors with ease but still doesn’t feel like it’s quite lived up to its potential or what it means to be a current generation game. It’s a competent and interesting experience and hardly a bad one, however it is remarkably hindered by a lot of technical issues and by the inability to capitalize one what could’ve been excellent additions in both depth and replayability. The main experience is well-done but the side content offers little in the way of recompense for a lack of reason to return once you’ve finished the linear mission structure.
Concept: City Interactive crafts their third entry in the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series and brings the series into both the current generation as well as the thoroughly over-saturated open world shooter market.
Graphics: Although it utilizes a version of Crytek’s CryEngine, Ghost Warrior 3 features some prominent graphical hiccups despite having really realistic and well-done visuals whereas weather and some environmental aspects are concerned at times.
Sound: For a game about stealth, sound plays an integral role in the experience at least in terms of gameplay. Outside of that however, there isn’t much to be said for the soundtrack itself although it does ratchet up the tension at some appropriate times. The sound design isn’t the best as far as voice acting goes but the sounds of bullets dropping and weapons and gadgets clicking isn’t too shabby.
Playability: It’s fairly simple to grasp the fundamentals for a basic runthrough of the game. As far as the controls themselves go, the game handles surprisingly smoothly and fluidly despite technical hiccups breaking up the pacing here and there at any given time.
Entertainment: Despite its flaws, Ghost Warrior 3 is as entertaining as games like Far Cry and Sniper Elite have proven to be for many of the same reasons. It’s not altogether original in what it seeks to accomplish and yet it seems to have aped the correct gimmicks and elements of those respective games enough to present a varied and entertaining main campaign.
Replay Value: Moderate.
Overall Score: 7.0