Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition Xbox One Review

Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition

This review is late. I've been busy, sure. Life happens and all, but that'southward not the reason why this review is late. This review is tardily considering I've never had to actually score a game where what I believe stands in it'southward way, preventing information technology from achieving what it should, is both physically and literally outside of the programmer's control. So I am at a loss as to how to come up with an accurate scoring for this unique situation, but here'due south hoping putting my thoughts downwards on the page will practice it for me...

Allow's get this out of the way up-front: Sniper Elite 3 is a fantastic game. It originally released dorsum in 2014 on consoles to high and deserved praise. We gave it an eight in our initial review for PS4 and it was on that system I have already played and completed this game for my own pleasure. It brings in solid sniping mechanics and a well ramping difficulty with a real freedom to play the levels how you wish fifty-fifty though y'all will always be at a disadvantage if you devious too far class the game'due south namesake and away from the actual sniping. Information technology'southward enjoyable; is well balanced; and while the multiplayer had a petty too loftier of a learning curve to really grip me long term, the story and entrada were a real pleasure to consummate. Really, if you lot want to dive into the gameplay and story and all that, and then option upward whatsoever review about Sniper Elite iii when it initially released. The game is ported more or less perfectly every bit far as I can tell and anything anyone wrote there will be more or less authentic for this re-release. Problem is we're not reviewing Sniper Elite 3 hither; nosotros're reviewing Sniper Aristocracy three Ultimate Edition for the Nintendo Switch. And that last little bit is the rub, because while the actual game is every bit every bit good equally it was 5 years ago, and while it has aged well, for the first fourth dimension in my relatively short experience with the Switch, it'south the hardware that really lets the package down.

I've played activity games on Switch like Smash Bros. I've played strategy games similar Into the Alienation. I've played RPGs like Valkyria Chronicles, and I've played arcade games like Tetris 99. On every occasion thus far, the hardware shines. The screen is brilliant, the processing ability never seems to drag on what it's asked to do, and the size is perfect. I can't heap on plenty praise about the size of the Switch. If you're a frequent traveller (similar I am for business organization) the the Switch is the next best matter you lot tin purchase for yourself subsequently rolling baggage. It tucks abroad perfectly in and out while waiting for a flight, boarding, or dealing with a cramped seat in coach. On my last flying I couldn't even extend the screen of my laptop to an upright position on the minuscule infinite provided by the seatback tray, yet could whip out the switch and get lost in Sniper Aristocracy comfortably.

The problems arose later getting lost in the game, because it's that size over again that does and then much well that ends up tanking this gaming feel when the petite-ness of the Joy-Cons ends up being the crux of the problem. I was but let downwards by the controllers, or more precisely, the thumbsticks. I hadn't expected that at all. If annihilation I went in skeptical about the screen size and if the precise sniping measurements required to line up that killshot were going to translate to a 6.2 inch LCD. Screen size is non an issue, one time once more the 1280x720 pixel resolution lights up the game gorgeously and details are easy to distinguish on-screen. No, where the hardware fails is both in the analog response and positioning of the thumbsticks themselves. I would struggle a scrap trying to make those small-scale adjustments with the floaty thumbsticks on a precise shot, only stubble even more so when trying to brand large sweeping motions. Moving a reticle a few inches to ensure my i shot resulted in 1 kill was mostly ok just always took longer than it would have on a Dualshock. The real frustration though was in the latter, trying to pull out a submachine when my cover was blown and make a quick move to gun down the alerted enemy. At that place is nada about the awkward offsetting of the thumbtacks, the squashed positioning of the tiny trigged buttons, or the wide stance of the grip when having the screen wedged between my palms that lends itself to do anything quickly in this game with any semblance of accuracy. If your cover is blown on a mission, amend off just striking the menu screen an re-loading. the final save that actually trying to save yourself in the moment. While in a handheld mode it feels like a contortionist would yet struggle to wrap their grip comfortably around the task.

Things exercise get better when yous release the Joy-Cons from their docks and slide them into a Joy-Con Grip. And I would bet things get even sweeter with a Pro Controller which I do non have and therefore was not able to exam. But I also am not really all that interested in testing that theory, because while trying to keep things handlheld ends upward being more frustration than possibly the game is even worth, for me, that'due south the but way I really want to play my Switch. I don't desire to lug a Grip effectually in my carry-on, it won't even fit into the nice slim Switch Example I bought for my travels. So what nosotros're left with is a very good game, but one that is forcing me to play my switch like a true console, not a handheld. If that's the instance, why not merely spin up the game in my PS4 where I already accept my console progress and quondam saves?

And that ultimately becomes the grain of salt that every reader should take this very review with. If you lot are happy to play Sniper Elite iii Ultimate for Nintendo Switch equally a console experience, you're in for every chip of a treat the game was in 2014, and aye, it has aged well too. Nonetheless, if you're like me and really desire to go along your screentime on Switch to handheld way, then this ultimately becomes a game I recommend passing on.

And none of that is the fault of the talented folks over at Rebellion Games who did an excellent job with the port and take a fine slice of software they are offer. I've reviewed bad ports earlier, generally PC games where no real thought was made to translate command schemes to consoles. Those are moments when the developers are every bit at error for non thinking through their design decisions. That is not the case hither. Here we have dual joysticks for a third/1st person shooter and there is no reason to endeavour and become clever and work effectually what every other game in the genre is using equally a control scheme and what every gamer would exist expecting that control scheme to exist. The problem is that the controls themselves, while in handheld mode, are but way too inaccurate to conduct the twenty-four hour period. Equally a result I only found the defining feature of playing Sniper Elite iii as a handheld feel to exist, in a discussion,frustrating. Information technology wasn't a game I was eager to jump dorsum into subsequently I was pulling my hair out on the very start level, and things never seemed to click and get better later that until I pulled the Joy-Cons out, flipped open the kickstand, and started running and gunning with the Joy-Cons slid into a Joy-Con Grip. If that's the experience you're in for, then it will be a satisfying one, but if not...

So in the stop, I'1000 going to settle on a score of Average, 7.0. The game itself probably deserves a Very Good, 8.five. Still the handheld experience dips somewhere effectually a Mediocre, 5.5. The average of those two score would be a 7.0, and I call back playing as a Switch panel instead of handheld supports that. Because while playing the game on Switch as a Panel is fine, it is too an underpowered console compared to an alternative similar the PS4, and is also v years late. Then take that 8.0 from the initial PS4 and dock it a bespeak for being late and running on bottom hardware.

This score is ultimately a reflection of both Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition the game (which is excellent) and the Nintendo Switch hardware (which while besides splendid, I found non upwardly to this job when trying to play handheld). The determination here is: if you're happy to play this game with your Switch in console way, y'all're in for a grand old time; if yous want to proceed things handheld, better to try something else.

Rating: 7 Average

* The production in this commodity was sent to u.s. by the developer/company.

Nigh Author

 Beginning picked up a game controller when my mother bought an Atari 2600 for my blood brother and I one fateful Christmas.
Now I'one thousand a Software Developer in my day job who is happy to be a part of the Gaming Nexus team so I can have at least a flimsy excuse for my wife as to why I demand to get those xv more minutes of game fourth dimension in...

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Source: https://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/6011/Sniper-Elite-3-Ultimate-Edition/

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