Game Review #318: Sniper Elite V2 Remastered (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Chad M.

Developer: Rebellion

Publisher: Rebellion

Category: Action, Adventure

Release Date: 5.14.2019

Price (at time of review): $34.99 (digital) | $39.99 (physical)

Buy Sniper Elite V2 Remastered from the Nintendo Switch eShop here.

Buy Sniper Elite V2 Remastered from Amazon here.

No Scoping Ports Left N Right!

The eShop grows every week, adding more titles of every genre, growing the pool of titles bidding for our hard-earned money. This hybrid console that has now become the fastest selling console in history has not only attracted the indie scene to come over in droves, but also, developers and publishers are hurrying to port over anything they think will click with consumers. This has never been more apparent than with Nintendo themselves, as they’ve ported almost every Wii U title, except for maybe one or two key titles.

So, now that Nintendo broke the dam, the ports have flooded in; and the thing I’ve noticed more than anything is that they sometimes rush the ports to go for a cash grab, rather than working out all the bugs and making a splash. This keeps happening, and I’m not sure why Nintendo keeps allowing it, or why publishers keep pushing these incomplete projects. So, now comes another project, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered from Rebellion, and I’m very excited, because I’ve played the third game in the series and loved it. So, knowing the game I’ve never played or owned was getting a remaster and the port treatment to my favorite device is very exciting, and I can’t wait to jump in… so let’s do just that.

Enemy At The Gates...

The main character is Lieutenant Karl Fairburne, an American OSS officer and skilled sniper who is inserted into Berlin in 1945 during the final days of World War II. It references Operation Paperclip and its predecessor Operation Overcast, the plan by the USA to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany. Fairburne comes up against both Nazi and Soviet opponents as he tracks key individuals involved with the development of the V-2 ballistic missile.

The campaign begins with Fairburne sent into Berlin to first assassinate German Major-General, Hans von Eisenberg, who was attempting to defect to the Soviets. Shortly after, he is given the mission to eliminate Doctor Gunther Kreidl, a Nazi scientist who is being led out of the city in a convoy. After laying an ambush, Fairburne escapes with the doctor's personal documents revealing further information about the V-2 rocket program, including the location of other scientists.

As the only American within the region, he is sent to the outskirts of the city to infiltrate a V-2 production facility in search of another scientist, Dr. Schwaiger. While the scientist is absent, Fairburne learns that he originally made plans to defect to the United States before sabotaging and escaping the facility. US intelligence then sends him into Opernplatz, where the Soviets are in full invading force. As the Soviets and Germans engage one another, Fairburne slips by and saves Schwaiger from being executed by Nazi officers after his plans to defect were discovered. In the ensuing firefight, however, Schwaiger is mortally wounded; and in his dying words, he states, "Wolff has a plan," and the unknown word, "tabun.” Following these events, Fairburne continues to track and eliminate the remaining scientists, not stopping until his mission is completed and every Nazi in his way is dead.

All Alone Behind Enemy Lines

With a third-person-perspective action game, I always worry about the controls first and foremost, and I have to say that our protagonist can move fairly well. He can run, crouch down, vault/jump over things, crawl around tight spots, and go prone when you need to be completely still for that important shot. You can also jump behind cover, which reminded me of the cover system made famous by Gears of War. While behind cover, you can stop to survey the area, making the best tactical decision.

While fighting the Nazis, you can use your sniper rifle, a machine gun, and the silenced pistol for a stealthier approach. I found being stealthy was harder and made the game far more challenging. You can lay traps with trip wires to protect your six so no one sneaks up, and you can even booby-trap the dead bodies with mines.

The dead enemies can also be looted for items you’ll need, though killing them isn’t your only option. You can wound them, leaving them bleeding out in the middle of an open area screaming for help, which has the opposition rushing in to help their comrades, allowing you to pick them off one by one. This is a move snipers have used for a long time, and though it is extremely effective, it’s brutal as hell (watch Vin Diesel’s scene in Saving Private Ryan).

The motion controls are here, and a very welcome addition. I see no reason that all ports or remasters coming over shouldn’t have them. Using them is a breeze, and I found making head shots with the motion controls fairly easy once I got the hang of it. When you think the game is going smooth and you’re getting in the groove of taking the soldiers out, they start to change it up. In no time, I was facing a tank where I had to use grenades or dynamite with a pinpoint shot to send that medieval mech ablaze.

Each time I entered an area, I worked to get to the high vantage point where I’d use my binoculars to tag the enemies and work out my plan of attack. There are a few ways you can go at the gameplay of each mission, of which I really like the variety: you can do what the games are famous for by scouting, gaining a barge point, sniping an enemy, then relocating and doing it all over again; you can go full on stealth-mode and try to do your best impersonation of Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell or Snake from Metal Gear by mapping enemies’ patterns when they’re on patrol, and silently killing them with the pistol, or distracting them with a rock and moving past them, but a knife would’ve been nice for rear kills, also; use all of these styles, including the machine gun, when needed, to fit your best style; or you can do an all-out run and gun, which, as I said before, I don’t recommend.

The difficulty spikes are rough if you decide to play hard, just know that it’ll be hard as it can be. The sniping is very realistic, from the bullet drop, the wind effect, the shot, to controlling your breathing and heart rate. I played on normal mode, and if you’re new to the series, you’ll find there’s a camera bullet effect when you pull off an epic shot when sniping. This slows everything down like The Matrix, follows the bullet, and then goes into x-ray mode, where you see the bullet enter the enemy and kill them in a devastating fashion. This can be turned off if you find that it interrupts your gameplay.

Playing against the AI was fairly fun, and I was surprised sometimes at just how smart they were. You can play online and local couch co-op—which is a lot of fun, because you can really wreck the Nazis when teamed up. There are a few online modes you’ll be able to pick from as well that are very fun, and you also have leaderboards tracking all sorts of different achievements to compare and best others at.

Audio & Visuals

The soundtrack is pounding, with thunderous music that is pure bliss and fits perfectly within the game. The sound effects are also done superbly well, with the voice actors doing a great job, and the bullet and environmental sounds coming in great.

The visuals are dated, but revamped to look better and locked in at 30 FPS, but, as to be expected, it doesn’t look as good as it does on the more powerful consoles like PlayStation 4; but, with the small chipset the Switch has, it still manages to put out some amazing graphics, and I was impressed with both docked and handheld modes, as I didn’t experience any issues.

It’s A Wrap!!!

Rebellion has brought over a solid port of a game I never had the chance to play, and I’m so glad I finally did! I think the experience is solid all the way through, though not perfect. I look forward to the other games in the series coming over—even though I have them on another console—because who can ever get enough Nazi killing on the go?! I recommend picking up Sniper Elite V2 Remastered and adding it to your collection, as it’s available both digitally and physically.