Sniper Elite: Resistance Preview - Gamescom 2024

Say what you will about competing franchises, but rarely has the battle been so interesting and in such a unique and niche category as sniping games. Even just having games that dedicate themselves to the sniping experience seems like a victory for certain groups of fans, but being able to choose from more than one solid offering is even better. The Sniper Elite series is one of those two, having gone from a low-budget and gimmicky experience to a wholly refined and well-designed action adventure series across a multitude of titles spanning the last decade. Their latest is Sniper Elite: Resistance, a game that seems to deliver more of what fans want, and we had a chance to play the title at Gamescom 2024.

The new entry is not Sniper Elite 6, as the developers that we briefly spoke to were quick to point out. Resistance stars a new character and shifts the locale from Southern to Northern France, where the fighting is supposedly different - however it was difficult to gauge any notable alterations in the feel of the environment. Players will now control Harry Hawker, agent of the Special Operations Executive, who is sent into the region to find a Nazi secret device that could potentially end the war. Harry is a gruff-sounding, all-business elite sniper that uses voice comms to chat with members of the local French resistance. If you think that sounds familiar to the previous games, you are correct.

In gameplay, there is also little to mention in terms of innovation or new mechanics. That's not a bad thing, of course, as Sniper Elite 4 and 5 were already good games. But all of this puts the new game in a bit of a strange spot - like the developers didn't have any new major tricks to make this a proper sixth entry, and yet they wanted another mainline game in the meantime. It seems reminiscent to the also-at-gamescom reveal of Dying Light: The Beast, a game that was once meant to be DLC that got expanded into a full release.

Our demo was from a mission early in the campaign, as Harry is sent into a Gestapo-occupied city to find out what happened to a secret agent who has gone dark, who in turn was working with a mole in order to discover something about this secret Nazi project. Starting on the outskirts, we sneaked into the city past the tall walls, eliminating a few guards with silent takedowns from behind. These open world infiltration missions have already reduced the proclivity to snipe in the previous games, and this was the same case here. There was no reason to take shots at distant enemies, as you can never tell where the story and quest will take you next - and leaving an unnecessary trail of bodies just leads to constant enemy alertness and searching. There was just one enemy sniper that needed taking care of - using the same mechanics as usual, having accounted for the wind and distance and holding breath for a moment, the trigger was pulled. To prevent noise, the shot was timed with a nearby church bell that rang periodically. And of course, the gory slow motion X-Ray cam reveals just how much damage the bullet did to internal organs.

But for the most part, we went in for a closed-quarters sneak-about, and with a silent pistol, took out enemy soldiers that were within range and in the way. Shooting enemies up-close could be timed with smaller noise cover, such as running generators. The map was well designed, with a few different approaches to the target house where we needed to look for clues. Hiding in cover, in bushes, and zigzagging across the rooftops, we made it to the apartment and found intel that a dead drop may be located at the nearby church. Of course, this location was elsewhere across the map, creating a new traversal challenge through enemy contingents. In the church, we listened to a couple of soldiers reveal more intel, and then eliminated them by using distractions such as thrown bottles. Making our way to the top of the church bell tower, there was a crate that needed a crowbar to open, and a safe that could either be opened with a key, or blown open by dynamite. Despite looting bodies and snooping about, Harry did not possess either. He did have a crowbar he picked up earlier, however, and opening the box revealed some special non lethal ammo, as well as a new sniper rifle that was louder but dealt more damage. Players can still pick up and use weapons from any defeated enemies, while ammo lasts.

Finding the dead drop hidden behind a painting, Harry learned that his contact made their way to the underground tunnels. To reach this tunnel entry, we once again had to trek across another yet-unexplored part of the town. As our demo time was running short, we took a more extreme approach - fighting enemies head on is still not advisable, as you have very limited health, but instead we parkoured across the map and got very lucky with a few enemy patrols, only getting spotted very close to our destination. By the time the enemy opened fire, though, we were able to keep sprinting, turn a few corners and lose line of sight, thus leaving the engagement behind. A cheesy strategy from previous games, to be sure, but one that still seems to work. Once finally in the tunnels, our game demo time ran to an end.

The mission design loop and all of the gameplay elements that we got to see in the demo should be intimately familiar to fans who have played the past few Sniper Elite entries. Resistance looks to be taking advantage of its well-worn formula, and just changing up the set-dressing a bit. Thankfully, it already has a high level of gameplay quality to back it. It may not be a significant enough evolution for the series to warrant a numbered entry, but fans looking for more of the warmly familiar gory sniping and stealthing will probably find plenty to enjoy. SE Resistance is currently in development for a 2025 launch on PC and consoles.