8 GREAT SNIPING GAMES YOU CAN PLAY NOW.
Pulling off that perfect long range shot is one of the most satisfying things in video games we're here to help you scratch that itch no matter what type of gamer you are with great games that either focus on sniping or have amazing sniping mechanics.
1. SNIPER ELITE.
Let's get it when it comes to casual games that just focus on sniping they're really two main titles let's talk about sniper elite first.
Which largely takes place in world war II that's important for comparison and we'll get back to that in a bit, my best choice sniper elite 5 and sniper elite 4.
So we'll mostly be talking about those although there is a zombie and a VR version of this game the sniper elite series rides a pretty good line between stealth challenge and fun it's very hitman- sequel at the highest difficulty.
It can be challenging but for the most part levels are pretty forgiving and you can get away with a lot the AI isn't smartest and they'll do things like funnel through a door over and over again most this game is really about spectacle and anatomy lessons like that expert kill camp is be warned.
As the series has gone on the tools keep expanding in the sandbox too they've added more exploding things for you to shoot environmental kills and more recently in 5 weapon customisation and levels with multiple ways to progress through them.
So how realistic is the sniping at lower difficulty levels there isn't any guesswork involved the game just tells you where the shot's going to land.
So you can think more about how you want to attack an objective more interesting though is how the ballistics change as difficulty increase at easy and normal, there's little bullet drop and crosswinds don't blow rounds off target but at hard and hardcore there's a lot more bullet drop and you have to account for windage at the highest level authentic plus the game attempts to model real world bullet physics.
Accurately even including things like air drag you can use general tools around sniping like using binoculars to find the range to a target and then dial that into your scope and use a gained wind meter to sort out how much the bullet will drift left or right to help you learn all this. There's even a test range sniper lead is great all-around sniping game but it's definitely more for people looking for that fast run and gun stealth experience it's way more about spectacle than realism
2. SNIPER GHOST WARRIOR.
The sniper ghost warrior series started with linear missions. But has opened up into larger sandboxes with more recent titles like ghost warrior 3 and contracts 2. Ghost warrior immediately sets itself apart from sniper elite with a modern setting that includes gadgets like drones sniper turrets and bullets that reveal enemies behind wall this also means modern weapons and the extensive customisation.
And gear load outs that come with it it's a first person shooter vs sniper elite's third person first person hybrid system the series is known for a bit of bank and sometimes forces you into close combat which works less well the more recent title contract 2 breaks the game up into classic contracts which play like the rest of the series.
And long range contracts that seem very inspired by hitman 2 sniper assassin they're more puzzle based placing the shooter far away when it comes to how realistic the sniping is in general the ghost warrior series near future setting allows the game to give you all the information you need to take that shot with very little guessing.
That's the most apparent in contracts too there's a lot shown in your scope including range wind direction and speed and even the full path of the bullet which is kind of cool in terms of allowing you to understand that bullets travel in an arc not straight line.
And that changing the range on your scope just moves where the arc of the bulet meets the straight line you see through your scope at the highest difficult in contracts 2 called deadeye you don't have as much information on screen the range has to be found with binoculars.
And there's less wind data but the game still basically shows you where the bullet's going to land using this hatch mark in the scope that makes out easier than sniper elite's tougher settings this game's kill camera doesn't include the x-ray internal anatomy of elite.
But it's still very satisfying the ghost warrior series is for players that lean more casual and love weapon customisation making the perfect load out and gadgets more than calculating the perfect shot.
3. HITMAN 2 SNIPER ASSASSIN.
Hitman 2 sniper assassin originally hitman's sniper challenge was a pre-order bonus and released as a stand-alone level ahead of hitman absolution the idea morphed through a few iterations including hitman sniper which is a mobile game version it finally landed as a mode called hitman 2. although the mode is spread across a couple of different dlc packs you may have to buy the hitman sniper series is a puzzle focused game.
That's more about timing and using environmental hazards to your advantage than any kind of actual shooting simulation it involves the trademark hitman design of observing a level and the behaviours and routines of all the people on it then choosing which targets to take down in what order without being noticed as mentioned above.
This game has influenced other sniping games in the industry how realistic is it the game has basic concepts like travel time.
So you'll need to lead targets if they're moving but that's about it there doesn't seem be bullet drop or windage which means you don't have to aim high or worry about your bullets being pushed off target left or right.
This is probably the most casual focused game on the list and it's for gamers looking to just snipe without most of the heard parts If you love observing targets and sorting out that perfect run.
4. ESCAPE FROM TARKOV.
This is your jam alright multiplayer audience out there escape from tarok has blown up in popularity over recent years a large part of that being down to the impressive mechanics and detail in its gun plane shooting and that extends of course to sniping the game has a lot of different rifles featuring different attachments and firing different types of ammo.
Which means you can really kid out a perfect ranged play style if you can afford it if you're in the middle of the match and you gotta pick up a rifle off the ground prepare for a lot of random variables because of the nature of this game where a single shot can end.
Anybody's run and when you die you lose all of your loot sniping offers a relative amount of safety because you can keep your distance from both other players and ai enemies long range kills are really satisfying.
But remember this game has plenty of close combat as well so make sure you pack a sidearm or pick up a scan weapon off the ground in case a pmc too gets too close how realistic is the sniping escape from tarok adds realism to sniping.
But not in the way you might think it's not so much in the mechanical operation of a rifle or ballistic but more the stress a person has to deal with operating that rifle under pressure in a high-stakes confusing and ever- changing environment a lot of what makes sniping challenging an escape from tarok comes from dealing with enemy players whose movements and actions are very unpredictable when you do shoot there are often a lot of factors to consider while the bullets you're packing.
Even make it through your opponent's armour are you going to get a chance at a follow -up shot is that pmc alone or in a group or even if you do get a kill are gong to be able to safety make it over there to look this is pretty different from sniper elite.
And ghost warrior being more single player focused games they avoid this real world pressure and uncertainty using flashy kill cameras being multiplayer you also have to think a lot more about the fundamentals of movement.
And concealment that means don't sihouette yourself that's where you background like the sky in terms of ballistics tarvok does have bullet drop which can change by ammo type and there's also travel time.
So you'll need to lead your targets finally you have to consider the environment in your kit a lot more because if you're fighting at night you're going to need thermals or night vision in summary tarok is for people that like the stress and pressure of high stakes sniping and are more interested in learning about operating around a rifle more than the mechanics of the rifle itselfAnd if you're cool with losing all of your stuff when you die.
5. BATTLEFIELD
Battlefield you know we had to add it battlefield 4 was the culmination of some great sniping mechanics from across the series with added quality of life improvements like the ability to dial in the range and a test island to practice.
Your craft sniping has always been fantastically stuffing in the battlefield series with maps that open up incredible distances long range shooting in battlefield has typically been a lot fairer in other multiplayer games because each weapon has its own velocity and bullet drop that combined with the fact that in much of the series but not every game you have to land a head shot for one hit kills.
And it takes practice to get good at that oh and the hit feedback getting that hot marker ad the kill feed just the best.
The recon class has gone through many iterations with gadgets like the ability to call in mortar strikes spawn beacons and sniper decoys but it's always been more of a specialised class balanced by the fat that its secondary weapons, were more limited that's one of the reasons why the open load outs of battlefield, 2042 didn't really work throw in hardcore modes.
And you have yourself a proper multiplayer sniping pleasure how realistic is the sniping as a massive battlefield fan it pains me to say that the sniping mechanics are just absolutely all over the place because each rifle has its own bullet drop velocity and damage drop off you really have no way of knowing where your shot's gonna land each time you start with a new gun.
And updates from dice can also frequently change the handling characters of any weapon in the game it takes a lot of trial and error and a lot of practice that's not true for every game in the series battlefield 4 did allow you to arrange a target with attachments or using a old designator basically fancy binoculars and then dial that into your scope.
But it was rarely useful because of how fast you have to take shots in a game like this scopes are only visually modelled after their real-world counterparts and most of what's in them can't be used like the mil-dots and the lines don't really correspond to the ranges at all battlefield 1 does have a very a very cool mechanic though known as the sweet spot inspired by real world ballistics that's where a bulet fired from a bolt action rifle does maximum damage only between certain ranges.
That encourages snipers to play in their rolls and hang back despite having insanely satisfying sniping battlefield has very little realism though and it's just for fun but like a lot of fun again this is just for people who love battlefield and multiplayer.
6. ARMA 3
You need game where you kill but don't need realism sniping alright let's get into the hardcore million crowd Arma was one of the biggest milSim games for a very long time and has countless mods up to ones that make bullet physics about as real as you can get in video game area is for hardcore milsim fans that means a lot of time.
Getting to places sometimes crawling to places and shooting at dots in the distance area and the arbor community have built a selection of missions that you can play solo pop or with dozens of allies against ai I have to warn you though the control scheme for the game has never been very friendly and can be a barrier to entry on its own it can also be confusing in aura games to fully understand exactly what you're doing again you might need somebody to teach you.
This is a throwback to when games were so complex they came with giant manuals some of you remember that if you conquer those obstacles arms has always offered one of the most authentic military experiences possible if you're looking to find something that can simulate what an actual mission might look like this is your game.
How realistic is the sniping with mods it's so realistic I'm honestly not qualified to fully break it down and you'd literally need a shooting course to fully understand all the math and other factors like you need to pull out a shooting computer and do actually math.
This one's for people who fully like milsim they're wiling to crawl for long periods fo time to target hang out for a whiled tons of math and then land that perfect shot.
7. SQUAD.
Now let's talk about the more recent and a bit friendlier title squad this route of project reality mod for battlefield 2. Squad is another modern male sim game and if you choose the sniper roll you'll be making some tough shots in a player vs player combined arms environment like arms the game has mod support including some realism mods I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with squad but gets recommended a lot when we cover shooter for now tell me what you think.
And we'll break down what we've learned so far how realistic is the sniping squad has basic mechanics around distance shooting you'll have to account for things like range and bullet drop one really cool thing that isn't squad that we haven't talked about in the other games yet is the scopes are functional you can actually use a cheat sheet inside say the pro-1 telescopic.
Site typically found on dragon of sniper rifles with this chart you can use the height of a standing player to find the range and then use the dots or lines in your scope corresponding to that distance for an accurate shot a lot of games include scopes but the information inside them is useless and it's refreshing to have a game where they actually work there's other ways to do.
It too like using binoculars to find the range and then dealing that into your scope ballistics in the game beyond that are good enough for simulation but don't model very complex railroad forces like atmospheric pressure windage or air drag squad has four players that like slower paced combine arm simulations with a bit of a learning curve but not something as complex as area.
8. SNIPER ELITE VR.
Sniper Elite VR is a 2021 virtual reality video game developed by Just Add Water and published by Rebellion Developments. The player plays as an elite sniper in the Italian resistance. The game was released for Oculus Quest, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game is part of the Sniper Elite series.
This is very much on multiplayer game and you'll want to play with friends. Short story don't want to get hit by it virtual reality is one of the newer categories and there isn't a lot there yet for sniping.
The gameplay of Sniper Elite VR is similar to previous titles in the series. The player explores an open level and take out targets from afar, using weaponry to take out Nazi soldiers they find along the way. The player can try to maintain stealth or go into open combat. When the player gets a long distance kill, an x-ray cam will activate that shows the enemy being killed. Additionally sniper rifles, can function as melee weapons that the player can use to silently take out enemies. The player gets score bonuses for getting environmental kills and use sounds from the environment to mask gunshots. The player can hold the offhand trigger in order to go into slow motion, where a reticle is displayed that makes it easier to hit shots. The game has save points where the player respawns if killed.
So if you have a great VR title with sniper rifles in it let us know in the comments below.
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