Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is easily better than its predecessor in nearly every respect. Just don't expect the budget-priced shooter to garner a huge following.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 looks and feels far superior to the first game because City Interactive, the developer, addressed most of the issues that hampered the previous game. This time around the enemy AI is smarter, the physics more realistic and the difficulty is manageable.
The game uses Crytek's CryEngine 3, which was developed for Crysis, and the in-game setting and environments look stunning. Weapons and ballistics are also remarkably detailed with everything including target range, bullet drop, touch-sensitive trigger and recoil needing to align properly to ensure head shot accuracy.
The weapons feel good irrespective of the platform you are playing on (PC, X360 or PS3). Now you don’t need to rely on the little red dot that shows shot location whenever you are in position to take your enemy down. There is also fine control over the scope movement irrespective of platform and which you need in a stealth title.
The campaign feels like an action movie, but in a good way. And with the enemy AI being almost lifelike in its cunning, the game offers a serious challange on on advanced setting.
On the flipside, almost every level in Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2’s brief four hour campaign eventually comes down to the same thing: Move through the jungle quietly, get a good view of your enemy and then shoot him.
The checkpoints are widely spaced which is a frustrating design choice since you will be playing certain long setions over and over again. While th game gives the appearance of being set iin a wide open space, stepping outside the prearranged route irritatingly sets of warnings to return to your mission or head back to the last checkpoint.
There are several frustrating stages that require trial and error before they can be completed. This gets repetitive.
While there’s multiplayer with a couple of maps, the main focus of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is in its campaign mode, provided you are playing it with advanced settings. Otherwise, on normal difficulty the game doesn't offer a challenge.
