Sniper Elite V2

V2's gratuitous X-Ray kill-cam adds a macabre elegance to every perfectly-timed shot you make that gives your careful handiwork an appealing artistic flair. While the ground combat and close-up encounters aren't as tight as you'd expect from a common shooter, the sniper gameplay is front-and-center here, and it's delivered with top-notch class and authenticity. Even if you think you've had your fill of the WWII genre, this ballsy tactical shooter could definitely change your mind, and blow other peoples' wide open.

Sniper Elite V2's heart is in the right place, but its legs have been shattered by the bullet of bloated game design.

If you are a die hard sniper enthusiast, you might want to pick this up on sale or after the price drops. It’s unfortunate really, the game was a few hours and a couple of design adjustments away from being a bit of a relief in a pretty cluttered genre.

When the dust settles on Sniper Elite V2 though, it’ll likely be remembered for those X-Ray kill animations and little else of note. Your level of enjoyment will be almost directly mapped to how entertaining you find the visual spectacle to be, and - for me at least - it was perfectly good fun in short bursts. Not the best shooter of the year by a long stretch then, but certainly nowhere near the bottom of the pile.

It seems that certain gaming buzzwords are almost a guarantee for success when it comes to sales and, without a doubt, 'sniper' is right up there. In fact it's only a matter of time before Call of Duty: Ninja Sniper Assassin is released and sends the global economy into total meltdown, though as long as they remember who came up with that idea first and reimburse them appropriately, then all will be well. Thankfully Sniper Elite V2 sticks purely with the sniper premise, rather than all the ot...