Sniper Elite 5 Preview - Killer Sandbox

Sniper Elite 5 expands gun customization, adds puzzles, and new non-lethal ways to stop Nazis. We spent two hours on the expansive Occupied Residence map and here’s what you should know. 

Sniper Elite 5 gets the series back to killing Nazis after recent games focused on the undead with Zombie Army 4: Dead War and a VR title. We spent two hours on the Occupied Residence map, and here’s what you should know. Sniper Elite 5 has a wide range of classic World War 2 weapons like the M1903 Springfield and Karabiner 98 as well as experimental prototypes, including the SREM-1Enfield bullpup sniper rifle, BSA Welgun submachine gun. The game has lots of customization, and you can go find a workbench located around each level and swap out ammo types, magazines, stocks, grips, barrels, and scopes. A lot of the customization is tasteful to the period, with a few exceptions, including some front grips and non-lethal ammo. 

The level that we played felt very Hitman-inspired, with tons of ways to take down enemies, including environmental hazards, booby traps, mines, exploding objects, non-lethal takedowns, and of course, long-range shooting. Developers at Rebellion want to accommodate a wide variety of playstyles which they broke into stealth, control, power, and speed. Around that idea, the map has tons of different terrain and routes, from open farm fields to underground bunkers. There is a lot of vertical space with vines to climb and ziplines. The map also has a number of secrets and unlockable starting points to make it more replayable. Some of these include finding intelligence on targets, finding objects on one side of the map to unlock items on the other, and the ability to blow open doors or go find the right enemy with the key to do it silently. 

Sniper Elite 5 releases on May 26th on all major platforms, including PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.