Sniper Elite: Resistance review: your Nazi-hunting catharsis is served

I wish I hated anything as much as Sniper Elite: Resistance’s creators, the folks over at Rebellion, hate Nazis. Talking about how much you detest fascism is one thing; dedicating your entire career to making the same exact ultraviolet execution simulator over and over again is a different beast entirely. It’s a level of ‘hater’ that everyone should aspire to.

It’s thanks to that relentless spirit that we’ve got yet another Sniper Elite game serving up some grotesque catharsis. This one comes less than three years after 2022’s Sniper Elite 5 and sticks so close to that shooter’s playbook that it feels more like an entry in an annualized series like Madden or WWE 2K than the sequel to a narrative-driven stealth action game. The rules are the same. This year’s visual upgrade is just a bit better. All the multiplayer modes you expect are accounted for. It’s a reliable continuation made by people who are positively gleeful about turning Nazi hunting into a time-honored blood sport.

Sniper Elite: Resistance offers more of the same action with virtually no surprises and a dull World War 2 story. That’s perfectly fine considering that the Rebellion team is still great at the one thing they’ve dedicated their career to doing: creating tightly designed murder playgrounds for those who want to vent their real world political frustrations in the safety of a virtual shooting gallery.

Meet Harry Hawker

While Resistance is Sniper Elite 6 in everything but name, it does introduce one key difference that sets it apart from the rest of the series. Rather than playing as long-time hero Karl Fairburne, Resistance puts Harry Hawker in the lead role. That’s not much of a change considering that Hawker is functionally identical to Fairburne, down to his burning hatred for fascism. It does bring just enough of a new attitude though, as the snarky soldier’s voice bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Jason Statham. It’s a fitting choice, one that sells Sniper Elite for what it is: a popcorn action romp with the brains of a Jack Reacher movie.

At this point, no one should expect much substance from one of these games. The obligatory plot this time is that Hawker teams up with French Resistance forces to foil another Nazi operation. They’re developing some kind of superweapon to fuel their vague plan for European domination. It isn’t very original and it doesn’t matter; it’s just an easy excuse to travel to different environments, sabotage machinery, and shatter Nazi skulls. It’s a MyCareer mode for professional killers.

While that’s all fine, I do find myself wishing Resistance had anything to say about Nazism — especially at this moment in history. Maybe it’s just because I’m coming off of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a similarly venomous game that doesn’t mince words about Nazis. It paints them as weak buffoons who are easily manipulated. They’re gullible morons, which makes them all the more satisfying to punch out. Sniper Elite features no such reflection. The Nazis here are simply generic bad guys who want to take over the world with secret weapons. Their actual political beliefs are rarely interrogated beyond that, making them interchangeable with any other World War 2 forces.

Both the Nazis of yesterday and those who raise their hands today are far more specific and nefarious. They too aim for world domination, but not through cartoonish evil plots carried out in secret bunkers. It’s through mass oppression that happens in plain sight. Fear and hatred are as tangible as any ubertank or super missile. As we head into a new age of fascism that’s unashamedly unfolding in plain sight, it might be time for our art about it to get more vocal too. I yearn for a Sniper Elite story that’s willing to grapple with white supremacy as much as military intelligence.

Maximum carnage

Though its flat story isn’t memorable, Resistance still delivers where it matters most. It’s another rock solid collection of stealth action missions that turn World War 2 into Hitman. Hawker is dropped into different open ended levels filled with objectives, from assassinating key targets to blowing weapons sky high with satchel charges. It all plays identically to Sniper Elite 5 to the point that I could copy and paste my review of that game here and only need to change a few words. That might be a little dull for anyone who has played that game to death already, but I quickly remembered how well that patented formula works.

It all starts with the fundamentals. It’s a traditional stealth game, the likes of which we don’t see as much of these days. It all starts with casing the scenery, marking targets, and slowly sneaking in and out of cover en route to objectives. Genre staples like tossing bottles to attract guards’ attention are all here. That patient setup makes it all the more satisfying when a plan goes right. Nothing feels better than sneaking up on a Nazi, knifing them in the heart, and then tossing their body off a cliff so no one can find them. The series defining ultraviolence returns, of course, in its detailed killcams that show bullets shooting through organs in slow-motion. It’s pure catharsis for those with strong stomachs and no sympathy for evil.

What really makes that all work, though, is Resistance’s stellar level design. There are eight core missions here (plus a short finale) and each one takes players into a sprawling location that can be traversed in any number of ways. In its first mission, I need to sneak onto a dam and sabotage some anti-air guns. There’s no singular way to approach that objective. I could start by sneaking into a nearby building, nabbing a silent sniper, and picking out some watchmen on the bridge before sneaking my way across. In my playthrough, I instead decided to zipline down to the underside of the dam and sneak my way topside, leaving a trail of bodies in my path.

I continue to be impressed by the density of detail Rebellion packs into its maps. These don’t feel like typical video game levels where every nook and cranny is authored to the point of feeling mechanical. These feel like real locations that exist outside of the confines of an operation. In one mission, I find myself crossing what feels like a real city as I make my way to a Nazi base. I can pop into a number of buildings along the way, whether they contain objectives or not. Sometimes I’ll find some collectibles or handy gear in one. Other times, it’s just a safe passage to move through the city. Design like that makes Resistance’s missions feel remarkable versatile, giving me good reason to return to them.

Missions can be punishing early on. Even one alerted guard can turn the odds in an overwhelming manner that feels impossible to come back from (something that always has me opting out of Sniper Elite’s multiplayer invasion function). It took me a few missions to fully find my footing, but the moment where it all clicks is as rewarding as ever. One of my favorite missions had me hovering on the outskirts of an enormous Nazi stronghold in the middle of a vineyard. Before diving in, I worked my way around the perimeter to take on a few scattered side missions. I snuck into a tower to kill an elite sniper watching over the sunlit land, completing one side mission, and grabbed his rifle. Through the scope, I spotted the target of another optional objective, a VIP officer talking to a soldier outside of house. I burst his skull open from halfway across the map and made my way to the main objective undetected, like a ghost moving in broad daylight.

Even with these strengths, the copy/paste nature of Sniper Elite 5’s existing systems can make it all drag by the end. My tools are limited, my skill trees aren’t too exciting, and mission objectives tend to get repetitive after the fifth “infiltrate and sabotage” setup. There’s just not quite enough to the immersive sim here to keep the same exact game exciting twice. The Hitman series can get away with it because there’s so much varied slapstick they can pack into missions (from shoving someone into a grape crusher to giving an assassination target an exploding golf ball). A somewhat grounded war game is limited by comparison, leaving Resistance feeling more like a great DLC collection than a new game.

A total package

The one area where I’ll really give Rebellion credit is in how successfully it has transformed Sniper Elite into a service platform. Those who really want to play one of these games for years can really do so thanks to deep career progression systems, replayable missions, and a growing list of extra modes that only expands here. I get a kick out of the fact that I get overarching experience for things like quietly stabbing a Nazi from behind, just like I would for doing a donut in Forza Horizon 5.

I find it difficult to pass too much judgement on the bonus modes included here; those who come to these games for those are getting exactly what they want here. I’ve personally never found Sniper Elite’s multiplayer offerings all that interesting as the series’ systems are built around slow third-person sneaking. It doesn’t really translate to squad-based shootouts for me, but they’re extras for a reason. Anyone who doesn’t really care about competitive play can still enjoy a tight eight-hour campaign without having invasions forced upon them.

The only new addition this time is Propaganda Missions. Unlocked by finding a collectible poster in each level, these “kill them all” missions sort of act as Sniper Elite’s version of Resident Evil Village’s Mercenaries mode. Players have a set amount of time to wipe out a set amount of enemies on each mission map. Killing special officers extends the time, creating a perfectly functional high score chase. Again, I don’t find that the slow and methodical pace of the main game neatly fits into a quicker shooting gallery, but it’s an inoffensive bonus for those who want to test their mastery in a new way.

Modes like this aren’t always a good fit for games — just look at The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered and its thematically dissonant No Return mode. These extras work for Sniper Elite, though, because the series is loud and proud about its elegant thesis: Killing Nazis is fun and cool, actually. It makes perfect sense for Resistance to feel like a carnival filled with bloody attractions that welcomes visitors back over and over. Rebellion doesn’t want you to feel emotionally torn over shooting fascists in the head. There’s no moral gray zone to ponder. Fascist slaying should feel like basketball; it’s a light and harmless extracurricular hobby.

Anyone who thinks otherwise should probably put their saluting hand down lest they find themselves in Sniper Elite’s scope.

Sniper Elite: Resistance was tested on a PlayStation 5 Pro.