Sniper Elite Resistance preview: A tense, enjoyable stealth shooter

Sniper Elite Resistance drops next year, and we had a chance to get hands-on with the new title. Though a relatively early, but playable build, it was such an exciting moment. We’re pretty big fans of the Sniper Elite franchise around here, for a variety of reasons. The X-Ray kill cam is one of the coolest things in stealth/shooter titles, and rest assured - it’s back in this side-game.

Running alongside the narrative of Sniper Elite 5, players are put onto the backlines, in the heart of France. We had a chance to play through the third main mission of Sniper Elite Resistance, where we sneak through a French village occupied by the Nazis in order to gain information on their upcoming superweapon.

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Sniper Elite Resistance allows players freedom of choice as they stop the Nazi threat

During our preview of Sniper Elite Resistance, we had a chance to go through the third main mission, where we were trying to uncover information about a Nazi Wunderwaffe. This super weapon is supposed to guarantee the end of World War II, it’s that powerful. It stands to reason that we cannot let that happen under any circumstances. Players control Harry Hawker, as he stealths his way around, and puts a bullet into any Nazi he can.

The night is young, and Nazis are so shootable (Image via RebellIon)

If the rest of the game is anything to go by, this experience is expertly designed. The French village has a very open-ended design, where there’s no real one right path to take. I did find the routes that worked best for me in the end.

Whether you want to stealth and only knock out a few enemies on the way to the goal, or leave a trail of destruction and shattered Nazi skulls in your wake, both options are viable. I will say that, depending on your preferred gameplay style, both of these can be incredibly challenging.

We won’t spoil any major gameplay moments in this preview of Sniper Elite Resistance, but I can tell you that it gets incredibly interesting. Our build unfortunately, had no checkpoints, so there was a lot of restarting back at the beginning of the mission.

If nobody is alive to call for help, help won't come (Image via Rebellion)

I tried a wide array of strategies and routes, making sure to keep my heart rate low and my steps as quiet as possible. Honestly, that kind of made things a bit harder for me in some spots. There’s nothing fun about waiting two minutes for a patrol to come back around. But it is safer.

Sometimes, you just have to incorporate tons of violence though. This is the ultimate lesson I learned while playing Sniper Elite Resistance, but I learned it far too late. If there are no alarms nearby, sometimes you just need to take everyone out in a hail of gunfire.

If everyone is dead or incapacitated, they can’t call for help - just make sure you hide the bodies in some tall grass, or a bin, or something. This stage had frequent patrols, lurking inside of Nazi vehicles. So you have to pay attention to everything around you.

There's no kill quite like Overkill (Image via Rebellion)

When I finally got tired of restarting the mission over and over, I decided to open up with sniper bullets. As soon as I got to the first area with Nazis in it, I immediately began shooting them from a lengthy distance - blowing up oil barrels, setting traps, and generally being a hurricane of violence.

It turned out that that made the mission so much easier for me. I was able to loot that area, hide all the bodies, and then progress forward at a slow, deliberate pace. That way, I had cable cutters, more bottles for Molotov Cocktails, and medical supplies. That’s why I love these games - it’s all about options.

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Sniper Elite Resistance continues the rich tradition of excellent World War II firearms - and X-Ray kill cams

Hello, Nazi; goodbye brainstem (Image via Rebellion)

Don’t worry about guns in Sniper Elite Resistance - you get plenty of era-specific firearms, and they’re all incredibly fun to use. You’re also free to swap out firearms with some of the German weapons, if you prefer - once you shuffle those Nazis off the mortal coil, that is.

You don’t have to kill them - there’s a bonus at the end of the mission for each one you incapacitate instead of kill. Shame I’ll never see what that the bonus is, because I brought every single one of them down, other than that first knockout. This leads me to one of my favorite things about this series: The X-Ray killcam.

It’s definitely back, and it’s so cool to watch, as always. Whether you shoot someone in the skull or groin, you’ll watch the bullet make impact, similarly to the Mortal Kombat games. I got some pretty ridiculous shots in too, while exploring this stage. The headshots were always the coolest, though.

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The presentation during this preview was incredibly satisfying

Sometimes, things don't go to plan - but you've got options (Image via Rebellion)

Almost nothing goes to waste in the Sniper Elite Resistance's maps. Sure, you have to make sure you’re silent and your heart rate is low to get the most out of sniper rounds. But there are so many little touches to make your sneakiness worthwhile. In the first few moments, you can see a wall that has a few bricks missing out of the bottom.

I imagine, with the proper timing and patrol, you can drop down here, and either use a silenced pistol, or your rifle, and take someone out without being seen. Especially if you’re laying in tall grass. It’s such a fun game to play, where every movement matters.

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In conclusion

Sniper Elite Resistance is stressful, but it's also so much fun (Image via Rebellion)

While I wasn’t always successful in my exploration of this Sniper Elite Resistance preview, it didn’t upset me. It just led me to try more and more things. It reminds me of why I enjoy the Hitman games from time to time. Sometimes you just want to find creative, clever ways of defeating the bad guys.

Other times, you want to use a hail of gunfire to kill a small group of unaware Nazis. It’s all about balance. I really like where the game is going so far - though admittedly, I’ll enjoy it a lot more when I can take advantage of checkpoints.

That’s not a knock on the game, though - that’s just the nature of early builds. January 30, 2025 can't get here soon enough, that's for sure.