Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts Has You Planning Every Bullet

I’ve always been a fan of shooters where the developer pushes the realism of sniping. While my friends in high school were busy quick scoping in Call of Duty, the realism of Arma drew my attention. There’s something satisfying about lining up a shot and timing it perfectly. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts integrates realistic sniping with easy to use mechanics.

This entry in the franchise follows your role as a hitman taking on contracts in Siberia. Several major regions in Siberia have fortified locations with targets to assassinate. The first contract I jumped at has two scientists in the Arakcheyev Fortress. And we all know a fortress isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

Attacking Every Contract Differently

Each contract’s intro cinematic tosses some story out, but there isn’t much follow-up. Little bits of dialogue in my ear as I quietly take out soldiers don’t do much for the storyline. My real focus playing Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts revolves around scoping out each location.

Developer CI Games emphasizes that every mission has multiple acceptable strategies. While there are obvious, often linear vantage points available, it gets more complex past that. A compound with over 30 soldiers may include snipers, lookouts, patrols, turrets, etc. The complexity is in deciding how to deal with all that.

Are you the type of person to grab an assault rifle and run in guns blazing? Do you pick off your targets from afar with a sniper rifle? Maybe it’s better to move in close and interrogate a few soldiers for information. These are some of the ways CI Games provides a variety of ways to handle each scenario.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of taking the quiet approach. Finding a high vantage point to lay down and get eyes on what’s up ahead is my first goal. Then, I immediately use my binoculars to mark targets and measure their distance. The new augmented reality mask in Contracts’ also helps find environmental hazards like explosives. This preparation and planning is the foundation for every military base I encounter.

It’s almost calming calculating the best way to take out a contracted target. Or as is frequently the case, the entire facility. Why shoot one high-value target when I can eliminate the entire army? Pursuing targets in snow-covered Siberia makes me feel like the Finnish sniper known as White Death.

Despite my ridiculous amount of planning, it’s still difficult to stay under the radar. Armored targets that take several shots to kill and groups too close to eliminate quietly are common. This is where Contracts’ wide variety of unique bullets come into play.

There are six different ammo types for specific situations. For example, there’s a Luring bullet for distracting enemies. I may have shot someone in the face with this instead of a regular bullet. I can’t confirm or deny whether their face lit up like a Christmas tree 

Curving Bullets Just the Way You Wanted

What’s great about Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is how it prevents realistic sniping from being a hassle. Lining up a shot isn’t as simple as centering the crosshair on an enemy and pulling the trigger. Elements like wind, elevation, and time all play a role in where each bullet lands. CI Games integrates a mechanic that shows how each bullet will travel based on a rifle’s zeroing. For those that don’t know, zeroing is a way to adjust the scope to help offset how far a target is.

Zeroing doesn’t take much effort, but it’s not easy to do when taking fire. The chaos that ensues after one shot misses tests your skill. Once an entire fortress suddenly knows my position, that’s when things get interesting.

When soldiers suddenly become unpredictable and target me, it forces every decision to be a quick one. I can’t peek out of cover for long and line up a shot when it gives another sniper an opportunity. Instead, it forces me to either zero in shots quickly or make educated guesses. When those educated guesses work out, it leads to some of the most satisfying kills.

Certain Situations Only Need One Bullet

My favorite shot in Siberia is one where everything somehow worked out. My target paced around a room behind what I assumed was bulletproof glass. There must have been four or five soldiers guarding the front door. Traditionally, I’d snipe them quietly, but that’s not possible when they’re practically touching. Somehow, I timed my shot perfectly in between several soldiers to hit my target through the open doorway. The soldiers didn’t even hear the shot because of how far I was from them.

What to Expect From Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts

The sniping side of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is where it excels. However, close-quarters combat can be frustrating and is often necessary, unfortunately. The only good side of moving in close is that it encourages me to think outside the box while sneaking around. Aside from that, I’m excited to see how CI Games handles other contracts and the ways to take them on.

TechRaptor previewed Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts on PC via Steam with a code provided by the developer.