Is it weird to call a game like Sniper Elite a puzzle game? Maybe. But is it a true statement? Absolutely, I think so.
Sniper Elite has taken over from Destiny 2 as my go-to game of the moment. There are lots of versions, like Sniper Elite 3 or 4 on the Switch, or Sniper Elite 5 and Resistance on the Xbox, and you can play any of them and feel sorry-not-sorry about being a killer.
Yes, Sniper Elite is a game about shooting Nazis during WWII from a distance. You play the role of a sniper, it’s true, but sniping is not the thing you are doing in much of the game. No, what Sniper Elite is really about is figuring out how to move through a series of mazes and puzzles.
Each level is its own labyrinth within a defined boundary, like the perfect square borders of a maze, disguised as a French village or war-torn city center. After each mission completion, you can sit back and admire the completeness of your work, like a well put together puzzle, you DID THAT! Yes, there are a lot of bodies littered about and the smoking shells of two tanks across the field, but really you just did a ton of problem-solving. Behold, accomplishment! And when you’re ready, you can start on the next, wipe all the pieces back in the box and reset to try another puzzle.
Each level has multiple paths/objectives to complete (mazes within mazes). Instead of “get from the start to the end”, you need to gather a secret document or take out a critical target or blow this thing up, but really it’s just fancy ways of saying you need to figure out how to move past the obstacles in your way to get from the start to the end.
And there are SO many obstacles in your way: buildings, walls, rivers, Nazis, trucks, tanks, motorcycles with gunmen in the sidecars, more Nazis. Just as varied as the obstacles are the many different ways to either get past or remove them: sneaking, climbing, crawling, setting traps, dropping pallets hanging from cranes, whistling, throwing things, and yes sniping sometimes. Violence is a part of it, but doing it in the right way is the key to solving each puzzle.
Each level is different. There is no time limit. All the obstacles (soldiers, trucks, tanks, etc.) move in the same pattern as the inner workings of a clock. It’s weirdly simple and yet so satisfying.
If this sounds like glowing praise for the game (and it is, the difficulty is goldilocks) it could also be taken as criticism of an experience too elemental by today’s standards of complex open-world shooters filled with daily/weekly achievements and an ever-changing meta that compels you to spend hours online keeping abreast of the latest, or risk being left behind. Yes, I’m looking at you, Destiny 2. Those games have their place, but Sniper Elite is not that.
It’s simple. As close to an old school game as I’ve played in a long time. You can spend thirty minutes on a level or five hours.
My favorite time in the game is often the very beginning of each level, where I might spend several minutes (even a half-hour or more) just observing how everything moves and preparing my strategy.
With all the obstacles and possibilities, Sniper Elite might sound stressful to play, but it’s actually the opposite, and that’s a strange thing to say about a WWII shooter.
So let’s call it what it is: a puzzle game.
Comments welcome!