From the snowy Altai mountains to the Beketov valleys deep behind the enemy lines in Siberia, there is a different kind of predator lying and waiting behind a sniper scope ready to pounce at the opportunity to eliminating any Siberian that wishes to get in the way of carrying out his contracts. This is our official game-play and walk-through review of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts.
Becoming a Contract Assassin…
From the aftermath of the Siberian War of Independence to the rise of Prime Minister Nergui Kurchatov, the country of Siberia is slowly imploding to the point the Government has fallen to corruption and a new militia group known as the “Siberian Wolves” is trying to overthrow the current Siberian government.
Beyond the corruption of the government, there is a number of terrorists acting as stakeholders operating in Siberian’s underworld that are looking to get a shot at launching surprise attacks as apart of the distraction between the Rebels and the Government.
To stop these individual stakeholders from launching their biochemical attacks to creating a new supersoldier invention that can potentially dominate the entire Europe contient, only one man or should I say a lone sniper lurking out in the weeds and out in the mountains can stop them.
Known only by the handle name “The Seeker,” the man behind the mask takes on contracts much like Agent 47 from the Hitman series except this contract assassin is a special kind of assassin not equipped with “Silverballers” and “Fiber-wire” and shoots to kill from afar that make everybody keep guessing…unless of course choosing to surprise each target in person to get the stealth kill.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts Gameplay
Steering away from the typical open-world game-play in previous Sniper: Ghost Warrior games, Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts moves to mission-based gameplay meaning the game gets straight to the point as far as helping the Seeker and his Handler complete objectives immediately on the spot. The only exception is that you will have to do some traveling between objectives since they’re not going to be all in one spot.
Pictured is Seeker equipped with an IMP-443 pistol with suppressor overlooking a dozen Siberian guards and heavily armored troops out on the Arakcheyev Fortress map
Despite having to travel between main objective sites, you can “cheat” out of traveling those kilometer distances by taking fast travels available on the map to get closer to each main objective within an area…the only problem is that the fast travels are only available if you’re not heading to an extraction point on the map to extract your objective data once you complete a main objective or if you’re not in a “combat” situation in the case if you trip an alarm and if you are spotted by the enemy to alert them and others (you’ll know you’ve messed up your stealth when the enemy ping above their heads turn “red” and when the enemy signatures turn red on the interface as well as on the mini-map).
In sensing a number of threats out in the field, the Seeker’s mask is equipped with a sensing ability to uncover the locations of landmines (this will help when choosing where to step when routing through a landmine field…you don’t want to step on a bouncing betty mine, the Seeker would have a very bad day), enemy silhouettes, positions of gun turrets, and hide-away spots to hide any bodies or hide from any enemies walking around.
From uncovering threats to locating threats, the Seeker has the ability to mark enemies from a binocular sight unless the area has a signal jammer that would allow pings to remain with enemy locations. The other ways to mark enemies can be through the usage of an aerial drone that would be used to mark enemies 300 meters or less not to mention the aerial drone can be used to remote into surveillance camera server boxes on the side of buildings so it does not force you as the player to remote into these boxes in person (the cameras can be tapped to also mark and ping enemies that are potentially located on the inside of buildings where the binoculars and drone can’t possibly see physically).
From upgrading your character in the game, it is much the same as Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 to upgrading skills through a skill tree system whether it is upgrading your camouflage to a more advanced upgrade where you can make it tougher for enemy drones and ground troops to spot you to improving scouting abilities as well as adding on perks to gadgets and your character.
Placing a “Bounty” on Someone’s Head…
Besides accomplishing all of the main objectives per mission area, the Handler will give you a “bonus” if you can eliminate two high-value and corrupt Siberian military officers per mission map. As a part of finding each bounty, all bounties can be found in inconspicuous places both hidden and even out in the “open.” Just look for the “double diamond” icon with blue outline that will identify the bounty target!
If you do decide to take on one of the bounties, don’t assume that you’re going to be the only one that will be expecting to cash in…There will be a particular “rival” that will also try to cash in the bounty first, so it’s also going to be your job as the Seeker to eliminate your foe and anyone else before the bounty falls in the hands of someone else.
Read all About it – Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts Collectibles
Another side quest to go on and cash in as a part of another bonus towards completing each contract is finding a number of collectibles whether it’s finding a number of public service announcement posters that describe the crisis going on between the Siberian Wolves and the Siberian Government to posters depicting announcements informing the funerals for the people you planted 6-feet under.
Besides collecting posters, the collectibles found throughout Siberia come in the form of “diaries” that add-on to the backstory and puzzle behind each main target that you take down to unveil more into each individuals plans as well as reveal more as to why you were sent to assassinate the key figures.
Each map would have 5 collectibles that can be revealed and located by the collectible icon on the map just like locating the other objectives and your bounty targets…
Personal Views about Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts is straight up another game that gets straight to the point without pushing the open-world into the game and stays true to what the other Sniper: Ghost Warrior games is all about and that is using the environment to your advantage in a stealthy way.
In a way, Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts brings a vibe in a way to what the Hitman games represent carrying out contract assassinations like Agent 47 does.
This game is nowhere close to what Hitman brings; but, still works similar to getting up close and personal with enemies even carrying out contracts from the “easy chair” from a sniper scope and making your escape.
Despite being a really short game, Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts is shaping up more to the continued story that could potentially line up in the creation of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 4.
