Sniper Elite Resistance Review: A Familiar Shot That Misses The Mark

Sniper Elite Resistance offers a fluid sniping experience, and our review explains why it falls off in ways more than one.

Over the past few days, killing N*zis with a cinematic flair as I get to see their organs pop out has been a favorite pastime. Whether it is a shot that penetrates the eyeballs and rips the skull and optic nerves apart, or one that shatters your rib cage and forces the heart to explode, every kill was satisfying. This has been the go-to formula for most of the past Sniper Elite titles, and Resistance is no different from them. In fact, Sniper Elite Resistance is a bit too similar to the other titles.

Set during World War II, Sniper Elite Resistance takes place at approximately the same time as Sniper Elite 5 and is a spinoff or side story of sorts. At its core, Sniper Elite is a third-person shooter, although you can enjoy it in FPS during gunfights. For the most part, the gameplay is smooth and seamless. The sniping mechanic is amazing and has always been in these kinds of games.

However, the title is not all glitters and sparkles. One of my major concerns and causes for dissatisfaction with the game: Sniper Elite Resistance feels like a massive deja vu. You kill N*zis (like in previous games) and get amazing sniper kills (once again, like in previous games). If you are looking for something unique or a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you are in for a disappointing ride. Read on to find out exactly what went through my mind as I completed this game.

Sniper Elite Resistance: It’s Just Deja Vu

An Unusually Surprising Sandbox

Sniper Elite Resistance has a well defined stealth system. — The game has a well-defined stealth system (Image via Rebellion)

As an ardent FPS player, I take a great interest in critically analyzing games like Sniper Elite Resistance. I am not a run-and-gun player and enjoy using proper strategy and stealth as much as possible. The covert-ops idea that was instilled in me by Project IGI never really faded. On that aspect, Sniper Elite Resistance has really impressed me. Theoretically, you can play the entire game on stealth. Crawling, crouching, moving from cover to cover, hiding in tall grass, all of it. What’s better? Stealth takedowns. There’s the obvious dynamic layer here — the bodies after you kill someone. Unless you hide them, you risk the chance of enemies discovering them, which puts them on high alert.

Stealth is definitely not the only way to play this game. You can obviously go guns blazing, but this can give you a varied experience based on your difficulty level. In lower difficulty, this is manageable. The bullets do not do a lot of damage, and you can tank in a substantial amount while you get to cover and recover. On the other hand, things will not really go your way if you try this in higher difficulty. Enemies hit hard, and you will need to rely on SMGs to take close-range fights. This is a painful experience because SMG gunplay is terrible.

Gunplay: Sniper Is Good, Others Not So Much

X-ray vision of the game is satisfying in Sniper Elite Resistance. — X-ray vision is very satisfying to look at (Image via Rebellion)

Let’s talk about the sniper rifles first. The sniping aspect of the game is extremely well-refined, which is what I’d expect from a Sniper Elite title. Over large distances, bullet drops exist, but your crosshair will show you where the bullet will hit exactly. There’s weapon sway and recoil when you aim, but it becomes almost still once you empty your lungs and hold your breath. That said, all of this is too easy.

You have large windows to get the perfect shot and watch the enemies’ brains pop or nerves detach. While that is extremely satisfying (which is about the only satisfaction I derived from the game), it is all too easy, even on higher difficulty modes. You could turn the X-Ray off, but let’s be honest Sniper Elite is famous for it, so why remove a main part of the experience?

SMG gameplay is very janky in Sniper Elite Resistance. — SMG gameplay is very janky (Image via Rebellion)

If you are going for a stealth-based play, staying afar and sniping out is fun. Even if you do not have a suppressor, enemies will more than often not detect you when you are over 300 meters away with a rifle popping their heads. Close combat, on the other hand, relies on pistols or SMGs. This might sound harsh, but both weapons feel terrible. Aiming is poor and inaccurate, and it feels very janky. Hip-fire shots barely land, and even ADS feels very inaccurate. Weapons feel slow overall, and combining that with movement is a hit-or-miss. I felt like I was pulling a gacha while shooting, and will land shots with a 40-60 split, the former being my chances to land my shots.

The Story: Not Immersive Enough

Sniper Elite Resistance has a very loose story overall. — Sniper Elite Resistance has a very loose story overall (Image via Rebellion)

Sniper Elite Resistance puts you in the shoes of Harry Hawker, and not our usual suspect, Karl Fairburne. While the change of protagonist is not much of a concern, the overall story is. The story is loose, even for a linear game. I understand the outcome is set, but it feels a bit too nonchalant in Sniper Elite Resistance. You go around completing missions, killing N*zi officers, sabotaging their plans, and whatnot. At the end of every mission, you come to find out that your actions had little to no effect at all. The N*zis still managed to get the job done at the cost of some carcasses that you laid out.

Cutscenes barely put any emphasis on the story and feel like a massive narration from a story-teller point of view. Let me put it this way, Harry Hawker has no real impact in this game, other than the second-last and last mission of the game perhaps. Moreover, the game has no replayability factor. Unless you want to dive in and get all the collectibles or kill all officers for achievements, there is no reason for you to play the same mission again. In fact, I found myself collecting all of the items and posters on my first run itself, although that may be because of my explorer and stealthy style.

Level Design: Wasted Potential

Dynamic level design lets you take unique paths to your mission. — Dynamic level design lets you take unique paths to your mission (Image via Rebellion)

Sniper Elite Resistance re-uses the same map and resources for some of the missions. For example, Missions 1 and 4 are on the same map, and in the same area more or less. That said, the maps are very well designed. There are multiple paths that you can take to get to your objective, and it encourages you to think out of the box. Although the game itself is linear, there is ample opportunity to explore the map. You can enter a lot of buildings to find unique sniping opportunities, to get a lay of the land, or simply to take a ridiculous path.

It’s not in many games that I get to experience such an immersive map design. It gave me the semblance of choice and free will. Some paths had more enemies but an easier route, whereas others required dismantling tanks and other enemy vehicles (which were quite satisfactory as well). While killing N*zi officers, there are a variety of ways you can do it. A stealth takedown, or a shot through their heart, or even setting up a trap to blow them to pieces. If there were enough dynamic elements, or perhaps if the game was more engaging, this layering and immersiveness would have been an amazing addition to the game.

Performance And Visuals

Expressions of characters barely change in the entirety of Sniper Elite Resistance. — Expressions of characters barely change in the game (Image via Rebellion)

For a triple-A title released in 2025, I expected better visuals from Sniper Elite Resistance. It’s not bad, but it is something I would have been thoroughly impressed with around five to six years back. The X-Ray visuals are good, but seem comical at points. One of my personal icks about this was the blood splatter. I would have liked to see some proper gruesome bleeding, but all I got was a red spray as if an invisible NPC puffed a red spray-paint can at the point of impact.

Character animations were also a tragedy. Whether it’s a grim scenario, one with peril, or one for good news, their expressions do not change. At all! The character models feel largely rushed, or even unfinished. For a game that sells for $50 and can be finished in under 10 hours, I would have expected a better finish, at least from the graphics perspective.

Character Models feel severely backdated and unfinished in Sniper Elite Resistance. — Character Models feel severely backdated and unfinished (Image via Rebellion)

On the other hand, I must applaud the developer for their stellar performance. Sniper Elite Resistance ran super smooth on my PC and did not take up a lot of resources on my setup with Ryzen 5 7600X and RTX 4070 Super. To top that, there were zero bugs that I could find. No lag, no bug, and optimization was on point, something that I (or anyone else) cannot say for a majority of games released in recent times. The sound was decent too for the most part, but that might be because I did not have to put a lot of effort actively waiting to hear footsteps.

In Conclusion

Harry Hawker is a great sniper, but an underwhelming protagonist overall. — Harry Hawker is a great sniper, but an underwhelming protagonist overall (Image via Rebellion)

Sniper Elite Resistance delivers a familiar sniping experience, with the recurring loop of long-range kills and X-ray shots. Stealth and the impressive level design offer a surprising amount of player freedom and exploration, which is a definitive plus side. However, the game suffers from a severe case of deja vu. Its story is forgettable and lacks impact, the gunplay outside of sniping feels clunky, and the visuals are underwhelming for a modern title. The lack of innovation and the rehashed elements from previous Sniper Elite entries make it feel more like an expansion or side story than a standalone game.

Ultimately, Sniper Elite Resistance is a difficult game to recommend at full price. The repetitive nature and the lack of any solid new features hold it back from being a truly great game. Unless you are a fanatic yearning for some mindless N*zi-killing action or a die-hard fan of the Sniper Elite franchise who’s willing to overlook the shortcomings, waiting for a sale and a reduction in its price might be the most sensible course of action.