Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2
SNIPER GHOST WARRIOR CONTRACTS 2
Frankly, it’s hard to explain exactly why and how sniper games have managed to withstand the test of time. Maybe it’s just the sheer absurdity of it.
As far as such franchises go, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is certainly one of the more prominent iterations you can find on the market, both in terms of quality and authenticity.
Although the presentation and the aesthetics of Contracts 2 are definitely worth applauding, the game is held back by the same fundamental flaw that plagues many other shooter titles - repetitiveness. To be more specific, the game does start off pretty strong - you have a somewhat believable narrative and the initial sniping experience is engaging, but that appeal quickly plateaus the further you progress, and by the end of it (assuming you make it there), no amount of fancy scenery is going to stave off the boredom of “point, shoot and repeat”.
Still, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You can expect Contracts 2 to look good, be it in terms of the environment as well as your sniping experience. Although you are essentially stuck to operating within
the desert region of Kuamar, I guess it is still a refreshing change from the snow-capped peaks of the first Contracts title, so it’s not all bad. Interestingly, much of the game doesn’t actually involve you sniping per se rather, you’ll need to make your way to the designated sniping spots, eliminating (preferably oblivious) hostiles along the way.
Whether you do so discreetly or not is entirely up to you, but I would heavily caution against causing a ruckus if you can afford it. After all, it just takes one stray shot to alert everyone and their goldfish to your presence, and this is one of the more unrealistic (even facepalmworthy) bits about the game - you could be a kilometre and a half away on some random mountaintop, and yet every single enemy will simply know where you are. It’s actually quite hilarious to think that enemies (who don’t have high-powered sniper rifles) seem to be way more accurate than you are.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the small things enroute to your sniping
ENJOYABLE IN SMALL DOSES, MUCH LIKE AN ARCADE GAME.
spots. Kuamar may be a desert, but the jagged peaks and arid scenery are still worth highlighting for the attention to detail. As mentioned, the environment looks great, and unlike some other sniper titles where objects like control panels are heavily pixelated when you zoom in, Contracts 2 doesn’t suffer from
that, making those perfectly-timed shots feel ever so satisfying.
After several scuffles, you’ve managed to take a couple of guys out and are generally giving Kuamar’s top brass headaches beyond comprehension. You’ve unlocked most of the necessary equipment you need to take any sort of target out with ease, and you’re rather proficient with both drones and the assortment of special ammunition the game tosses in. So, what’s next on the agenda, Raven?
Well, that’s the thing - there isn’t much else to do. You could always offer yourself a challenge by going in with “subpar” equipment or amping up the difficulty, but even that becomes boring after a while because the missions don’t vary as much as you might think. In this regard, Contracts 2 really doesn’t have a good “+1” going for it that many other franchises do - CoD has Zombies and
Multiplayer, while Sniper Elite has its Dead War spinoffs. Heck, even Resident Evil has New Game+, so Contracts 2 really doesn’t have an excuse for not having well...anything.
At the end of the day, it’s not that I didn’t want to like this game. I appreciate making that one solid trigger pull as much as anyone else, but it’s really hard to keep playing a game where you aren’t actually rewarded beyond those fleeting moments of bullettime satisfaction.