Story and Gameplay

In Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 you play as Raven, a contracted assassin sniper taking out the world’s top criminals, drug-runners, and other of your typical and not-so-typical baddies. While there are very well done mission intros, movies, and tutorials, the story is your standard fare. There are definitely some interesting characters sprinkled throughout that act as your targets but nothing ground-breaking and honestly, that’s ok. Completely open world per region, the contracts, subcontracts if you will, and options fold out according to your decisions but each region is based around the main story.

The star of the show here is the stellar sniping mechanics that are some of the best I’ve ever experienced. Between all the gadgets, gizmos aplenty, the weaponry looks, sounds, and just feels heavy with just the right amount of oomph to really make this title stand out. Whether you prefer up-close stealthy gameplay, extremely long sniper shots, or close-range small arms combat, you can really tailor the game to your style. Overall, all components mentioned are very solid gameplay wise.

*Mission maps and plans are overall extremely detailed adding to the already impressive scale of the game.*

Visuals and Audio

After playing some graphically weak and retro games as of late, I was absolutely stunned when I fired up the first level of Contracts 2. It’s that gorgeous. For the absolutely massive regions (levels) featured in the game, the detail is never lost in either texture or variety across deserts, lakes, mountains, and forests with not only impressive artistic direction but technical aspects just knocking it out of the park. Effects are equally impressive with bullet slow motion, depth of field, and camera rotations on super long sniper shots. Overall, this is an absolutely gorgeous game and ran at a buttery smooth on our 144hz display.

Along with the impressive visuals in the game, the audio is also handled well. The voice acting is generally good as well as the music that is usually fitting depending on what is happening inside the game. The sound effects are the most impressive part of the audio package with assault rifles ripping through enemies, sniper shots echoing through canyons, and stealthy knives ripping through armor.

*The visuals and variety of environments in Sniper are just stunning in most locations.*

What Could Be Better and Conclusion

While the sniping and combat gameplay featured here is absolutely top-notch, some of the aspects of completing goals and identifying targets are muddy at best. In some missions, you will have to adjust your scope for extremely long sniper shots and if the targets are moving, forget hitting them without a red dot aid, not available in the harder difficulty settings. Also, the biggest thing that needs improvement is enemy AI when you are shooting around them or objects around them. I shot out electrical panels and breaks while enemies just sat there, not even alarmed. That really killed immersion, especially on the first big, open level.

*This is not going to end well for this poor chap…*

Also, the map, while detailed, did cause some confusion while navigating, especially during extraction after completing an objective. Should I leave? Stay? Why can’t I adjust my gear? Did I unlock another region yet or do I have to complete everything on the map? These items should be much more clear on an objective, contract-based game. Lastly, the collectibles were forgettable and seem just to be filler without much detail.

In the end, I enjoyed Contracts 2 quite a bit. If you are just looking for a simple, yet expansive sniping simulator in a gorgeous world with massive levels, this game is for you. If you are looking for a ground-breaking title that offers something totally new, you may be a bit let down. On PC you can find the title for around $39.99 which is more than a fair price for one of the best sniping games to date.