The game plays very smoothly; only on few occasions, and probably at my provoking the system, did I experience any spots of being stuck or absurd clipping. Sniper Elite plays as you would hope and expect any 3^rd person shooter to play. You can see around corners within reason, slide in and out of cover and emerge from cover while precision aiming. The AI is rather intelligent and has significant changes between difficulties, which are:

• Cadet - Easy. No gravity or wind effects on bullets, full aim-assist, lax AI
• Marksman – Your standard ‘Normal’ difficulty. Gravity will affect you bullets so you must aim higher the further your target. AI responds very well to sound, and movements. Stay hidden.
• Sharpshooter – Hard. Gravity will pull your bullets down, and wind will divert them to the side. You gun sways heavily with your breath and heart beats. The AI responds with deadly force over the sound of a pin drop.
• Custom – One of the most unique features I have seen in a game. Set gravity, wind, AI and aim-assist each manually for those who love the challenge of tough AI but cannot seem to master the wind or gravity mechanics.

One of the most amazing things with this game is the "bullet-time" effects. Yes, we are all used to this by now in games; however, this will show you the skeletal level and organ you hit. Shot the eye? Eye flies out of the socket. Shot the heart or lung? Watch them rupture. Brains explode, bone fragments go flying, and testicles get ripped from the groin. Oh, yes. You DID read that right. Another great thing is you can shoot the grenade on an enemy’s belt and make them explode. You can set traps like land mines and trip-wire mines, set dynamite and shoot it from a far to set it off and even throw rocks to lure enemies where you like. Gas tanks are a critical point, as tanks are invincible otherwise. The game takes age old tactics and brings them vividly back to life. It has been awhile since I have looked forward to a WW2 shooter, and this delivers perfectly.

The game also brings to the table a good amount of replay value. With two kinds of "collectibles," a scoring system and hidden explosive tanks you won’t see until after you have cleared the room the first time around, you will definitely want to go back through for a second or tenth run through. They have hidden a good amount of 'gold bars' for you to find and placed in far out spots, 'wine bottles' for sniping. Each level has these hidden throughout and sometimes WAY out of the way.

The game also features something common in this generation; a wave-defense mode called 'Kill-Tally.' It is set up different from other wave-defense modes in that you have little time to prepare and it goes from hard to harder very quick. Also included are 'Bombing Run' and 'Overwatch.' As of this writing I was unable to try them, however, the manual states Bombing Run is a mode where you must find parts to fix your car to escape an incoming air-strike; and Overwatch has one player providing sniper cover for a ground unit with only side arms and a pair of binoculars.

The only negative thing I can say about this game is its limited weapons. Only three weapons of each of the three types; sniper, SMG and pistol. All of which, excluding the sniper rifles, must be unlocked in a manner reminiscent of Hitman. Obtain a weapon and leave the stage with it.

Sniper Elite: V2 was developed and published by Rebellion Developments for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms on May 1^st. A PC review copy was provided to me by Rebellion Developments.