Sniper Ghost Warrior 2

 

As I complete surprise this game is actually quite worse than the first, which is shocking. This seems at first glance like a total step up in all areas, the graphics are much nicer, it really isn't a bad looking game and has some impressive visuals for a budget title,  it seems much more polished, it uses the modern crytek engine, all the mechanics got an overhaul, seems higher budget etc

But there is one fatal flaw:
This, much more than the first game, is hardly a video game, but more a 'Simon says' simulator.
The entire game you have a sidekick with you whos entire purpose is to walk you through every single step in the game, telling you exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

The entire loop of the game consists of waiting for your sidekick to tell you "shoot x guy"  " go here"  "wait for my say"  and it really doesn't feel like you're actually playing a game, but rather an actor in a really boring play. This alone makes this game a worse experience than the first Sniper Ghost warrior, which atlesast had some modicum of freedom.

The final nail in the coffin that solidifies this as a horrible slog and all around worse than the first game is:

No longer can you quicksave. The game operates on a checkpoint system, however, the checkpoints can be at times 5-10 minutes apart from eachother

Now, this usually would not be a bad thing. But as I've stated before how the game is more or less a 'simon says'  game, you can only imagine how much of a boring, painful, irritating slog it becomes having to wait for your stupid sidekick to repeat the same boring script for the fourth time, having to be his lap dog and bark at his every order, all because you got impatient the first time and shot too early and ruined the scene or something. Truly a shocking gameplay design.

Usually I actually prefer when games don't allow you to quicksave, and force you to 'git gud' to pass segments, but here, there is no skill. There is no player agency. Simply if you deviate from the pre-defined script, the game punishes you and you have to go back and do the whole thing again.


Finally, another thing that makes this an awful experience compared to the first game, is the fact that levels are 10x longer than before.

In the previous game, the average level could be anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes long. This is rediculously short, but I liked the pace and sense of fast progress you got, it made the game a breeze to play through with such clear cut stop-start points

However, now, the missions are anywhere from 30-50 minutes long. And they're not interesting, fun, or enjoyable, as I've explained previously.

The game is also twice the length of the first, which makes it even more a tough pill to swallow.

I don't feel the need to talk more about this game. Yes almost everything techincally is better about it, the gameplay philosophy is just atrocious. This could of easily been a much better game than the first, but they botched it.
 

3/10