Sniper Elite: Resistance | Review

January 28, 2025

Harry Harker ‘ere and it’s never been a better time to shoot nazis. In da balls, the brains, the ‘art. Sniper Elite: Resistance is me game, out on every platform unda tha son and available Day One in Game Pass. It’s, well a lot more Sniper Elite, as a spin-off story from 5. Oim still in France, and throughout 7 different levels (you return tah one twice and another is just shooting one asshole in the back for 5 seconds) you’ll do all the elite snipin’ you know and love. Is it worth sixty francs or a download? Well, let’s let this bloke who played it early let ya know in this XboxEra review.

D-Day is on its way

Welcome to France, 1944. You are Harry Harker, chasing down a new Wunderwaffe. This MacGuffin is poised to stop D-Day. Sniper Elite: Resistance has 7 maps spread out over nine levels. It’s a side-quest, set alongside the main campaign of Sniper Elite 5, and its story is exactly what you think it will be.

The locations vary nicely, with mountains, vineyards, and cities feeling right at home for fans of the series. SE: Resistance is a full-cost title and features all the modes you’d hope for, including one new one.

You have: Campaign (Solo & Co-Op), Multiplayer, Survival, Invasion, and the new Propaganda Challenge. Multiplayer is PVP, which is tough to review with early access. Survival is waved based and I had fun playing it solo. Invasion, much like MP is PVP-focused and I had no luck being invaded or trying to invade others during review.

The new mode is the Propaganda Challenge. The main missions feature propaganda posters and unlock a new challenge mode once you find them. They’re short, fun, and I found the majority without having to search too hard in each level. The story of SE: Resistance is a MacGuffin chase, with a handful of cutscenes. It didn’t get in the way, though the pre-mission debrief videos did drag on at times.

Sniping, Elitely

Sniper Elite is a hitman-esque third-person shooter. You’ll go through each mission with a series of challenges at the start. As you explore the maps you’ll find optional objectives, and it’s all a great excuse to either John Wick or stealth your way to victory.

The main target of your rage, the Nazis. Stabbing, shooting, exploding, poisoning, and more are on offer as you level up with every action. While I was able to complete the campaign in a night there’s a lot of replayability, thanks to the variety of ways you can complete certain objectives. In one mission I saw a rat bomb that gave a unique kill, a bomb shaped like a rat. Another had a poisoning opportunity, and it was a nice change of pace from all the head and nut shots.

My first recommendation is to go into the settings and lower the sensitivity on the controllers for the Y-axis. After that, lower how often the kill cam is used. From then on, if you’ve ever played one of these games, you’ll be at home.

I jumped between Xbox and PC and while it’s fine on controller, things shine on mouse and keyboard. A game that can be difficult with a pad is as easy as it comes if you’re adept at mouse aiming. Normal is enough on console, but I’d up the difficulty if you want any real type of challenge on PC.

SE Resistance has everything fans of the series are used to. You’ll level up, unlocking more guns and tools. The classic skill circles are back and I had it nearly 100%’ed by the time I killed the last fascist in my campaign. If you haven’t played before there’s a mix of stealth, all-out action, and platforming that few other games go for nowadays.

Emptying your lungs as you aim down scope gives you a reticle to take out eyeballs from hundreds of meters away with ease. This is a gross game, full of shattered bones, testicles, livers, and it’s still solid fun.

Solid but not Great

Looks, sound, and writing wise this is Sniper Elite through and through. Everything here is fun and familiar. SE: Resistance’s France looks great on console and PC. There are no graphical modes on Xbox that I saw, just a clean 60 fps with little to no graphical issues. I dare say this title looks better than SE 5, with some genuinely beautiful environments that never skimp on the atmosphere.

PC was odd, as I’d get a locked 120 at ultra 4k. Then out of nowhere any time I either looked at an item that brought up a UI element or bullet-cam activated it would become a stuttering mess until I fully restarted the client. The game does have Denuvo during the review process, and companies will sometimes remove it at launch. I could never figure out the trigger for this behavior as I played on the Microsoft Store version, though.

The music will be a familiar mix of period-authentic instruments interwoven with bombastic instrumentals. Our protagonist sounds like a dime store Jason Statham, and his repetition on how itchy tall grass is had me reaching for the mute button after a short while. Overall, like everything else, it’s solid. Nothing new, nothing great, nothing too terrible.

Wrapping Things Up

Sniper Elite: Resistance is available on Day One on Game Pass, and that’s how I’d recommend anyone but the most ardent fan of the series plays it. At $60 MSRP it’s a big ask for something that can be completed in a night or two. While there is some replay value on offer there isn’t enough new here for those familiar with the series to warrant a full purchase. If you love Sniper Elite and want more though, then you’ll find nothing here to displease you.