Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

Although sniper games were always pretty popular, they really exploded after Infinity Ward delivered that amazing stealth mission in the first Modern Warfare. All of a sudden, sniping was about much more than simply pointing the crosshair at the guys you want to kill, since you also needed to take into consideration the weather conditions and various other factors that influenced your aim.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is the sequel to a not-so-great first part, although the developers put in a lot of effort into fixing their mistakes and really struggled to deliver a better experience to the players. While it is true that they did not really manage to turn the product into something amazing, this new installment can be considered quite good, as long as you can turn a blind eye to a few inconsistencies and annoyances along the way.

The first stop should be the background story and the plot that evolves throughout the game, but since it is yet another generic mercenary/terrorist soup consisting of weapon dealers and bombs, there's not that much to talk about. You do get some companions from time to time, who make the levels a bit more interesting, but they are not very charismatic and you quickly forget all about them by the time the singleplayer campaign is over.

The most important part, however, is the fact that the actual shooting mechanics have been improved considerably in the meantime and you can really have some fun with the sniper, for a change. Hence, ballistics are a lot more convincing now, although it is by no means complicated to take a good shot, regardless of your experience. Wind, heart rhythm and breathing affect the trajectory of the bullet, but you can easily adjust for it by using the helpful on-screen guide.

Perhaps the biggest change can be seen in the graphics department, since the developers went big this time and bought the legendary CryEngine 3 to handle the visuals. Naturally, this translates into breathtaking environments and effects, although a lot more work could have gone into some of the textures, because they seriously kill the mood when they appear on the screen. Other than that, everything looks and feels very nice, especially the characters and the weapons you get to use.

Whether Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is a title worth recommending or not, it really depends on your mood and ability to withstand a few annoyances. While the game is definitely much more polished than its predecessor and it can provide you with a few short hours of fun, the excruciating linearity and lack of originality might turn you off from the first few minutes, especially if you are one to enjoy making his own route when it comes to stealth games.