One of the best...

My wife (reluctantly) got me Sniper Elite for Christmas for my PS2. I love FPS games, but after a while they are all the same...run and shoot. Sniper Elite is much different. The word challenging cannot be used lightly for this game. I thought it would take 30 minutes to clear a board - try 2-3 hours if you want to be stealth.

The storyline is during the closing days of WW2 in Berlin. The russians are there and are your primary enemy. In reality, you are helping the Germans in this one by keeping the Commies away from nuclear technology.

AI is insanely intelligent. They do not just stand there waiting to be shot. They work in teams and hunt you down if you are seen. The object of this game is to go through the boards undetected. Firing from concealed positions w/o being heard or scene is difficult. This game truly tests the players patience! The graphics are good, but not the best. The AI characters are often repeated and there are only a few lines they use to speak - which get repetitious quickly. The environments are well put together, with numerous well played sound effects and lots of actions going on all over.

As you should know, this is not the kind of game where you run and shoot. Try that with sniper elite and you WILL be killed instantly. One of the coolest and more rewarding features about this game is the "bullet cam". if you pull off a long range 1 shot 1 kill, the screen will follow the bullet to its target followed by the impact and the blood and guts of your victim. Your victims do not vanish once you kill them like with other games, but remain on the ground for the length of the board. After each kill you can stash the body and/or do a search of it where you will get ammo/weapons, etc.

In regards to weapons, you get the usual pistol, grenade, assault rifles, and your best friend - the sniper rifle. There are 3 rifles you can get in this game - each one better then previous. Also, there are rocket launchers, trip mines, tnt, time bombs and heavy machine guns like the MG42. You can carry many weapons, but you are limited to one of each breed. it's good to keep an automatic for close combat (which there is if you get into a pickle). Expect to use your sniper rifle 75% of the time, but the other weapons come in handy when you are surrounded by the enemy in close quarters.

The one drawback (but acceptable) of this game is the amount of times you will die! Do not get discouraged if you die 40 times each board. Remember, the AI is VERY VERY intelligent. stay on your toes soldier!

This game is highly rewarding and offers a new experience for those tired of the common run and shoot games. Let me say that this game is not easy to find. Many game stores have NEVER heard of it (in my experience). It's about $40 either way on the internet. Mine was purchased from Amazon.com