Video Game / Sniper Elite 5

Taking on the Axis once again, this time on the battlefields of France.

Sniper Elite 5 is the latest game in the Sniper Elite series, serving as a direct sequel to Sniper Elite 4. First hinted at during the ending and subsequent Sequel Hook in Sniper Elite 4's "Deathstorm" Downloadable Content campaign, this game sees Karl Fairburne operating in Northern France just prior to the D-Day landings in Normandy. Here, he's tasked with killing high-ranking Axis officers related to an Operation codenamed Kraken, which is related to the V2 rocket program later seen in Sniper Elite V2.

New features include non-lethal weapons and takedowns, the ability to customize weapons, and a new campaign multiplayer mode, allowing players to call in others for assistance, or invade each others' campaigns as an enemy sniper.

Watch the reveal trailer here, the cinematic trailer here, the release date trailer here, and the Marksman trailer here.

This game provides examples of:

• Abnormal Ammo: Setting up a teller mine at the end of Hitler's personal bowling alley causes a blast that sends a tenpin hurtling at him with explosive force, embedding the crown of it in his forehead like an enormous bullet. Even Karl is a little surprised that one worked.
  Karl: ...Well, you can't argue with results.
• Adolf Hitlarious: Once again, killing Hitler is a mission in this game. And much like in III and 4, there are some rather...creative ways to achieve this. These can be rather conventional methods like poisoning his breakfast and drinks and having a truck slide off a slope and run him over, to rigging his stuff with time bombs or mines or even leaving him a primed stick grenade as a "gift". What makes this even more hilarious are Hitler's numerous Oh, Crap! expressions just before he realizes his inevitable demise.
• Arrow Cam: It wouldn't be a Sniper Elite entry without it, with the first shots of the reveal trailer showing Karl sniping a German spotter, with the bullet shown leaving his rifle and then hitting the German smack dab in the head. In addition, returning features from 4 are the melee and booby trap cams, which show deaths from melee and explosive kills in slow motion as well, now in more detail. Gameplay footage reveals the addition of bullet cam kills for both secondary weapons and pistols, provided that the player manages to shoot an enemy in a creative or efficient way.
• Artificial Brilliance: In contrast to previous titles, German soldiers can now spot the player from much farther, and will make active efforts to investigate any areas where suspicious noises, especially gunshots, are coming from. And rather than investigate these areas individually, they will now do so in squad-sized formations, sweeping the area for possible enemy presence.
• Artistic License – History:
  • Downplayed. A handful of the US Army Rangers in "Liberation" are shown to be African-Americans serving alongside White soldiers. During World War II, the US Armed Forces were still segregated, with Blacks mainly serving as drivers, cooks, and auxiliaries rather than as frontline soldiers. Ironically, the end of the same level does show a few African-American soldiers performing these kinds of roles in the form of jeep drivers.
  • Paratroopers from the all-Black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion “Triple Nickels” are playable in multiplayer. The 555th existed, but never served in Europe: they served as smokejumpers in Oregon, and the closest they came to seeing combat in WWII was extinguishing forest fires started by Japanese balloon bombs.
  • Another downplayed example. The Tiger II Heavy Tank is depicted as being in combat in France as early as June 1944. In reality, its combat debut on the Western Front would be in early July 1944. Then again, it is mentioned several times that the tanks themselves are currently undergoing testing and evaluation by frontline units converting from the Tiger I, with several German engineers requesting that the tank be sent to the frontlines as soon as possible in order to pit them against Allied tanks.
• Artistic Licence – Ships: During the intro cutscene of the mission "Liberation", the transport planes and gliders are shown flying over dozens of Nelson-class battleships, easily identifiable by their distinct three turrets forward of the aft placed superstructure. The British only ever constructed two Nelson-class ships, the Nelson herself and the Rodney.
• And the Adventure Continues: The game ends with Marie asking what's next after dealing with Operation Kraken. Karl says that Paris still needs to be liberated and the war isn't over, then walks off.
• Anti-Infantry: Replacing the S-Mine and Trip Mines from previous games is the Schü-Mine, an anti-personnel mine that is designed to incapacitate enemy soldiers, rather than outright kill them. In the campaign mode, enemies triggering the device will be rendered unconscious instead of killed by the device's blast. In survival mode, the mines instead kill enemies outright.
• Anti-Vehicle:
  • The Panzerfaust once again returns as a usable weapon as shown in the reveal trailer, being used by Karl against a Tiger II Heavy Tank. In-game, it is now correctly depicted as being a single-shot disposable launcher, rather than one that can be reloaded.
  • The Tellermine from previous games returns, now with the option to be triggered solely by heavy objects such as vehicles or groups of people rather than a single person.
  • A new anti-tank weapon added to the game is the Panzerbüchse 39, a German anti-tank rifle.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Tanks and armored cars can be destroyed by shooting at their engine cover with armor-piercing rounds or explosives until it breaks off, then shooting up the engine.
• Aura Vision: By sitting down and concentrating, Karl can hear enemies moving around, and see their white outlines. Somehow, collectibles appear with yellow outlines.
• Auto-Save: It has three auto save slots, and saves every two or three minutes. You can also make manual saves when not in combat.
• Bayonet Ya: A new weapon attachment introduced in this game are bayonets. Not only do they allow for a faster melee attack when your rifle is drawn, they're able to get around the blocks of Jager Troops, who are normally immune to frontal melee attacks.
• Big Bad: SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Abelard Möller. He's the man responsible for Operation Kraken, a top secret German weapons project said to be able to turn the tide of war back in Germany's favor. In addition, he's also responsible for killing hundreds of civilians and French resistance fighters in a brutal campaign of slaughter in the French countryside.
• Big Fancy House:
  • "Occupied Manor" takes place in a large French Chateau that's been turned by the Germans into the headquarters of the Big Bad Möller. The location becomes relevant again during the epilogue mission "Loose Ends", where Karl must kill Möller just as he flees from his headquarters.
  • "Target Fuhrer: Wolf Mountain" takes place in the Berghof, Hitler's Alpine residence.
• Boom, Headshot!: The achievement "Brains of the Operation" requires the player to shoot Möller in the head.
• Capital Offensive: This is what Operation Kraken turns out to be: a joint German-Japanese sneak attack on Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston using V2s and stealth submarines.
• Canon Immigrant: Marie Chevalier from the Zombie Army games is introduced into the parent series as the main contact within the French Resistance. She's the first of the original characters from ZAT to appear in the parent series.
• Code Name: Charlie Barton, the SOE's main agent in France, goes by the codename of "Blue Viper" in order to help her evade Nazi forces.
• Continuity Nod: After Karl really starts going after Project Kraken, Möller realizes to his horror that the person who comes after him is the very same sniper who's the Desert Fox that ruined General Vahlen's Project Seuche in Africa and the Shadow that ruined General Böhm's Razor missile project, and now he and his Project Kraken are the next targets on the list.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Marie Chevalier is this to Sofia Di Rocco. Both are the female Rebel Leaders of their respective La Résistance factions, vehemently oppose the local Axis commander, initially distrust Fairburne, and ultimately help Karl kill the Big Bad and stop their Evil Plan. But while Sofia is ultimately a Faux Action Girl who gets most of her group killed including herself due to reckless and impulsive decision-making, Marie is a genuine Action Girl who competently leads her French Resistance cell while suffering fewer casualties who survives unscathed alongside most of her resistance cell. Also, Sofia, throughout 4's campaign, distrusted Fairburne, while Marie immediately comes to trust Fairburne thanks to Charlie Barton's assurance and Fairburne himself proving to be reliable.
• Cornered Rattlesnake: Fairburne says this trope word-for-word when describing Nazi Germany in 1944, who by this point are becoming desperate and unpredictable for anything that turn back the tide of the war in their favor.
• Covers Always Lie: The main art for this game shows Fairburne storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. That's doesn't happen as he instead arrives by glider. And technically doesn't even arrive on D-Day as the mission "Liberation" takes place on June 11th, five days after the landings.
• Dirty Coward: Möller is established to be one by the game's ending. Rather than come clean to the Fuhrer and the German High Command about Operation Kraken's failure, he decides to flee and lay low, at least until Karl kills him during his escape attempt.
• Drop Ship: "Liberation" has Karl Fairburne and a squad from the 5th Ranger Battalion drop into Normandy by glider.
• Elite Mooks: The Jäger Troops from Sniper Elite 4 return here, now with more variations. In addition to the standard Jägers and Support Jägers, there's now the Vampir Jägers, who use night-vision equipment on their weapons, the Jäger Officer, an elite version of the regular officer, the Elite Sniper, an elite version of the regular sniper wearing better camouflage and armed with silenced weapons, and the SS Jägers, who are the SS counterpart to the regular Jäger.
• Enemies List: Each level has an assassination target that is part of Karl's "Kill List". Killing them in specific ways gives Karl access to certain Axis weapons such as the STG 44 or Gewehr 43.
• Exact Words: Targets on your kill list have to be killed in specific ways to unlock new weapons. But they only have to be killed that way: thanks to the introduction of non-lethal takedowns, it's entirely possible to knock out a target with a chokehold or a wooden-wax bullet, carry their unconscious body under the only chandelier in the level, and then knock the chandelier down. They died from being crushed by the chandelier, after all: what happened to get them there is of no consequence.
• Foil: The French Resistance to the Allagra Partisans. Both are resistance groups established to fight against the Axis Forces occupying their countries, are led by a female Rebel Leader, and prove vital in helping Karl Fairburne and the Allies take down the latest Axis war plans. However, that's where the similarities end. The Allagra Partisans' main tactic is to launch open attacks against Axis positions, attracting their attention and forcing Karl to either use them as a distraction or help them. These tactics ultimately cause most of them including their leader Sofia to get killed when they fall for Bohm's false intelligence. The French Resistance, meanwhile, operate much more lowkey, performing quiet assassinations and scouting for vital intelligence. While they do end up getting hunted down like their Italian counterparts, they manage to remain one step ahead of their foes, and escape with minimal casualties. Ultimately, they survive largely intact, with Marie herself even aiding Fairburne directly in killing Möller.
• Foreshadowing: The Japanese, despite waging their own war on the other side of the globe, seem heavily involved with Operation Kraken. It's revealed the stealth U-boats that will launch V2 rockets at the American East Coast are in fact modified Japanese I-400 class subs, that were the largest class of submarines in the war.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: The final mission has Karl assassinate Möller just as he flees his headquarters, with small windows of opportunity to either snipe him or the staff car he's riding in.
• Glass Cannon: Karl is situationally a cannon (headshots, especially with the rifle, and sneak takedowns), but is always glass. Even on the lower difficulties, getting into a shootout with more than one enemy is very dangerous. Most of the missions require you to infiltrate enemy bases, so sniping from a safe distance is not always an option.
• Gun Accessories: Your weapons can now be customized at workbenches, with the ability to swap out scopes, stocks, barrels, or changing ammunition types.
• Guns Are Worthless: Downplayed: every gun can perform One Hit Kills, but the game rewards sneakiness, and suppressed pistols require headshots. In close quarters combat, it's usually a lot easier to just rush low-tier enemies and silently punch or stab them than to shoot them. Punching enemies also knocks them out, which offers more XP than killing them.
• The Handler: Charlie Barton, codenamed "Blue Viper", serves as the SOE's main liason with the French Resistance, namely by providing them with vital intel, training, weapons, and communication with the Americans and British.
• Hiding in Plain Sight: One clever way to play Invasion Mode is just dressed up as regular German soldier. Even though there's no camouflage to help you hide, by moving amidst the NPC enemies your American target often struggles to tell the sheep from the goat and combined with their paranoia and false expectations about an Invader relying on stealth rather than subterfuge, it can sometimes give you the edge you need.
• Hollywood Silencer:
  • Averted. All weapons, even when fitted with suppressors, will still produce enough noise to attract nearby enemies, depending on the loudness of the weapon in question and how far the enemy is from the player. One other effective solution to avoid attracting enemy attention is by instead equipping subsonic ammunition to weapons, which reduces the noise produced by the gun in exchange for less damage.
  • The Welrod, in contrast to previous depictions, is instead a downplayed version of this. Equipping regular ammunition to it will still cause enemies to investigate the area when the weapon is fired, albeit from a much smaller radius in comparison to other weapons. Again, fitting subsonic ammunition will have it come closer to playing this trope straight, at the cost of less damage done.
• Idyllic English Village: The level "Festung Guernsey" takes place on the island of the same name. Being a British island territory, several such villages and hamlets are scattered around the map, now occupied by German troops and surrounded by several German coastal defense batteries.
• Insurmountable Waist-High Fence: There are quite a few low walls in the game that can't be surmounted, despite looking similar to or identical to ones that can be.
• Interquel: Like Sniper Elite 4 before it, this game shows us what Karl Fairburne did after his missions in Italy and prior to his solo mission in Berlin.
• It's Raining Men: "Liberation" has both its opening cutscene as well as the start of the level itself depict Allied paratroopers jumping out of C-47 transport planes, as well as Waco CG-4 troop transport gliders being towed and launched. Karl himself is shown riding on one of the latter, alongside a squad of from the 5th Ranger Battalion.
• Jack of All Stats: The game lists the pros and cons of all available weapons. For the SREM starter rifle it just says "Pros: All rounder" with no cons. It's pretty good at everything, but best at nothing.
• Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Officers and elite units are immune to frontal takedowns if they're aware of your position unless you're using a weapon with a bayonet mod.
• La Résistance: Members of the French Resistance are featured prominently in the game's plot. Marie Chevalier, the leader of a Resistance cell based in Normandy, is one of Karl's most valuable allies in the game, with her providing Karl with transport, vital intelligence on German bases in France, and a number of useful allies in the form of her resistance members, albeit in a supporting role rather than a combat one.
• Lighter and Softer: In comparison to previous games in the series, Sniper Elite 5 has a much lighter storyline. For once, none of Karl Fairburne's significant allies die over the course of the story and the main Nazi officer who's Karl's primary target this time is much less threatening and spends most of the story cowering in fear that 'The Shadow' is coming after him.
• Never Trust a Title: The game does contain sniping, but you may find yourself doing a lot more stealth takedowns, depending on the nature of the mission and your personally preferred play style. The game also rewards you for knocking your enemies out instead of killing them. Non-lethal Stealth Takedown Elite 5 might be a more accurate title, but it would also be less cool.
• No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted. Invasion Mode allows players to play as a German soldier, enter another player's campaign mode while they're playing as the Allied sniper, and stop the latter from achieving their objectives by killing them.
• Non-Lethal K.O.: The game introduces the ability to silently knock-out any enemy instead of killing them. Wax-wooden bullets are available for firearms, and the Schü-mine is a new non-lethal deployable.
• No Scope: The player now has the option to remove the sniper scopes on some rifles entirely, relying solely on the rifle's original iron sights to shoot targets at long range. Notable examples include the SREM-1, Karabiner 98k, and the Gewehr 43.
• No Swastikas: Averted, in contrast to the previous entries in the series. Prominently featured in the trailers released and throughout the game are several Nazi German flags, documents, uniforms, and insignias adorned with Nazi swastikas.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Möller has one after almost every campaign mission, growing more intense with each setback Operation Kraken suffers. This culminates in his final Villainous Breakdown, where he blames everyone but himself and proceeds to flee into hiding, knowing full well Hitler will see him die screaming for his failure.
  • Many of the ways to kill Hitler involve a momentary one on his part, just before he dies. "Compliments of the Chef" and "Mind Expanding" are the two most egregious: the first has Hitler stare in slack-jawed shock at the bomb attached to his food before it blows him up, while the second shows him doing the same with a hollowed-out book containing C4.
• Outfit Decoy: Introduced in this game is a decoy made from a broomstick, a German Stahlhelm, and some firecrackers. As implied by its name, its intended to divert enemy attention away from the player and trick them into attacking or heading into the direction of the decoy instead.
• Point of No Return: In Rubble and Ruin, once you enter the Kraken pen through the sewers, you can't go back out; any missed collectibles will require restarting the level. The game helpfully warns you of this before you enter.
• Ranger: Members of the US 2nd Ranger Battalion are prominently featured in the opening level, operating alongside Karl Fairburne in sabotaging various German shore installations along the French coast. In the sixth level, members of the 5th Ranger Battalion make an appearance, with Fairburne dropping into Normandy alongside them via glider.
• Remember the New Guy?: Charlie Barton is introduced as an old friend of Karl's, them having apparently known each other since before the war. Justified, on account that Charlie herself was only operating in France ever since the start of the German Occupation, while Karl had been assigned to North Africa and then Italy beforehand. Their encounter with one another in the game indicates that it's been years since their last meeting.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the Spy Academy mission, within the spy academy itself, you can hear the Germans mentioning "three beers" and the proper hand signal for 'three' in the United States.
  • Invoked Trope with the "Landing Force" Downloadable Content campaign mission, which the developers themselves state is inspired by The Guns of Navarone.
  • To industrial music band Einstürzende Neubauten: In the factory mission, if you scan one of the engineers, you get the note "Ernst Neubauten: Posted to this factory for so long that the noise in it is starting to sound like a new kind of 'music' to him."
  • To The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: In the "Spy Academy" level, scanning one of the enemy infantry brings up the note "Lukas Steinhäusl: Has a terrible pain in all the nerves down his left side." Marvin the Paranoid Android has a terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side.
  • The very first mission "Atlantic Wall" has Karl quip "Happy trails, Hans," after dropping a German soldier off of a cliff during a stealth takedown.
• Shown Their Work: The mission "Liberation" is frequently considered Artistic License – History, as it shows a glider drop during the Normandy invasion, but is explicitly stated to occur on June 11th, rather than D-Day (June 6th). In reality, glider drops occurred for weeks after June 6th, as a quick way of getting men and equipment to the front after the initial beachhead was established. The fact that the map is set far away from the Normandy beaches is also historically accurate, as the Allies grinded forward away from Normandy over the course of several days.
• Sliding Scale of Collectible Tracking: "Individual Identification." The game tells you how many of each type of collectible are in each area (e.g. letters, intel, mementos). When you find one, a greyed-out silhouette on the list will turn into a picture of whatever you found.
• Sniper Scope Glint: Once again, enemy snipers are given away by the bright white glint of their scopes. When the player is spotted, a brief red flash, gray screen, and the white glint facing the player will indicate that the enemy sniper is already aiming and prepared to fire^note But NOT from player Jagers in Axis Invasion mode. In Invasion Mode and Multiplayer, player characters will also display white glints while aiming any scoped rifles in their possession, helping to warn others that they're at the risk of getting shot.
• Story Difficulty Setting: The lowest difficulty is Civilian, described as "a Very Easy way to play the game, for players who enjoy story and exploration over intense challenge."
• Straight for the Commander: In the reveal trailer, Karl mentions being tasked with killing several high-ranking Axis officers, all of them said to be involved with one Operation Kraken. In-game, this is reflected in the "Kill List" objectives, where many of the targets that Karl has to kill are high-ranking officers part of, or have some involvement in, Operation Kraken.
• Storming the Beaches:
  • "Atlantic Wall" has Karl Fairburne clearing out German coastal defenses to soften them up for the inevitable D-Day invasion, as well as to divert German attention away from the actual landing beaches. Fairburne himself begins the mission stealthily fighting his way inland, while clearing out German patrols.
  • The opening cutscene for "Liberation" depicts the D-Day invasion, with roughly half of the invasion force landing on their designated beaches while being covered by various warships offshore.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler:
  • "Secret Weapons" has the Germans conducting further advanced research on the already state-of-the-art V2 rocket (namely, getting it to launch from seaborne platforms like submarines, and getting the rocket's already-impressive range doubled). It's revealed in the following level that these modified rockets are to be loaded aboard modified Japanese I-400 class submarines, and then launched at Washington D.C., New York, and Boston.
  • "Festung Guernsey" shows that the Kriegsmarine is conducting further research on U-boats, specifically by making them practically invisible to Allied sonar and radar through the use of specialized "stealth" plating.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Available as a pickup on certain maps is a vial of poison, which can be added to the drinks or food of certain assassination targets. Those drinking the poisoned drinks fall within seconds, while Hitler's poisoned breakfast, should he consume it, will cause him to violently puke in the toilet before he drops dead into the toilet bowl.
• Tank Goodness: The reveal trailer shows a Tiger II Heavy tank being one of the new enemy units introduced. And like its real life counterpart, its massive, intimidating, and packs a lot of firepower and armor.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Jeff Sullivan gives one to Karl, calling him a "dangerous, insubordinate gloryhound" who will get everyone else killed in his quest to win the war single-handedly. Given that most of his men were killed just days prior thanks in part to Karl's faulty intel, he wasn't entirely in the wrong.
• Throw-Away Guns: You can no longer permanently swap your spawning weapons for enemy weapons. Instead, you can only hold onto them temporarily; if you swap weapons while holding a scavenged weapon, you will drop the scavenged weapon. You also can't reload them; once you empty the magazine, Karl will just discard it.
• Tontine: One of the enemies you can scan brings up the message "Daniel Redler: Has a tontine running with friends from school. Is quite confident he'll win it."
• Universal Ammunition: Every rifle in the game uses Rifle Ammunition, every submachine gun uses SMG Ammunition, every pistol uses Pistol Ammunition. Long story short: it was a lot more complicated than that in real life, but this is a game about sneaking and shooting, not about managing multiple ammo pools.
• Video Game Vista: The opening section of "Spy Academy" showcases just how massive and beautiful the island of Beaumont-Saint Denis is, which in this case covers 3/4th of the map.
• Villain of Another Story: Several Imperial Japanese Navy officers serve as antagonists and associates of Moller, with one Shinji Yoshikawa serving as part of Karl's "Kill List". The Japanese themselves are busy fighting a war over in the Pacific and China-Burma-India Theaters, only agreeing to lend the Germans their newest and most advanced submarines due to Operation Kraken having the potential to bring the United States out of the war.
• Villainous Breakdown: Almost every appearance by Möller is him freaking out as Karl uncovers and destroys Operation Kraken. His final intercepted transmission is him raging that he's going into hiding, as he doesn't want Hitler to hang him for his failure. It doesn't matter as Karl kills him before he can get away.
• War Comes Home: Invoked Trope with Operation Kraken, which is a planned attack on the mainland United States East Coast, specifically Washington D.C., Boston, and New York. In addition to a series of V2 rocket strikes launched from Japanese I-400 class submarines, a huge number of English-speaking Nazi spies being transported via German U-boats will be deployed to cause chaos and wreak havoc on the US mainland.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The game ends with Möller's assistant Vogel still on the loose, and Möller saying he's on his own to possibly face the wrath of Hitler. The Kraken Awakes DLC clears up this loose end. Upon discovering that he is attempting to finish Project Kraken, Karl tracks him down and kills him.

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