Sniper Elite: Resistance is the latest installment to Rebellion’s Sniper Elite series, set in parallel with Sniper Elite 5. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Disclaimer: The following game, and subsequently this review, contains depictions of realistic gore, criminal behavior, death, corpses, and bloody scenes. If you find the aforementioned themes triggering, please continue with your own discretion, or feel free to check out our other reviews instead.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Review Overview

What is Sniper Elite: Resistance?

Sniper Elite: Resistance, developed and published by Rebellion, is the latest entry in the acclaimed tactical shooter series renowned for its detailed X-ray killcam mechanics. Announced in August 2024 and set for release on January 30, 2025, the game follows Harry Hawker in a storyline parallel to Sniper Elite 5. Its gameplay emphasizes the immersive experience of a special operations sniper, featuring stealth, tactical engagements, infiltrations, and extractions.

Sniper Elite: Resistance features:
　⚫︎　Tactical Sniping and Stealth Mechanics
　⚫︎　Weapon Customization and Upgrades
　⚫︎　New Campaign Set in Occupied France
　⚫︎　Authentic WWII Weapons and Ammo Types
　⚫︎　16-Player Competitive Multiplayer
　⚫︎　4-Player Survival Mode

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Sniper Elite: Resistance's gameplay and story.

Digital Storefronts
Steam	Epic Store	PlayStation Store	Microsoft Store
$49.99		$59.99

Sniper Elite: Resistance Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
More X-Ray Shenanigans I Love Invasion Mode	Immersion-Breaking Voice Lines Chokes and Dies Looking at Grass I Hate Invasion Mode Enemy AI Lacks the I It’s Just Sniper Elite 5

Sniper Elite: Resistance Overall Score - 66/100

Sniper Elite: Resistance offers refined gameplay and the franchise’s signature X-ray kill cam, but it does little to set itself apart from its predecessors, feeling more like a DLC for Sniper Elite 5. While the visuals are realistic and the gameplay provides replayability through player freedom, the audio design and predictable, uninspired story leave much to be desired. Its lack of originality and minimal improvements also make it difficult to justify as a standalone title.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Story - 5/10

The fateful D-Day is approaching—a pivotal moment widely regarded as the turning point of the Second World War. However, the Nazis have developed a secret superweapon capable of thwarting the Allies’ plans. It’s up to you and your Resistance allies to sabotage the Axis powers and secure victory.

Cliché, overdone, predictable, and lacking any real soul, with a painfully one-dimensional and annoying protagonist to boot.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Gameplay - 8/10

It’s difficult to deduct major points from Sniper Elite: Resistance’s gameplay. Rebellion has refined the franchise’s mechanics to perfection, regardless of the chosen difficulty setting. However, they arguably achieved this refinement two games ago with Sniper Elite 4. In other words, Sniper Elite: Resistance does little to distinguish itself from its predecessors, aside from lacking a number in its title.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Visuals - 7/10

Sniper Elite: Resistance looks like what you’d expect from a game priced at fifty to sixty dollars (at least with its Standard Edition); it looks realistic, the lighting works as intended, and grass still looks scary for introverts to touch. But while the franchise’s signature slow-motion X-ray kill cam retains its high entertainment value, the visuals’ lack of personality makes the game feel stale.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Audio - 6/10

In a game focused on stealth, directional audio plays a crucial role in the experience. Unfortunately, the way Sniper Elite: Resistance handles audio is unhelpful for players. But not only does its stereo sound design do little to pinpoint threats effectively, the immersion is also often broken by awkward voice lines that feel out of place in player-driven scenarios. The sound effects themselves are standard and uninspired, too.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Value for Money - 6/10

Make no mistake—this game is essentially a DLC for Sniper Elite 5 being marketed as a full, standalone title. It even shares UI elements and an entire feature list with its predecessor, making it nearly indistinguishable. Nevertheless, it still earns a decent score as a solid Sniper Elite game in a vacuum, with absurd replayability owing to the freedom it offers in tackling each challenge.

Sniper Elite: Resistance Review: Mind-Blowing It Isn't

Despite being absolutely terrible with them, sniper rifles are always my favorite sort of weapon in any shooter. They’re cool, hit like a supersonic truck, are unwieldy as hell, and the best of them tend to use hilariously overcomplicated ammunition, like the Steyr IWS 2000’s APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot) cartridges—it looks like a dart, if you’re interested in knowing.

While the sniper rifles of yore rarely had the latter quirk that made me fall in love with them, they still fulfill the first three perks well—especially the second one.

That’s mostly the reason why I was hooked on the Sniper Elite franchise since V2. I loved how they depicted ballistic injuries caused by bullets. I also adored the gritty experience of having to carefully consider my every move.

In a nutshell, the Sniper Elite franchise is a series of military shooters that focus on the experience and satisfaction of solo covert missions. Unlike other military shooters that throw resources in your direction like they’re in a fire sale, ammunition, grenades, first-aid kits, and other materials are few and far between in a typical Sniper Elite campaign. Hence, you are often forced to resort to stealth and long-range precision shots to save resources and accomplish your mission.

Killshot Satisfaction Guaranteed

Ah, yes. The slow-motion X-ray kill cam—arguably the feature that singlehandedly made Sniper Elite so popular. Legendary for its absolutely gruesome and detailed depictions of ballistic injuries, the X-ray kill cam is back with just as much viscerality as ever.

For the unaware, the X-ray kill cam is essentially a visual representation of every agonizing moment of your enemy’s demise as a bullet bulldozes its way through their insides, complete with bones shattering, organs rupturing, and their entire bodies ragdolling from the trauma.

It’s the kind of satisfaction offered by the Sniper Elite franchise that no mere blood spray or sound effect in other titles can replicate.

And, yes, you can still shoot the nuts off your enemies—the most terrifying way to die.

Invasion Mode is Still as Fun and Infuriating as Ever

You know how some Soulslike games have this really annoying feature that allows players to enter your game as a hostile to fight you? Yeah, this game has it too—and it’s not even a Soulslike.

Introduced in Sniper Elite 5, Invasion Mode adds an entirely new dimension to another player’s gameplay by engaging in a 1v1 with them… while they’re playing the Campaign Mode. Yes, this is essentially what it’s like to be invaded by Dark Spirits in Dark Souls, but Sniper Elite’s entirely different genre makes this experience so much more exhilarating—and annoying.

See, unless you’re a Rambo enthusiast, the entire franchise basically forces you to lower your head and avoid confrontation as much as possible. In other words, the Sniper Elite series is a stealth game that just so happens to be playable by ordinary, trigger-happy folk. That said, if you play the game as it was meant to be played, keeping a low profile is essential to your survival—especially if you find yourself surrounded by enemies as you infiltrate.

But what happens when you’re invaded? The enemy player obviously knows you exist, unlike the AI that’s programmed to pretend you don’t unless you make a peep. Well, that means you now have to take a disadvantaged fight because the stakes are much higher for you than they are for the invader. Not only do you have to worry about your own campaign progress and alerting your enemies, but you now also have to worry about getting into fights with a stranger who would not hesitate to use the noisiest, most powerful weapon they have against you.

That’s not fair. But that’s why it’s so fun.

Smells Like Performance Issues

As someone who doesn’t use their RTX 4070 rig regularly and instead has a GTX 1070 setup as my daily driver, I’m not typically one to complain about lag. However, I did run this game on the former, expecting a buttery-smooth experience of shooting the nuts off my enemies. What I instead got was the game choking to death every so often for reasons unknown to medical science or otherwise.

The game crashed at one point, too.

Now, these might not be issues with models or textures loading. Maybe the game just doesn’t handle being recorded well. I remember my favorite horror game of 2024, Kinki Spiritual Affairs Bureau, spasming like a stroke victim due to loading textures and text files from all corners of the globe. But that’s an indie title; Sniper Elite is from a reputable developer with decades of experience. So why does it choke and die every so often?

Not only that, but the enemy AI also feels like they’ve had the Intelligence part of their acronym nerfed, forcing them to butt heads with brick walls, experience bouts of partial blindness when you’re literally right next to them, and sometimes enter a state of alert spontaneously, without reason.

It’s Like a Full-Priced Sniper Elite 5 DLC

When the game’s description said that this game "runs parallel with Sniper Elite 5," I was not expecting them to mean it’s almost the same game. At no point did I feel like I was playing a new Sniper Elite title. Aside from the UI differences, basically everything was similar to its predecessor.

Like, come on; even the UI for loadout customization is a copy-paste from Sniper Elite 5. If this was half the price, I wouldn’t complain. But it’s being sold as a full game, and for what? New PvP servers and a bunch of lame pre-order bonuses?

Is Sniper Elite: Resistance Worth It?

Only If You’re Desperate For What it Offers

Considering its flaws (and mostly its flaws), it’s difficult to justify getting Sniper Elite: Resistance, even if you’re a fan of the series. The game can effectively be experienced by purchasing either of the developer’s last two titles—or for free if you already own them. But if you do decide to get it, either wait for a sale or, at the very least, just grab the Standard Edition. The Deluxe Edition isn’t worth the extra $20 at all (and honestly, neither is the base game at anything above $30).

Digital Storefronts
Steam	Epic Store	PlayStation Store	Microsoft Store
$49.99		$59.99

Sniper Elite: Resistance FAQ

Is there co-op in Sniper Elite: Resistance?

Sniper Elite: Resistance has a 4-player survival mode and a 16-player PvP mode.

Is Sniper Elite: Resistance on Game Pass?

Yes, Sniper Elite: Resistance will be available on the Game Pass at day one.

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Sniper Elite: Resistance Product Information

Title	Sniper Elite: Resistance
Release Date	January 30, 2025
Developer	Rebellion Developments
Publisher	Rebellion Developments
Supported Platforms	PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre	Shooter, Simulation
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	M
Official Website	Sniper Elite: Resistance Website

Alfonso Majarucon

Writer of things from game, anime and manga reviews to news and webnovels. Hopelessly addicted to story-driven games, especially cross-platform ones. Favorite games include Punishing Gray Raven, Arknights, Limbus Company, Elden Ring, Touhou, Soul Nomad and the Disgaea series (except 3 and 6). Avid..