Review: Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition For Nintendo Switch

Developed & Published by: Rebellion

Price: $39.99

There’s no game like a Sniper Elite game. Coming off the smashing success of Sniper Elite V2, Sniper Elite III made its debut on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in 2014. Sniper Elite III put players into the unforgiving environments of North Africa, where the Nazi army thunders across the desert with their armada of tanks and heavy weaponry. As a special OSS agent, Karl is tasked with a special one-man mission to eliminate Nazi targets through sabotage, demolition, and elimination. The game was critically praised for its fundamental improvements from its predecessor, from the level designs to the combat. Sniper Elite III would see a re-release in the form of Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition for PS4 and Xbox One, folding in all patches and DLC into one package. Now, Rebellion game studio has worked its engineering wonder into porting Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition into the Nintendo Switch. It’s a daunting task, but the end result is one of the best ports for the Nintendo Switch, and one of the best action games for the system.

The year is 1943. The allies engage in a deadly, blazing land war with the Nazis in North Africa. The Nazi army launches large, open battle with its deadly arsenal of tanks, including the dreaded Panzer. Intelligence reports deep behind enemy lines suggest a top-secret weapon being constructed, deep within the Sahara. Karl, a battle-hardened sniper, and OSS agent is deployed on this most dangerous mission to destroy this top-secret weapon. As Karl treks across open battlefields, he will find a means to disrupt and defeat the Nazi War machine, all through a sniper scope.

Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition is a stealth-action third-person shooter. Players fight the enemy through long-distance sniping combat, accompanied by special utilities and tactics. Through a long, varied campaign, players dispatch Nazi soldiers, eliminate special weapons, retrieve intelligence, and eliminate high-ranking enemy personnel. Players are introduced to the various stealth-action mechanics of Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition, which emphasizes the mechanics of sniping. Players factor in gravity, wind, angle, noise, and the direction before they ever pull the trigger. In addition to sniping, Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition also introduces close-range combat, stealth combat, and using traps to protect the player.

Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition achieves the accomplishment of being one of the very best ports of the Nintendo Switch. From its visual presentation to its load times and overall presentation, the game doesn’t skip a beat, even on the Switch. Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition looks great on both the small screen and big screen, with sharp textures, eye-popping detail, and strong atmospheric effects. The hallmark visual cue, the X-Ray camera returns, and the eliminations still appear as gory and devastating as ever. The framerate, in particular, never drops and the load times are on par with the PlayStation 4 version, which I also own. It’s a truly remarkable port, and I would rank Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition as being on par with the Nintendo Switch port of The Witcher III: Complete Edition.

The true difference of the port of Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition would have to be the controls, which will take a small degree of getting used. For me personally, I am used to playing the Sniper Elite games on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The design of the Dualshock controller, along with the overall feedback on those systems, is tweaked just right for playing any Sniper Elite. As expected, the joy-con controls on Nintendo Switch are significantly different, and after some time playing I came up with some interesting Feedback. I initially had a small degree of difficulty accessing the weapon wheel and staring down the scopes. The button placements were very similar to the DualShock, but I noted that the overall feeling of movement and aiming felt different. This is most especially true as I attempted to access the weapon wheel. I found myself accidentally discharging my weapon or fiddling with accessing the weapon wheel. However, by the beginning of the very first mission, I slowly got used to the controls, and by the time the first mission concluded, it felt very much like I was playing on the PlayStation 4 again.

The classic gameplay that Sniper Elite is known for is still retained for Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition on the Nintendo Switch. Sneaking around encampments in the desert and eliminating personnel with well-placed shot and traps is still an absolute thrill. Players are invited to he learn mechanics, and once they are honed, a large set of possibilities opens up a number of shooting scenarios can open up, including using the sounds of an airplane to mask a gunshot to destroy a tank and eliminate multiple soldiers at once. It's an extremely rewarding mechanic and one that even half a decade old, never gets old.

Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition takes the entire Sniper Elite III experience, including all DLC, and folds it into one complete package. Beyond the main campaign, which can last well over 20 hours, there is a bevy of multiplayer modes and DLC missions, such as Eliminate the Furhrer, and a mission to rescue Winston Churchill. There is plenty to sink into with Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition, making it an excellent value for the dollar.

Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition continues to reign as the undisputed champion of sniper action, but also remains one of the very best stealth-action video games on the market. Its action is top-notch and the presentation is sharp. The controls do take getting used to, but are not obstacles to the action. Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition is an excellent choice for action fans, and the only way you can enjoy top-notch sniping combat on the go.