Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3

Quotation forthcoming.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is not realistic like ARMA III, but if you're looking for a first-person shooter with a tactical soul and an open-world setting, you’ll be satisfied.

The production value isn’t as high as I’d hoped, but the game knows what it is and every mechanic and feature works together in tandem. A supreme variety in level and mission design paired with thoughtful stealth gameplay makes this a strong entry into the shooter genre, even if the overarching narrative isn’t all that interesting.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a bit of a mess technically, and the open-world aspects aren’t fleshed out or particularly necessary but, and it’s a big but, if you can get past that, there’s a satisfying and tactical shooter here that sniping fans can really enjoy.

Sniper Ghost Warrior goes open world, and if the result shows a lack of budget, CI Games isn't Ubisoft or Rockstar. Still a good sniping game for players who have beaten Sniper Elite 4.

If you enjoy open world stealth games, this one will satisfy your needs. It's not an actual sandbox, but it offers a certain degree of freedom that makes it very interesting and rewarding.

Quotation forthcoming.

While it might be backhanded praise, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is undoubtedly the finest entry in the series to date and while that might not mean a whole lot to the unfamiliar, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 shares enough commonality with key elements of both Sniper Elite IV and Ghost Recon Wildlands that it stands as an easy recommendation for fans of either.

In Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 there are not one but three approaches to complete the stealth missions of sniper Jon North. But despite the nice gameplay design, the poor narrative and technical realization are still blocking the title from reaching excellence.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a good experiment by CI Games, to set his famous brand in an open-world structure. Gameplay and the managing of the items are good, but the AI makes the experience less than it could be. Instead, the map is pretty good and the variety of the quests too, mixed with some problems about texture that put the graphical level in a medium category. Suggested for those who love snipes games and the brand.

A solid effort from CI Games, Ghost Warrior 3 is a series-best, but hamstrung by long load times and a dull story.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 could have been a great war sandbox, in which you enjoy every step of your attacks: planning, studying your enemy and especially taking the shots. But it´s many technical failures spoil the experience.

Other than the technical issues, SGW3 is probably exactly what you expected and even hoped for — a AA modern military shooter with a focus on sniping that evolves the franchise into open world. If you can wait for additional patching or don’t mind some of the stout bugs, SGW3 offers an enjoyable experience.

A game that was trying to reach an AAA level, but fails on delivering it due its own faults: being too repetitive, having a dumb AI, not having any multiplayer option... It's fun for a while, but that's it.

While Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 may be the ultimate modern sniping experience, it also offers a clear sign that sniping games may soon go the way of flight simulators, in that it’s only possible to make engaging ones set before technology makes the human factor obsolete. One unlockable in the arsenal are ‘DARPA bullets’, which are prototype in-flight auto-correcting projectiles — and yes, they’re real. Simply point a laser at a target and the bullet strikes it dead-on, every time. The player isn’t forced to use these bullets, of course, but as technology barrels forward, the concept of a man in a ghillie suit crawling through brush with a rifle strapped to his back is going to feel anachronistic, and will likely survive only as nostalgic looks back at the history of violence.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a game that just wasn't ready to be released. I believe there is a near future when you're going to find this one in the bargain bin or on a deep discount in a digital sale, after the numerous bugs have been patched and that multiplayer is added in, and then there will be an opportunity to enjoy a solid experience. This is not a AAA FPS but it does deliver some good moments when it works, has very good gameplay mechanics working for it, finds that balance between open world and engaging set pieces, and is presented through an interesting environment. However, the single player plot remains atrocious, there is no multiplayer, and in it's current beta state it's just not yet worth it.

I did not expect to enjoy Ghost Warrior 3 as much as I did. In terms of relatability, an American military sniper is up there for me with Bill Murray’s Garfield and Zac Efron in pretty much everything he’s ever done. The game is let down by weak graphics and a hackneyed story, but redeemed through solid, satisfying and diverse mission gameplay. Several times pulling off a perfectly executed stealth raid reminded me of the stealth challenges in the Batman: Arkham series, which is high praise. Putting aside my moral biases, I actually really enjoyed exploding some racists heads. Hoo-rah. Is it hoo-rah? Am I doing it right?

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a compendium of poorly executed good intentions, and although it could teach a few things to AAA developers in terms of design and variety of levels, lack of quality in key aspects of development plays against it.

Quotation forthcoming.

The one thing we can honestly say about Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is that is a missed opportunity. And it's a shame, because the huge amount of bugs and the insane checkpoint system ruin an otherwise good tactical shooter. Hopefully, CI Games will fix most of its problems in the near future.

You need to sit patiently and wait for the perfect opportunity. Only mark this as a serious target after much time, patching, and price drops. [July 2017, p77]

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 has the potential to be a solid B-tier title. Most of the good trappings of open-world games are here, and the sniping mechanics are as solid as ever. The missions provide some great variety since you can take different approaches, and the crafting and different weapons are nice to have, even if you never use more than your default set. However, the presentation isn't up to par. Some of the mechanics are finicky, like shooting and tagging, and the AI can waffle between being superhuman and dim. More importantly, the load times immediately sap any fun that could be had from the title. A few of these things can be fixed with a patch, but until they're addressed, it's best to approach GW3 on consoles with caution.

By the end of my time with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, I was left very much disappointed. Not because of the poor story and acting, but because of the technical issues that kept the game from being anything more than mediocre. It’s a shame too; it’s a good – if not amazing – looking game, with some really fun mechanics. With either a little bit more time and/or money, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 could have been a sleeper hit. In its current state, it’s simply a sleeper miss.

A quite decent sniping and stealth game is hidden behind the completely needless open world approach, the extremely long loading times and the atrocious story.

The relatively unique Georgian setting and the brewing civil war are all but set aside for a by the numbers story of revenge and betrayal, while Jon isn’t a very likeable protagonist. The various bugs and crashes also need to be addressed in future patches, as they can ruin the experience. Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 has the sniping down to a tee, which should be expected with the number of years CI has been working on the series, but the surrounding package could be better.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a pretty generic FPS with a boring and empty open world setting.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is by no means a great game, though its value is raised by short and varied missions, fun action elements, and an ability to make me feel like a legit action hero. Regardless of how much it borrows from other games, I can’t deny that I had a good time blowing through missions and enemy troops. However, the poor graphics and technical issues like long loading times and crashes occasionally ruined the fun. And, minus any sort of multiplayer, there’s not a lot of reason to go back.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a monster of a game. As in, it's been stitched together from parts of different games. There are some truly horrendous parts and some really cool - you just have to be patient and find them. The developers wanted a AAA title and the scope is there, but it's covered by tons of issues and a really lame story.

At its core, Ghost Warrior 3 is easily enjoyable but its issues just as easily breaks the experience.

There's plenty of fun to be squeezed out of this despite numerous technical missteps, but unduly complacent, overly familiar mission design holds it back. [July 2016, p.82]

This game feels a little bit like it belongs on PS3, with its familiar formula, terrible dialogue, dudebro characters, bafflingly ugly cutscenes and cookie-cutter assets...There's a pretty good game hidden somewhere in here, but you'll have to look quite hard at times. [Issue#188, p.78]

Like a fleeting target ducking in and out of the crosshairs, much of the fun in Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is obscured by off-putting technical faults and uninspired gameplay.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is better than its predecessors, but it still has tons of flaws. The game freezes often and the loading times are far too long. It makes the game frustrating to play while it could have been a decent sniping game.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is exactly like it's predecessors. Sniping is excellent and apparently there is a big enough group of gamers that enjoy the games just for this, but we feel Ghost Warrior 3 is simply poor.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is, plain and simple, an unfinished game. Unbelievable, unbearable loading times that do not diminish the wait if you fast-travel or respawn, constant freezing, bugs that block all your weapons and force you to start from scratch, questionable visuals... Such a shame, because underneath all that rubble, lies something that shines slightly. But, as for today, you can't play without constant frustration.

Ghost Warrior 3 has been touted as an open-world game, but aside from some snowy areas, pretty much all the environments are identical in appearance—and filled to the brim with near-pointless and repetitive side objectives.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like a B-tier, budget-priced game. Even the predictable, profanity-laden story is reminiscent of the type of gritty B-movies Steven Seagal is known for. There's certainly merit to its accomplished sniping mechanics, especially when missions hone in on the planning and precise execution that makes playing as a sharpshooter so thrilling. Yet it falters whenever it veers away from its strengths, and the plethora of nagging glitches and technical problems are a persistent nuisance that make Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 difficult to recommend.

For all the temporal distractions, the near-mandatory attitude and dictation its open-World formula ends up presenting may end up dealing a blow to Sniper Ghost Warrior 3‘s small and hidden joys of explorative distraction. But the heaviest of blows will no doubt come from its near-constant technical issues that are varied in scale but frustratingly, persistently present throughout.

Despite still being mired with an unhealthy assortment of technical hiccups and a paper thin narrative that feels like a rejected Call of Duty plot line, there is still fun to be mined out of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 but it's entirely dependent on an individual's tolerance of the occasional glitch. Sure, it could have done with a lot more time in the oven, and even after a number of sizeable patches its litany of issues still make it a fairly tough recommendation, so it would be remiss not to slap a 'Buyer Beware' sticker on it. At its core, the sniping itself can be pretty satisfying, and Georgia makes for an interesting, if sparse, playground but, ultimately, this isn't really enough to carry the game over the constant threat of unexpected setbacks and, as such, it's unlikely to win over non-fans of the series when there are much slicker alternatives available.

Sniping in Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 works like a charm, but the rest of the game is a let-down. On the content side and the technical side Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is simply not worth your time.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is not a terrible game. It is, however, hopelessly dull, shoddily put together, and lacking any distinguishing features to make a case for itself over its contemporaries. All would-be snipers are encouraged to set their cross-hairs on other, much better titles.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 offers some of the most satisfying sniping you can imagine, but everything outside of that just feels too drab and lacklustre to truly make it standout.

During an opening splash screen, an ethereal voiceover tells you that Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 was "Achieved with Cry-Engine". However, while playing the game, we failed to realise at all what was achieved. Some moderately entertaining combat aside, the release takes too liberally from other, better titles. Technical issues are the final nail in the coffin, making it interesting to see a game aim so low, yet still manage to miss its mark entirely.

Granting players the freedom to decide how to take on missions and utilize the excellent sniping mechanic however they like is an idea that the Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 series required to improve on the underwhelming first two entries. However, since everything else, from the characters to the open world itself, lack polish, depth, and quality – on top of the game being riddled with technical problems – Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is far more dull and frustrating than it is ever enjoyable.

In the end, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like an amalgamation of gameplay elements that were thrown together simply to check some boxes.

It's a sloppy, uninspired game at its best. At its worst, it's -- to quote Jonathan North -- "one fu.king long exercise in triage."

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like the equivalent of a straight-to-video movie, and one of the really bad ones that don’t even have any washed-up actors you’ve sort of heard of. Instead it’s just a cheaply-made, unwanted sequel to a franchise that should have never got past the first one. And yet somehow it’s still the best the series has ever been.