TheSniper Elitefranchise has risen in popularity among fans, primarily due to the wholly unique elements of gameplay that it provides, within what is otherwise a saturated genre of games. The World War 2-era shooter franchise offers a much more tactical gameplay experience, with the lone-wolf sniper focus necessitating calculated movements.
Undoubtedly, one of the most engaging elements of theSniper Elitefranchise is the fascinatingly gruesome killcams that are triggered by well-placed sniper shots. Being a feature ofSniper Elitefrom its very first iteration, the now iconic killcam feature has only further developed and evolved with every subsequent release.
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Sniper Elite
The killcam feature has been an alluring element withinSniper Elitetitles ever since its inception. Albeit in a way that now pails in comparison to more recent titles, 2005’sSniper Elitepossessed its own killcam system that was still impressive for the time, and that has helped see theSniper Elitefranchise produce some of the best sniping gamesever.
WithSniper Elitepredictably leading very heavily towards long-ranged engagement with enemy combatants,the development studio Rebellionhad to think of a way to reward players for precise shots, and thus the concept of killcams withinSniper Elitewere born. As renownedSniper Eliteprotagonist Karl Fairburne, players who successfully fired a headshot-bound bullet would trigger a cinematic cutscene. This would follow the bullet from the end of a player’s rifle all the way to their unsuspecting victim, providing a satisfying benefit to more refined marksmanship.
Sniper Elite V2
The second iteration of theSniper Elitefranchise and its killcams came in the form ofSniper Elite V2in 2012, releasing seven years after its predecessor. A plethora of changes came to the killcam ofSniper Elite V2in comparison to the first game, befitting of the sheer gulf in time that separates the two titles. Being a remake of the first game,Sniper Elite V2shares the same WW2 settingand general narrative.
Perhaps the most important change that came withSniper EliteV2’scomplete overhaul of the killcam system was the addition of a gruesome X-ray element to killcam-worthy shots. With killcams no longer being relegated only to headshots, any shot that is bound to penetrate any organs within an enemy sees a slow-motion and live-action X-ray of the lethal damage that a player is dealing, with bones and organs in the bullet’s path shattering and tearing in graphic fashion.V2’skillcams also saw the introduction of explosion killcams, following a bullet into the fuel cannisters of a tank, or the grenade belt of an enemy soldier. Killcam shots inV2can also travel through enemies for multi-kills, or bounce off of surfaces for ricochet kills.
Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 3came next in the franchise, releasing in 2014. Although not the same long period of time between its previous release likeSniper EliteV2,Sniper Elite 3still built upon the killcam system in a logical and necessary manner.
Sniper Elite 3,once again starring Karl Fairburne, but now set in the sunbaked frontier of Northern Africa during WW2, adds X-ray capabilities to many of the newer elements of the killcam system that were brought about bySniper Elite V2. The aforementioned vehicle explosion killcams were given their own X-ray imagery withSniper Elite 3, giving players insight to the combustion of fuel within a vehicle, or the damage dealt to a driver through exposed slits of tanks, for example.
New X-ray capabilities were also added to multikill killcams, with any subsequent victims of a multikill also receiving their own unique X-ray, instead of just the first target. Human-based X-rays in general saw improvements with this release, with more intricate detail being provided via the addition of visible muscles and arteries that bullets could interact with.
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Sniper Elite 4
With the release of 2017’sSniper Elite 4, the holistic nature of the killcam system was compounded and improved even further. Not only did more elements get added, but some killcam elements from previous games were even removed to make way for more engaging interactions and cinematics.
A welcome change toSniper Elite 4’skillcam system was the introduction of melee-based X-ray killcams. Not having the killcam system relegated to ranged shots not only provided a wider range of killcam possibilities and variation, but also does well to convey just how synonymous the franchise was starting to become in terms of the varied and graphic killcams that were on offer.
Sniper Elite 4also offered a variety of environmental kills within its campaigns, with the successful triggering of these hazards also getting their own killcam animations. Traps also received their own X-ray killcams, as well as shrapnel from explosives also triggering X-ray visuals. To make way for this slew of new content, all vehicle-related X-ray killcams were removed, apart from the shooting of a driver.
Sniper Elite 5
Sniper Elite 5is the upcoming latest installmentto the franchise, and promises to bring more upgrades to the killcam system. While the exact extent of new additions are not yet known, there are many elements toSniper Elite 5’skillcam system that have already been revealed.
Promising to be “more realistic and grisly than ever,” the fresh killcam systemforSniper Elite 5will see bullets deflect off of bones during an X-ray, opening up unpredictable paths of bullet travel within the body. In addition to this, it is known that both SMGs and pistols will have their own unique killcam animations withinSniper Elite 5, widening the killcam variation even further within theSniper Elitefranchise.
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