Standing atop a surfaced submarine floating off the French shoreline on the eve of D-Day, newcomers toSniper Elite 5quickly learn the draw of the series. Marksman Karl Fairburne lines up the perfect shot on a German searchlight operator and watches inx-ray-assisted detailas the round destroys its target. After coming ashore, the player picks their way through patrols and enemy snipers for a bit of sabotage on a long-range radar threatening the Allies’ invasion.
It’s a formula that has made theSniper Eliteseries well known, not only as a Nazi-killing simulator, but also a cover-based tactical shooter that requires players to scout out an encounter and execute a plan - or improvise when said plan falls apart. Game Rant spoke to design head Jordan Woodward about how Rebellion Games aimed to shake things up for the series' fifth installment with a new game mode and a new dimension of peril for would-be marksmen. Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Q: Let’s start with a broad discussion ofSE5. For our readers, can you tell me a littlebit about the game’s plot, key gameplay elements, and new innovations?
A:Sniper Elite 5takes place in the events around D-Day in France in 1944. You reprise the role of the game’s hero, Karl Fairburne. Karl isan elite marksmanwho is part of a covert U.S. Rangers operation to weaken the Atlantikwall fortifications along the coast of Brittany. There he makes contact with French Resistance, and they begin to uncover a secret Nazi plot that threatens to turn the tide of the war back in the Nazi’s favor: Operation Kraken. It is down to Karl to reveal exactly what the Axis forces are planning and end Operation Kraken, and the mastermind behind it, Abelard Moller, before it can be launched.
We describe the game as a tactical sniping experience where you have to observe, plan and execute in order to fulfill your mission. There are eight expansive missions in the campaign and each of them is open-ended, allowing the players to approach the objective in the best way they see fit. There are alsoa host of side missions, collectibles and kill list targets, which are completely optional but will help to flesh out the story for those players who want to explore more.
Obviously, being a game based around sniping, the gunplay is at the core of the experience and players will have to consider all kinds of factors before taking their vital shot, including bullet drop, the wind, ammunition type and audible distance.
We try to ensure that we are as authentic as possible and this extends to everything in the game from uniforms, vehicles, scenery and, of course, the weapons. ForSniper Elite 5we have vastly increased therange of weapon customization optionsavailable to the player when it comes to their loadout. As you play through the maps you’re able to discover Workbenches - each map has three - which not only allow you to alter your loadout mid-mission but also unlock new items and attachments for your weapons. There are millions of permutations available, and this means that the player can experiment and find a suite of weapons that best matches their playstyle and the mission at hand.
Q: Operation Overlord, in France, is a new setting for theSE5series, which has takenKarl to Berlin, Italy, and North Africa.SE5also has some gameplay set in theChannel Isles. How did the dev team approach the environment to create a believable game world?
We made the decision to take the series to France quite early on in the game design process, so we had plenty of time to plan what we wanted to see in the game. Once we were set on France, we undertook a number of research trips to various locations to get a real feel for them and gather tens of thousands of images and videos that would help to bring the game world to life. Thepandemic limited our abilityto travel later in the project, but thankfully we had already undertaken the brunt of the work.
The game has moved to a photogrammetry system for creating the in-game assets, so these reference images were incredibly important and help to create a greater feel of authenticity. We wantedevery location to scream Franceand be as realistic as possible, and hopefully, we have achieved that.
We took photogrammetry references of pretty much everything from different types of grasses, walls and small objects, all the way up to huge tanks and heavy weaponry. It was a huge undertaking, but the results are worth it.
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Q: Even though theSniper Eliteseries is semi-linear in structure, player choice hasbeen pretty central to the game’s design. How has Rebellion refined that inSE5?
A: The last game in the series was our firstreal sandbox-style gameand we learned a lot from the process of making it, studying the data of how people were playing and monitoring feedback from our fans and community.
Wherever possible we want to offer the player choice. We want them to be able to decide what side missions they take on, the routes they will take through the map, whether they are stealthy or ‘go loud’ and everything in between.
The maps forSniper Elite 5are the biggest we have created so far and there is so much to do in each of them. There are more vehicles for you to avoid, all with improved AI, moreheavy weaponry that you could faceand a new traversal system that unlocks even more possibilities for the player. You can now climb up vines to access new areas of the map which may help you to avoid guard posts or find items that have been hidden within the level.
The more youexplore the map, the more information and intelligence you will gather that will enable you to play in even more ways and be even more stealthy in your approach or perhaps find the heavy weapons you will need to ‘go loud’.
Q:SE5introduces Invasion mode, which allows players to enter other users’campaigns and set them back. How does that new feature affectSE5’soverall gameplay?
A: Invasion Mode is something we have been toying with for some time and it has proven to be a real game-changer forSniper Elite. The moment you get the notification that an invader has joined your game the tension ramps up and this has a tangible effecton your playstyleand how you approach your objectives.
It becomes ahigh-stakes game of cat and mousebecause, no matter how clever and advanced your AI is, it is never going to react like another human being, full of their own eccentricities, tactics and even errors.
In play testing, we had one session where one of the team, playing as the invader,pretended to be one of the AI. He was moving very deliberately rather than how the average human player acts. This led his opponent to attempt to sneak by rather than choosing to engage, allowing the invader an easy kill. We are seeing so many of these instances now the game is out and we are getting some great feedback.
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Q: Some other games, such asDeathloop, use a similar feature. Did Rebelliontake any notes from those titles while developing Invasion?
A: We play a lot of games andtake inspiration from everywhereincluding film and TV.
Q: When people think of modern shooters, the tactical, methodical gameplay ofSE5doesn’t necessarily come to mind before more fast-paced titles likeCall of Duty.Do you feel thatSE5occupies a bit of a niche in that regard? Would you like tosee the market change a bit to accommodate tactical cover-based shooters?
A: I would say that theSniper Eliteseries sits within that“tactical” niche of shooters, and we are very comfortable there. There are a lot of amazing shooters out on the market which offer different and varied gameplay experiences.
As I have said previously, we want to offer the player choice. Choice about their playstyle, the weapons they choose, which side missions they undertake, the routes they take through the level and much, much more.
We have concentrated on making the bestSniper Elitegame possible, playing to our strengths and the strengths of the series. Hopefully, we have achieved that.
Q: Let’s talk development a bit. SE5 was first announced in 2019 but didn’t get areveal until 2021. What effects did the COVID-19 pandemic have on the devprocess? What challenges did Rebellion face, and how did you overcome them?
A: The pandemic hit in the middle of development so, just like everyone else, we had to adapt to a new way of working. We were no longer in the studio as a big team butworking from homefor a good chunk of the project, which presents its own challenges and complications. One of the main areas of change was that we had to severely limit our travel, meaning that we could no longer undertake all of the reference trips that we would have ideally liked and also it made promoting the game very different, as everything was done online, rather than in person.
However, the team really delivered, and we are extremely proud ofSniper Elite 5, especially considering the circumstances.
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Q: Given that, did you have to make any cuts to content? What, if anything, got left out?
A: The game is constantly being scoped and changedthroughout the development cycleso there are always changes to the features as you go but I do not think there is anything major that was left out. We always want to add more and still have lots of ideas and plans for the future.
Q:SE5has been out for just a couple of weeks. How has public reception been? Are you happy with sales and feedback?
A: Overall, the reception has been fantastic, and we are delighted to see so many people playing and enjoying the game. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. We are still hard at workon title updatesto address feedback from the community and will continue to push.
Q: What sort of expansions or DLC content is planned forSE5?
A: The Kill Fuhrer “Wolf Mountain” mission is already available, and we have announced the roadmap for Season One which will includefour DLC dropsincluding a variety of extra missions, two in total, as well as weapon and character packs. We also have some free DLC planned. Expect more details soon.
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Q: There are only so many fronts of WWII that Karl can visit. What’s next forSE5? AnEastern Front installment? Something in the post-war period? Maybe a WWIprequel? I would love to hear some of the ideas being kicked around at Rebellion.
A: We have a lot of ideas about the future of the series, but it is far too early to start speculating or revealing anything just yet. At the moment we are focused onSniper Elite 5.
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Sniper Elite 5is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
