Difficult Simple

I have a metric ton of PS2 and Xbox games that remain either unplayed or unfinished. Recent reviews of Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II are the byproduct of my attempt to methodically proceed through these games, finishing them definitively one by one. Right now my project is Sniper Elite.

I have a tortured history with this game. First there was the hassle of just finding it, as it’s a fairly obscure title from the UK developer that also made the excellent (but likewise unheard of) Rogue Trooper. Once I got my hands on the game, I discovered just how incredibly, mind-bendingly hard it can be.

First things first: I have an ongoing fascination with snipers and sniping, and it’s not just because I live in the home of the Beltway Sniper. I was no more than one hundred yards away when Iran Brown was shot, which was more than a little creepy, but that’s neither here nor there. I come from a military family. My father was a United States Marine and a Vietnam vet. I grew up in San Antonio surrounded by military men and women, and among these people snipers are a special breed and their exploits are legendary.

Sniper Elite is the most detailed sniper simulation out there, and having done more than my fair share of time behind a virtual scope, I thought I was prepared for the challenge the game presents. Boy, was I wrong. In Sniper Elite, everything that affects a sniper — in terms of the shot, if not the physical and mental stresses — comes into play, from heart rate to hand tremor to wind and gravity. Each element can be toggled on or off individually, but even at its most basic Sniper Elite is a profound challenge.

For two years off and on I’ve struggled with Sniper Elite, but I haven’t given up on it. Even when the challenges have seemed insurmountable, I know that if I exercise enough patience and practice my shooting often enough, I can get past them. I won’t lie and say I don’t get frustrated (I do), but it’s the frustration of knowing it can be done, and not the kind of thing a broken, badly designed game can inspire. The latter sort of games go into the eBay bin.