Codex Gamicus
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Sniper Elite 5 is a third-person tactical shooter stealth video game developed and published by Rebellion Developments. It is the sequel to Sniper Elite 4 and was released on 26 May 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay[]

Similar to its predecessors, Sniper Elite 5 is a third-person shooter. Similar to Sniper Elite 4, the game features several large levels, which provide players with various opportunities to infiltrate and extract. When the player kills an enemy using a sniper rifle from a long distance, the X-Ray kill cam system will activate, in which the game's camera follows the bullet from the sniper rifle to the target, and shows body parts, bones or internal body organs being broken or ruptured by the bullet. Weapons in the game can be customized extensively. The single-player campaign can be played cooperatively with another player. The game introduces Invasion mode, which allows a third player to join a game session and play as an enemy sniper. A survival mode, which accommodates up to four players, is also featured.

Plot[]

Sniper Elite 5 takes place following the events of Sniper Elite 4 in the year 1944, a year before Sniper Elite V2. SOE sniper Karl Fairburne is attached to an Army Ranger battalion in advance of Operation Overlord to assist with securing a beachhead and the village of Colline-Sur-Mer to help give the Americans a foothold and landing point in France. Upon arrival in the village and rendezvousing with resistance contact Charlie Barton, the Americans submarine is destroyed and Charlie informs Karl that most of the group's contacts have been killed by units led by Obergruppenführer Abelard Möller after discovering information on his involvement in coordinating "Operation Kraken". Fellow contact Marie Chevalier informs the pair that Möller is occupying a nearby chateau and leave to investigate. After breaking in and securing information on "Kraken" from both the chateau and a high ranking meeting taking place at the cathedral Beaumont-Saint-Denis, Möller becomes aware of Fairburne's involvement and his prior notoriety of disrupting high profile Nazi projects.

In defiance of Ranger orders, Fairburne infiltrates a factory constructing war machinery and submarine stealth plating and destroys it to disrupt further production. Charlie smuggles him onto an island in the English Channel near Guernsey, where intel from the factory found a prototype U-boat constructed and prepared for testing using the stealth plating previously smuggled onto the island with coordination from the Japanese. Fairburne manages to destroy the submarine adding embarrassment to Nazi high command, but results in Möller redoubling his efforts and proceeding with the project without the test data.

Following the Normandy beach landings, Fairburne regroups with the Rangers as part of an airborne landing into France but the unit's glider is shot down near the village of Desponts-Sur-Douve. Fairburne manages to drive out the occupying force allowing the Rangers to reclaim the village before leaving to investigate a facility where additional weapons testing is being done with V-2 rockets. With this and discovering a map of targets that include several major cities in the United States, Fairburne quickly pieces together that "Kraken" is meant to use the U-boats to slip past the Allies deep into the Atlantic Ocean and use the V-2's on civilian targets to deter the United States' war efforts.

When Möller contacts the base and unintentionally speaks directly to Fairburne, he panics knowing Fairburne is fully aware of the project and needs to launch immediately before the Allies can react. Fairburne deploys to the town of Saint Nazaire where the U-boat pen is kept under tightened Kriegsmarine security, where he quickly destroys the constructed U-boats as well as several constructed for the Imperial Japanese Navy. With "Kraken" destroyed and fearing for his life, Möller retreats to his chateau to coverup his involvement in the project before going into hiding, but is assassinated by Fairburne before he can escape. As Charlie and Marie celebrate the mission success, Fairburne ponders his next deployment.

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