Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Three players on a desert planet shooting bug aliens during one of the best games like Borderlands, Helldivers 2.
Third Person Shooters Helldivers 2 designer outlines Arrowhead's "trainwreck in slow-motion" design philosophy, and another essential guiding star: "The tingle in the ass"
Phantom Squad
Third Person Shooters The chaos of Hotline Miami meets the intricate planning of Payday in this hostage-saving Steam Next Fest demo that's absolutely riffing on Die Hard
Aran holds a huge sword aloft, mouth open in a battle cry in the promotional key art for Blades of Fire used as the header on storefronts
Action RPGs After 3 hours, I'm impressed by how Blades of Fire smelts Dark Souls and Monster Hunter together to forge high-impact action into twisted new shapes
A cat crew member springs free in Skin Deep
Stealth Games Skin Deep review: "A genuinely stellar immersive sim, replete with chaos"
The Dreamer aims a slingshot at a flaming torch in the gorgeous key art for Many Nights a Whisper, without a logo
Adventure Games Many Nights a Whisper review: "With one chance to land a single, perfect shot – few games have this tension and impact"
Cropped key art for Revenge of the Savage Planet showing two player characters running away from lots of green goo, flanked by various googly-eyed wildlife
Action Games Revenge of the Savage Planet review: "An underrated sci-fi platformer gets a beautiful third-person sequel, but I'm left cold by shallow busywork and an over-reliance on toilet humor"
A boxy green cubey enemy attacks Remi in Hell is Us
Action Games With "multi-map spanning secrets" and "phantasmagorical" horrors, Hell is Us wages a brutal civil war that already has me on edge
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Sniper Elite 3

Sniper Elite 3 rewards your patience with exploding organs and shattered bones

Features
By Lorenzo Veloria published 23 May 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

BOOM, headshot

BOOM, headshot

There are many shooters out there and many of them have sniper rifles in them, but none of those games make you feel as powerful with a long range weapon as Sniper Elite 3. In it, every bullet is deadly, every shot is a strategic move, and every kill is oh so satisfying. When the developers at Rebellion stopped by the GamesRadar offices for a hands-on demo, I got a chance to stick it to the Nazis on the African front, and it was a blast.

As opposed to the fairly linear structure of the previous game's missions, Sniper Elite 3's environments are completely open. My demo started me in a night mission with three German officers highlighted on my map, and those officers apparently needed a bullet run through their skull ASAP. Any of those objectives could be tackled at any time, which left me to decide how to approach each guarded enemy camp housing the officers.

I chose to make a stealthy assault on a camp, which had me systematically tagging enemy patrols with my binoculars, kicking on gas generators to sound mask my shots, and sometimes getting up close to shove a knife in an unsuspecting soldier's throat. Those stealth elements are entertaining to be sure, but the most satisfying moments came from perfectly lining up a shot and watching the slow-mo, bullet time, gorefest that followed. If you squeeze off a killshot, the X-ray camera shows every bone shatter, muscle tear, and lung burst as the bullet rips through your enemy. Waiting for the perfect shot is intense, but when you pull off a kill cam shot, it's one of the most satisfying (and often disturbing) sniper experiences you can get.

Check out the following slides for more information and images

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
If you discover a sniper nest, you'll get an eagle-eye view on multiple targets.

If you discover a sniper nest, you'll get an eagle-eye view on multiple targets.

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
You can destroy vehicle engines to blow them to smithereens.

You can destroy vehicle engines to blow them to smithereens.

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
Not all of your kills will be from long range.

Not all of your kills will be from long range.

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
The entire story campaign can be played cooperatively with a buddy.

The entire story campaign can be played cooperatively with a buddy.

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
There's also dedicated co-op horde-style modes and competitive multiplayer.

There's also dedicated co-op horde-style modes and competitive multiplayer.

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms
Lorenzo Veloria
Lorenzo Veloria
Social Links Navigation

Many years ago, Lorenzo Veloria was a Senior Editor here at GamesRadar+ helping to shape content strategy. Since then, Lorenzo has shifted his attention to Future Plc's broader video game portfolio, working as a Senior Brand Marketing Manager to oversee the development of advertising pitches and marketing strategies for the department. He might not have all that much time to write about games anymore, but he's still focused on making sure the latest and greatest end up in front of your eyes one way or another.

See more PC Gaming Features
Read more
Three players on a desert planet shooting bug aliens during one of the best games like Borderlands, Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 designer outlines Arrowhead's "trainwreck in slow-motion" design philosophy, and another essential guiding star: "The tingle in the ass"
Phantom Squad
The chaos of Hotline Miami meets the intricate planning of Payday in this hostage-saving Steam Next Fest demo that's absolutely riffing on Die Hard
Aran holds a huge sword aloft, mouth open in a battle cry in the promotional key art for Blades of Fire used as the header on storefronts
After 3 hours, I'm impressed by how Blades of Fire smelts Dark Souls and Monster Hunter together to forge high-impact action into twisted new shapes
A cat crew member springs free in Skin Deep
Skin Deep review: "A genuinely stellar immersive sim, replete with chaos"
The Dreamer aims a slingshot at a flaming torch in the gorgeous key art for Many Nights a Whisper, without a logo
Many Nights a Whisper review: "With one chance to land a single, perfect shot – few games have this tension and impact"
Cropped key art for Revenge of the Savage Planet showing two player characters running away from lots of green goo, flanked by various googly-eyed wildlife
Revenge of the Savage Planet review: "An underrated sci-fi platformer gets a beautiful third-person sequel, but I'm left cold by shallow busywork and an over-reliance on toilet humor"
Latest in Action
Death Stranding 2
I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
Hollow Knight
As Hollow Knight: Silksong gets 7 new Steam updates in less than a week, the SKONG community reaches levels of cope hitherto unseen: "The wait is almost over"
Fighting enemies in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition
2 years and one Switch 2 release later, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hoarders are still celebrating their item duping glitches making it past Nintendo's patches
Death Stranding 2 screenshot
Hideo Kojima's fabled USB stick full of ideas contingency plan has been put aside, as it was actually put in place during a 2020 health scare long before Death Stranding 2's release
GTA 6 Lucia
GTA 6 will "remain" the most expensive game ever, former Rockstar dev predicts, because GTA 7 will see the "bulk of the work" replaced by AI
Link is in a barrel in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker on Nintendo Switch 2
Twink Link is being freed: Nintendo apparently backtracks, says you are allowed to call yourself Twink Link as it works to unban a Switch 2 it "flagged by accident"
Latest in Features
Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw as Sofia and Rose in Hot Milk
Sun, sea, and strained relationships: Andor's Fiona Shaw and Barbie's Emma Mackey play a mother and daughter on the brink in new drama Hot Milk
Two menacing gingerbread men look intimidating while a candy person waves from a cage
I didn't expect to like the latest D&D book, but after an utterly stupid adventure I'm all in on Dragon Delves
Mion and Rena look uneasy in the classroom in Higurashi: When They Cry
The Silent Hill f writer's debut game was basically the original Doki Doki Literature Club, and it's still terrifying me 23 years later
Quantum Witch screenshots
This stunning 2D "plotformer" is the ultimate cottagecore fantasy with an extra dose of mystery, sapphic witches, and a giant lady who fights you
Superman
Krypto the Superdog - The comic history of Superman's best friend
All-New Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1
Spider-Gwen's new comic introduces her own personal symbiote villain, Tantrum: "Tantrum is the embodiment of everything Gwen was trying to leave behind"
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...