You know what? Screw it. I like loading out as a sniper when playing first person shooter games like Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Gamer bravado and core pride pushed aside, I find playing as a sniper to be one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in modern gaming.  So, that being said – I should love City Interactive’s Sniper: Ghost Warrior right? Sort of. When the title sticks to what it knows, it’s a surprisingly gorgeous and fun shooter, but when it starts to stray from its titular focus and try new things, you really start to notice how slim the package truly is.

The main story of Sniper: Ghost Warrior puts players in the shoes of two different soldiers, one a sniper, and the other an assault trooper on the fictional island country of Isla Trueno. As you may have probably guessed by now, Isla Trueno isn’t exactly a tourist hot spot, as the once peaceful island’s government has been overthrown by a hostile force.  Of course, it’s up to you to bring back the peace. Okay, so it’s not the most original plot, but it does provide a nice backdrop for what the game does best, pure, sniping bliss, sort of.

"...you can never tell if you’re making the right adjustments or not..."

For what it’s worth, the sniping gameplay, which is of course at the core of the game, is quite fun. You’ll be equipped with a number of different rifles, along with a few trusty side weapons including knives and explosives just in case things go wrong. Each shot is presented with a bullet time like effect that shows the glorious effects of your shot. It’s incredibly rewarding to line up your shot (or in some of the more challenging sections – shots) and then watch as the results unfold. If you find the game’s normal settings too easy, there’s also an expert mode that requires you to take factors like breathing and distance into account. It does add a bit of challenge to the game, but more often than not, due to the absence of any kind of on screen indicators, the mode becomes little more than a series of trial and error gameplay that gets incredibly frustrating. Basically, you can never tell if you’re making the right adjustments or not and thus, you’re going to miss a lot. Oh, and when you miss, your targets have no problem spotting you regardless of how far away you are.

That’s exactly where Sniper: Ghost Warrior goes wrong. When you’re taken out of the role of the sniper and into an assault trooper, the game becomes a sub-par first person shooter. For one, the enemy AI can’t decide whether it wants to be extremely smart (like I mentioned above, they can spot you pretty much anywhere) or absurdly dumb (of the “Hey! Let’s take cover on the front side of this boulder” type). All of the weapons feel exactly the same and are quite boring. Why the developers chose to completely neglect the game’s best points for a good portion of the game, completely stripping it of its only identity is beyond me.

Unquestionably, the game’s most surprising aspect is its visuals. Filled with an incredible amount of detail, the game’s audio and visual qualities are some of the best I’ve seen of new titles this year. The animations are top-notch for a budget title, especially when you’re using the bullet time effects to watch your targets squirm. There are of course the occasional hiccups, but they’re few and far between in what turns out to be a truly exceptionally visual title.

"...not enough to keep anyone fascinated for long after finishing the game’s minimal campaign."

There are a few multiplayer modes, but not enough to keep anyone fascinated for long after finishing the game’s minimal campaign. It’s a bit disappointing when you think of just how much potential a multiplayer suite in a game like this could have been. Why not accuracy competitions? Why not speed runs? I understand that City Interactive wanted to keep a serious tone throughout the game, but I just can’t help but think of what could have been with the game’s multiplayer suite.

If you love loading out as a sniper in first person shooter games, you’re bound to find something to like in City Interactive’s Sniper: Ghost Warrior. Be advised though, it is a budget title, and can play like one. At its best, it’s an exercise in an often ignored demographic of shooters, at worst, it’s a run of the mill shoot first and ask questions later title.