Not before time, the first mission and weapon pack in Season Pass Two for Sniper Elite 5 has now been unleashed. Previous packs released during Season Pass One were of a very high standard so hopes are high for this latest installment. What is Karl Fairburne getting up to now? What new weapons is he rocking this time around? I hear you all cry! Let’s drop deep into occupied France and find out in the XboxEra review of Sniper Elite 5: Rough Landing.
This mission involves fly boys who have been shot down over enemy territory. Having taken shelter in very different locations the task at hand is to locate downed aircraft and then uncover their secret hiding places. It is of paramount importance to recover valuable intelligence and rescue these high-value assets. There is also a bonus option to eliminate a Nazi Spy. What could be simpler with the woods crawling with German soldiers and shall we say ‘heavier weaponry’ roaming the farmland?
He’s Got A Powerful Weapon
Set during daylight hours the map is vast and made up of multiple types of environments. As expected there are plenty of opportunities to employ long-range sniping skills, but there are also numerous locations consisting of cramped conditions which have been designed to test players’ close fighting abilities.
It is pleasing to report that my favourite opponents the Jäger Infantry are once again in attendance and that enemy density is set at a pleasingly challenging level. The map has been so well constructed that mission replayability is an attractive option even after taking your time to explore thoroughly on a first playthrough. Having taken a leisurely two hours to complete all of the objectives available to me, I would be more than happy to try again from one of the other two possible starting points with a different weapon set.
Weapons included within this pack are the ‘Sjogren Inertia Shotgun’ which I found to be a particularly useful secondary weapon when fighting at close quarters and the Russian ‘Mosin Nagant’ rifle which although highly rated left me feeling slightly disappointed. This may have had more to do with the choice of scope available than the rifle itself, but I chose to swap it out for my preferred Lee No.4 bolt-action rifle as soon as I located a workbench which must tell you something.
Impressively, each successive DLC mission so far has been of particularly high quality. There has been no suggestion whatsoever that the developers are getting short of ideas or ‘flogging a dead horse’ and long may this continue. The base game is a very attractive title standing on its own but the package created with the addition of the season pass material is making Sniper Elite 5 a must-buy proposition. As expected the DLC performed well on my Xbox Series X and I came across no glitches or issues of any kind during my playthrough.
Trench Warfare?
Released at the same time is the ‘Trench Warfare Weapon pack’ which is available for free for all players. Continuing the theme of Close Quarters combat this includes the following hardware. The Carl Gustav M/1945 (Swedish K) SMG, the United States 12-gauge Trench Gun, and the Double 1866 pocket pistol. Having tried each of these out on a bunch of Nazis I can say that the SMG is pleasingly effective even at medium range and the Trench Gun is devastating when stuck in an enemy’s face.
The pocket pistol looks nice and is a good historic recreation but seems more likely to be effective if actually thrown at someone rather than fired at them. If Karl Fairburne was to find himself wearing a corset while dragged up in a Wild West saloon bar this would be the best weapon for him to hide within his cleavage. Apart from that particular scenario, I cannot see any plausible use for it in the field and will never use it again.
From my time spent with this first offering from season two, I am as impressed as I was with season one. The map and mission itself are once again top class and some of the new weapons on offer are well worth experimenting with. A title where the DLC gets better and better is a rare thing these days but Sniper Elite 5 is well worth your money and deserves to be celebrated. With gameplay as fresh now as the day it was originally released this is still a real pleasure to spend time on. I am already looking forward to whatever is coming next from the Rebellion development team.
Sniper Elite 5: Rough Landing Mission and Weapon Pack DLC
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- The Sjogren Inertia Shotgun is an epic addition to the weapon set.
- Another large, cleverly designed map to explore.
- Mission complexity makes it worthwhile to take your time.
- Yet another great DLC addition to the series.
CONS
- Having to wait until the next mission pack for more content.
