This is a...nice game. It's very far from perfect nor is it good, but it's enjoyable. There are plenty of sniper shooters floating around. Hows does this one fare against those, and what are its own merits? Well...
Graphically, I like what you did here. While it maintains some of the elements other snipers have, (the minimalist environments,) the replacement of the normal stick figures with actual, properly proportioned humans is a major benefit. However, like some other snipers, the graphics get in the way sometimes. The second level is the best example of this, as I believe I should have been able to tell whether he was behind a tree or in front of it without taking a shot to test it. I understand the aspect of style, but it gets in the way of gameplay at times.
With the gameplay, there is a lot that I like and don't like. The mechanics themselves are tight. The gun is accurate and my shot will hit the head if I aim correctly. The hit detection is spot-on. However, while all of that is nice, the inclusion of twitching in this particular game is a major downfall. Yes, I understand why it's put in. It's "realistic." The thing about that is that it actually isn't. That's why actual snipers prefer prone positions, tripods, and the like, it REMOVEs that twitching in their aim. It's something that exists in a lot of sniper shooters, but it shouldn't be there at all. I've only seen it dealt with in a handful of instances, and each of those were wonderful. It's an unnecessary increase in difficulty. Something I must also criticize is the lack of the ability to replay missions after completing them without restarting the game, and the lack of the ability to restart the mission mid-mission. There is no reason for those not to be there. There have been multiple instances where I screwed up, made a bodyshot where I meant to have a headshot, missed the target repeatedly, hit something I wasn't supposed to, so on and so on. Even if I'm successful, I can't go back and fix it. I have to continue or restart the story. Now, this wouldn't be so bad on it's own. Just refresh immediately after screwing up, right? Well, the thing is, even if I get the mission perfect, the game seems to screw me over by rewriting my save file. Apparently, now I've lost a couple headshots and gained an equal number of bodyshots, my accuracy suffering for it, at which point I needed to restart because I couldn't replay the missions. This rapidly became annoying. Otherwise, this game doesn't have too many problems, but it's merits aren't stellar either.
Its flaws don't get in the way of standard gameplay, but that's just it: It's gameplay is standard. All that seperates it from other snipers is a minor graphical detail, with tight but standard mechanics. All in all, it's average. This is an enjoyable experience, but not something one should go through multiple times, nor write home about.
