I enjoy FPS games with an element of stealth, so I really wanted to like this game. Sadly, after 8 hours and 3 missions, I uninstalled the game. I wish I could get a refund, but apparently there is a 2-gameplay-hour limit. I had hoped that, if I just finished the first mission, it would get better...but it didn't.

First, some things I did like:
-The gunplay is good. The shooting mechanics are fun, and reward practice.
-There are multiple ways to approach objectives.
-The story and its role in the objectives is interesting.
-Pretty graphics. Detailed character models.
-Detailed NPC dialogue.

What I didn't like:
-Omniscient enemies. If you shoot someone with a suppressor from 400 m. away, and someone sees them die, they immediately know where you are.
-Enemies have godlike aim. That enemy 400 m. away can shoot you reliably with his AK-47.
-Gadgets are useless, because they aren't nearly as lethal or effective as you would think, and trying to use them will immediately alert all the enemies, who will then proceed to murder you.
-No matter how well you plan and sneak, the first time you miss a shot, the entire mission devolves into a machine gun brawl.
-All the side objectives are tedious and boring. There is no good reason for them to exist.
-If you don't want to get caught, you have to spend the ENTIRE mission sneaking around, at half speed, across large maps. I like large maps, but in this game, they just make every mission tedious.
-On some missions, you start surrounded by about a dozen enemies between 10m and 300m away from you, and the second you kill one, they all start shooting, with the aforementioned omniscience and accuracy.

I'm sorry to say that this game just isn't fun. Don't buy it.

At the time of writing the game's rating is "mostly positive" and that just about sums it up.

I bought the game in the sale and I have to say I am glad I did since its not worth more than the 10 Euros I paid for it. Its supposed to be a realistic sniper game but there is very little realistic about it:
1) The main protagonist seems to have motor neuron disease. He cant hold a rifle still and shoot a target at even 50 meters without holiding his breath
2) He also has asthma and so cannot old his breath for more than a few seconds
3) Apparently the winds are over 100mph in Siberia and can move a supersonic projectile by more than a head-width in 50 meters but apparently less proportionally as the distance becomes greater.
4) Meanwhile his opponents are dead shots while shooting from the hip with a machine gun at 200m without needing to take wind or bullet sag into account
5) The enemy snipers are able to see you crawling instantly from 300 meters away, despite wearing enhanced camoflage
6) If you fall into water you die within a minute
7) Falling from 2 meters does more damage than a bullet

I could go on but you get the point. Realistic it is not.

On the positive side, the graphics and animations are incredible. True, they are mostly borrowed from other games - like the bullet time, but its so satisfying to see your opponents head explode. I LOVE being a sniper! The wind mechanics, although overdone, are well thought out and I got used to them very quickly. The enemy soldiers are aggressive and will try to find you. They interlock very well and work as a team. The maps are a good size and varied. Most stories work well enough to be believable. The side arms are weak and mostly useless in the game. There are too many gadgets to choose from and too many guns for that matter. You can easily spend 2 million on collecting everything but there's no real progression. This does all add an extra dimension to the game if you can be bothered to play the same maps over and over again perfecting your skill. The save game system is a bit arbitrary, you can easily loose half an hour of game play if you stay in the same area for a long time and end up getting killed. Done that once or twice is ok but doing it a lot soon wears thin.

There are 5 mission areas with 4, 5, or 6 objectives in each. Ordinarily that would be about 20 hours of game play if you take your time. However they mix in these secondary objectives which are pretty much mutually exclusive so you have to do each scenario several times in order to get all the goodies. For instance, I was just trying to to a run-through Mission 5 where one of the challenges is to do everything without dying (and reloading). I was about 2 hours in and still golden when I came across a bounty hunt. My instinct was to let it go but I killed the target first shot. Unfortunately I had to loot the body in order to get the points so I carefully killed all of his team. When everyone was dead I carefully made my way to the body and looted it. At that instance 3 snipers spawned and since I was out in the open that was that. I HATE GAMES THAT USE SPAWNING, it is the last resort of a weak mind. 2 hours down the drain!

And that for me in general is the fatal flaw of the game - you simply cannot do it the first time through without resorting to a walkthrough. You find the sniper positions mostly by dying, You navigate the map mostly by trial and error, aka dying.

As a side note, I found that one map was very familiar. It seems someone copied it for Farcry 5 Arcade. I have to say I preferred the Far cry version. Honestly if you want to be a sniper, buy Farcry instead and play the Arcade. The maps are as good as in this game, The AI is more realistic and you only have to hold your breath if you want to shoot 200 meters or more. As a bonus you can drive the vehicles including helicopters. Whats more there is over 1000 hours of game-play on Farcry5 plus Arcade without ever having to do the same map twice.

I will play this game some more now that I have it. This game has so much potential but throws much of it down the toilet.

The game is amazing apart from one massive thing, the save system. Who hurt you? Like, who actually hurt you to have made you want to implement a save system like this? You complete an object and it doesn't save. You have to exit the "circle of bloody harmony" before it autosaves. So many ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ times I have completed an objective with absolute stealth, sometimes an hour or even more of stealthy infiltration, just to get shafted after everyone goes on high alert after the objective is complete. Whether it be some random dude with a shotgun or a camera that triggers the alarm or a fall from too high or a random turret. So you just sit there thinking to yourself "it's ok because it will have saved after I completed the objective" but oh no! Instead you sit there thinking "wow, that was an hour of my life I now need to do all over again".

I just looooove this game. It keeps me on my toes... Only started gaming 6 years ago and I'm 61 years young and just can't get enough of this calibre game

AWESOME game, but if there's one thing I'd change. MORE SAVE CHECKPOINTS... I've killed entire levels of dudes, but there's that ONE guy with the mortar that takes you out...and guess what...yep have to do it all over again!! This makes the game repetitious and boring after 2 or three attempts at one level...and heaven forbid you restart mission!!! You might have to re-accomplish 3 maps to get back to your postion...PATCH PLEASE devgroup.

I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone in its current state. (Playing on Sniper/Normal difficulty)

Bugs and questionable choices:
-Spotted through objects including but not limited too trees, boxes, the ground, and mountains. (Mountains twice now. Once by a person, one by a turret.)
-Underwater enemies. They fall underwater and spot you and shoot you from what seems like no where.
-Glitchy audio and video on at least mid spec pc's.
-When spotted every enemy in the area knows exactly where you are. Yes I mean ALL enemies in your area. (Edit: This one mainly has to do with turret systems that shouldn't be able to relay your location and is more so under questionable choices)
-All enemies have what feels like 80% accuracy, even from over 350 meters away. (Ties in with spotted by EVERYONE)
-AI sight mechanic are extremely iffy. You can be 100m away and they'll start spotting you, which is fine. Though You can be within 2m standing completely in the open and they won't notice you at all.

I feel like there's more that I forgot but whatever. This was four and a half hours of gaming and all of them happen on a pretty consistent basis. Again I wouldn't recommend this until these are fixed.

Reminds me NOT to trust reviews! (will be updated!)
Playing in the easiest difficulty.

In short:
1. This game is like Hitman Sniper but more... open.
2. There are many contracts/bounties in one Map. Yes, you can finish ALL of them first then proceed to exfil. These contracts or bounties are spread throughout the map in sections. So, it is very easy to 'organize' your bounties. Just find which are closest to you.
3. No, being 'spotted' does NOT mean ALL enemies will come to you like some reviewers said. Only few enemies in the area will respond to backup.
4. You can be a horny sniper (fast paced) or take your time slowly. Hitting two or three enemies with silenced weapon as fast as you can before they call for backup or open fire will not alert nearby enemies. However, if you don't hide the bodies, patrolling ones will become alert and therefore alerting more enemies.
5. Yes, AIs are intelligent. They use binocs to find you and coordinate they attacks. Such as flanking. But at some point, they just hid while i shot their team mates. Super fun!

Do you want to relive the joys of Action Man comics you read when you were 5? The plot of Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is for you! Join the devoted fandom, including all 45% of people who actually completed the first mission, according to achievements. Enjoy infinite replayability as the borked checkpoint system forces you to go back through areas you cleared out entirely before you were suddenly sniped by a black spot half a kilometer away! Live the thrill of starting missions from scratch when you inevitably hit "restart mission" instead of "restart from checkpoint" for the third time, because the menu has both tabs right next to each other.

Challenge yourself with in game additional tasks that push you past the bounds of what you feel you can accomplish and, indeed, what the developers can reasonably expect anybody to achieve with the moveset and ruleset afforded to you. I particularly love how these challenges contradict each other, with "kill the target from 300 metres away" and "complete the mission using only a knife" being afforded to you in the same mission. This brilliant decision gives you an opportunity to further appreciate the boring levels as you trudge through them multiple times to get the completion above 50%.

I love how you can sometimes spend ages scouring the map to find your target, only to find that they haven't spawned in yet. It gives you ample time to appreciate the clumsy movement system, invisible walls, and climbing mechanics that will fail and drop you to your death as often as they work. Once, a target spawned right behind me inside a cloud of red smoke and gunned me down before I could even spot him. This was an incredible display of this game's incredible AI which, apart from this spot of physics-defying genius, largely involved ignoring me as I shoot their comrade in the head mid conversation, and they stand there gawking for several seconds waiting for their turn. Sometimes, I can crouch walk right through their line of sight without issue and other times I find them suddenly spotting me from across the map without warning and alerting the entire base.



EDIT: So I didn't expect this salty little rant to blow up as it did and somehow end up as one of the highest rated reviews. In the interest of fairness, I should also comment on some things I liked because this game isn't as terrible as I made it out to be above. While there are many more little frustrations I have not yet mentioned, I will still list some of the pros below. The things it does well, it does REALLY well. If this sort of thing appeals to you then it may be worth your time if you can abide the frustrations.

I like how some aspects of the mission can change when attempted a second time. I am sure that will keep things fresh for those going for 100%

The actual sniping is excellent, simulating realism while still being very accessible. It is very satisfying to curve a bullet around a barrier to hit an enemy who thinks they are hiding.

Levels are enormous and open. Huge compounds can be approached from a number of different viable positions.

🔹Highly detailed Sniping mechanics and physics.

🔹Beautiful visuals and lighting due to the CryEngine.

🔹Hitman-like missions which just matches with the whole game.

🔹A lot more stable performance wise compared to the SGW 3 launch.


🔸Ditched the ability to drive vehicles and the crafting system.

🔸Enemies still aren’t that advanced.




Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is the newest installment in the Sniper Ghost Warrior franchise, Contracts is basically a Hitman themed Sniping game where you’re a faceless protagonist simply doing his job, the game was developed and published by CI Games.

Release Date: 22nd November 2019


SGW Contracts is basically SGW 3 without that weird story and Open World mechanics as it is trying to be a lot more serious and what better way to add a Hitman styled mission system and Maps, basically allowing the player to have complete freedom in order to complete each
contract.

Sniping / Firing weapons:
Now the previous SGW game was very detailed and deep as far as sniping goes, in Contracts the sniping is even smoother with a much more detailed diagram when scoped in, air resistance feels a lot stronger and you can clearly see the bullet changing directions, long range sniping feels a lot more stable as well when compared to SGW 3 as in the previous installment you had enemies suddenly disappearing after a specific distance while now attacking from a major distance makes you feel comfortable this time. Traditionally your secondary isn’t supressed due to balancing, the Assault rifles do have a decent kick to them and are obviously pretty loud which shows that the secondary usually is the last resort when you either run out of bullets or when multiple enemies close in on your position. Lastly you get a third weapon as well which is a classic pistol which should always be suppressed and is optimized for short range takedowns.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1925814694

Stealth / Gadgets:
Usually going in quiet is by far the best option in this game, you still get to use the Stealth mode where you’re able to find clues in order to find alternates routes, ammunition and mission targets. Stealth mechanics are still a little rusty and were not really improved upon compared to SGW 3, you can only kill enemies or interrogate them in order to get informations out of them. Gadgets are still identical to the previous gamey you can drone out enemies ( after buying the drone upgrade ) or use turrets to help you defend yourself, gas mines are a good addition too. Overall you have a lot more equipment to help in your contracts.

Maps.:
As mentioned above Contracts isn’t an Open World game but a Semi Open World game just like a traditional Sniper Elite game for example which adds a lot more to the style of the honestly as doing that actually helped the game a lot more,removing open world adds to the immersion and makes the game a lot more detailed, yet they were able to keep the magnificent sandbox feeling which I loved in the previous title. So much more freedom and polish this time around, sadly driving vehicles isn’t a thing anymore and collecting materials is dead as well despite it being mentioned when you interrogate someone but they obviously never answer to that question which raises some questions.


Keep in mind that this isn’t a story focused game, just like a traditional Hitman game you’re basically an Agent called Seeker and you’re hired to kill various powerful figures located in Siberia. As you go along killing all of these figures either due to their political strength,research value or simply the man power they posses you’re learning about the organization that hired you,at the end you were completing all of these contracts because Siberia has lost control and removing some of these powerful figures would bring balance once again.


Just like the previous game, Contracts is making use of the CryEngine which offers impressive visuals. Although I feel like Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 does look slightly better in my opinion.

Graphics:
Contracts looks like a 2019 game obviously highly detailed environment with amazing lighting all that existing in huge maps. Character movements do look pretty advanced as well, there isn’t much else to say the game simply looks magnificent.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1924938501

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1924938707

Audio/Soundtrack:
Now I loved the Soundtrack of the previous game but in Contracts you get very subtle background melodies which matches with the whole theme, voice acting although not a main focus for the game has actually improved as I could understand from where the enemies where communicating , if it was above or below me from inside a tunnel or from a building etc, major improvement in my opinion not only from a sound perspective but it helped in the gameplay aspect as well.


On Low End Devices:
Intel Core i5 5200U, 8GB RAM, Intel HD 5500:
Does not run at all.

On High End Devices:
Intel Core i7 4790k, 32GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 1070:
I was running it on Maxed out settings on 1080p resolution with 60+Fps.

Bugs/ Glitches/ Crashes:
Compared to its predecessor launch was a lot more stable.
There were some visuals bugs, for example when I killed an enemy on an uneven surface the corpse started creeping somewhere else while I was basically searing the ground for personal belonging and bullets.
In 13 hours of great sniping I had only 1 crash with was basically a major crash that made me restart my Computer other than that it was a solid experience.


For 29,99 Eur. It is a great experience especially if you liked the previous game.


SGW Contracts is perhaps the best Sniping game out there with nearly perfect sniping mechanics, good visuals and a pretty serious setting.


Date of the Review: 03.12.2019

No no no no no, no!

This game requires that cancerous spyware made by braindead incompetents.
EAC, you can't even run the game (via Steam and not the separated executable) to play single-player without having to install that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ piece of junk.

That's one good reason to not pay for this, unless they change it, which they probably never will.

Edit: If you want to play without EAC while playing on Steam, it's simple enough, copy / paste "SGWContracts.exe" from "win_x64", rename or delete Launch_Game.exe, rename "SGWContracts.exe" to "Launch_Game.exe" and voilà.

But anyway, the game isn't that good and i got stuck once and i had to restart to checkpoint, this is truly shameful.


Edit 2024: Having finished the main game, i can say that the game is a bitt enjoyable, difficulty wise it's okay-ish (even on highest difficulty it isn't too hard), game could be so much more though, and there are bug and glitches, i even hard to restart one mission from scratch once.
Game isn't that bad nor that good, it could be much more.
Hopefully they won't bring some cancerous DRM / spyware on future releases.