Sniper Killer (PC)

The minds behind Night at the Gates of Hell are back with a new horror/thriller, taking you on a journey where you play as both killer and detective, Sniper Killer gives a new outlook on the genre. Published by Black Eyed Priest and Henry Hoare, and published by the VHS candy store Torture Star Video. October 17th saw the release of Sniper Killer on Windows, let’s see how this low poly adventure fared.

Sniper Killer sees you start out as a crazed killer, who’s been tasked with eliminating victims for your boss, these victims all have something in common but you don’t know what, all you know is that you have a job to do and it’s killing. On the other side of the coin we start as Detective Comardy, who’s tasked with finding out who’s doing the killing, in a cat and mouse story we have some fun sniping action with some tense narrative detective work. A good mix which seems like a fresh take on things.

On the gameplay side of things, Sniping is fun, though it’s not got a whole load of options, missions are usually set in a small sandbox, where targets aren’t usually visually guided, though like some other titles, audio cues are given to what your subject is doing, whether it’s not drinking or wearing a certain costume that’s what you’re given. Sometimes it’ll be as easy as clearing an entire area without other people being alerted, there’s some simple bit of variety set up for you. Unfortunately some of these lack a bit of alternative techniques to disposing of your victims. Unlike say a hitman where you can “accidentally” remove your targets, most people are killed through a shot, which is a shame as this would have been really nice to see, there is specifically one sniper level that does something a bit different but you’ll have to check it out yourself to see what I mean. Otherwise levels do have some different areas to do your sniping from, the first level especially gives a few different vantage points to getting that perfect shop.

Meanwhile when playing as the detective, you’re usually in the crime scene after these murders have taken place, you’ll need to speak to witnesses in the area and search the different locales of the level to see if anyone’s left anything. These slow down the pace of the game somewhat but obviously ramp up the narrative of the game, most npc’s are voiced well, with some cameos from some of the horror game media’s world like Suzi Hunter. Some of the characters in the world you meet fit that low poly horror vibe, with some very unusual characters on display. Comardy does have a few first person shooter sections too, these can be tense hunts through vagrant filled dwellings, or something a bit more off, these are usually a bit shorted but add an extra gameplay level.

Visually Sniper Killer fits the low poly horror bill, levels are full of dimly lit streets, corridors, and areas. These all have a good aura to them, making you feel uneasy no matter where you are. It almost feels like an Italian Giallo movie, with some levels having bold colours as you traverse them, with an almost moody feel to them, nowhere really feels safe, even a parade or a funfair, there’s always something just off. Characters again have that low poly aesthetic, but there’s a good variety of models in most levels, and each NPC looks unique. Though Sniper Killer doesn’t do anything visually impressive, a low poly game never feels low effort, with this, and the recent release of Mouthwashing, low poly still has a lot to give gamers.

As mentioned the voice acting is a good point of the game, with some good performances from the main cast, the soundtrack hits that vhs 80’s vibe you’re looking for too, with a good variety of synthwave tracks, with some more subtle tracks in there too, there’s a decent amount of tracks here and these fit within the narrative and gameplay to a good degree.

A few gripes I had with Sniper Killer was the overall length of the title, with it just hitting around 3 hours of the main story before I saw the credits. There wasn’t a huge deal to unlock in the game and as previously mentioned there was a lack of variety in most of the levels, the only thing I found as a reason to replay was the character sheet at the end that had a few question marks hovering over a few of the NPC’s in the menu. There was a few little glitches I encountered, especially one where I couldn’t see down my scope, though this happened very sporadically and will probably be sorted after the first patch.

Sniper Killer ends up being another VHS style rental, something you’ll do in a few hours, isn’t overly expensive and has something in the genre you might not have seen before. Low poly horror isn’t going anywhere fast, so you best embrace it.