Sniper Ghost Warrior 3

Plot

The player controls U.S. Marine Captain Jonathan "Jon" North, who with his brother Robert is sent to the Russian-Ukrainian border to destroy an abandoned stockpile of Soviet-era bio-weapons. They succeed but are ambushed by special forces led by Vasilisk, who plays Russian roulette with Jon before knocking him out and capturing Robert. Two years later, Jon is sent to Georgia to destabilize separatist cells, with a hidden agenda of locating Robert.

He is assisted by JSOC handler Frank Simms, Georgian ex-special forces sniper Lydia, and Israeli Mossad agent Raquel. The separatists are led by twins Davit and Tomas and a woman named Inna. Jon infiltrates Tomas's wedding, but Tomas is shot by his bodyguard, who is then killed by an unseen sniper. Jon learns that events are manipulated by the 23 Society, led by a superhuman soldier named Armazi.

Jon kills Vasilisk, who shoots himself during a second game of Russian roulette. Armazi is revealed to be Robert, brainwashed and genetically engineered into a supersoldier loyal to the 23 Society, who unsuccessfully tries to recruit Jon.

Development

CI Games developed the game, considering the series a commercial success with over 5.5 million copies sold collectively from the first two games. Announced on 16 December 2014, the game was described by CI Games as "the best sniper experience for PC and next-gen consoles". First gameplay footage appeared at E3 2015, and a gameplay video was uploaded to CI Games' YouTube channel on 22 July 2015. Originally scheduled for the first half of 2016, it was delayed due to ambitious plans and beta feedback.

The budget and scale were significantly expanded, making it the first entry with a AAA production scale. Creative director Paul B. Robinson is a military veteran with 20 years in game development. Lead narrative designer Jess Lebow worked on franchises including League of Legends, Guild Wars, and Far Cry. CI Games stated that Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 laid the foundation for this game's development.

Reception

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 received "mixed or average" reviews on Metacritic. JeuxActu wrote that a good open world was not achieved due to budget constraints. Richard Wakeling of GameSpot noted that civilian reactions to a marine entering their homes were not believable. Caley Roark of IGN found nothing novel or unique, comparing the game to linear action games from the original Xbox, and praised variety in tight missions while criticizing character models and textures as "cartoonish", giving a rating of 5.5.

PlayStation Universe scored it 7, calling it the finest in the series to date, though noting its narrative draws from cheesy sniper movies. GameSpot's Wakeling attributed the plot to B-movies and gave a rating of 5, stating the game "misses the mark". He agreed that the open world increased scale and flexibility but cited flaws like a barren environment and technical glitches. Wakeling noted that sniping offers a unique cautious approach that makes the game stand out, but concluded that sniping is the game's strongest element while other aspects are detrimental.