What are the best open-world games where you can play as a sniper the majority of the time?

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Dec 29, 2018

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10 Games Considered

Best open-world games where you can play as a sniper the majority of the time	Price	Steam Rating	Native Resolution
-- Arma 3	$39.99	Very Positive	-
-- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain	-	-	1080p60
-- Fallout: New Vegas	-	Very Positive	-
-- Far Cry 4	-	-	-
-- Just Cause 2	$14.99	Very Positive	-

Arma 3

Top Pro

Best in class authenticity

ARMA 3 is built as a simulation-type game and features rather tactical gameplay with a slow pace. The developers use real-life military weapons, equipment and vehicles. Even some of the environments in the game are virtually indistinguishable from their real-life counterpart. ARMA 3's gameplay also encompasses more than a regular first person shooter, as military tactics such as water attacks, giving orders to squadmates and drone strikes are necessary in order to successfully complete a mission. Elements such as destruction are extremely important, as certain specific parts of a vehicle can be damaged. See More

Top Con

Framerate isn't consistent

ARMA suffers from some framerate issues, with very variable results in both single- and multiplayer situations. Often the game will perform well in multiplayer, while dropping down to a severely worse framerate in a single player mission. Similar problems occur vice versa as well, which results in a very inconsistent framerate. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Huge open maps

As ARMA 3 is an open-world experience, singleplayer missions are not as linear and take place in the same map area as the game's multiplayer mode. There are a couple of different islands to explore in ARMA 3, including Altis which has a size of over 100 square miles (270 km²). Stratis is the smallest island in ARMA but is still respectable in size but 7.7 square miles (20 km²). A new map - Tanoa - is scheduled to be included in the paid Apex Expansion pack, with a size of 38.6 square miles (100 km²). See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

The tactical aspect of ARMA 3 is also portrayed in the somewhat difficult controls and steep learning curve of the game. For example, a lot of different buttons and keystrokes have to be remembered for all the different commands, equipment options and vehicle controls. There is no in-game tutorial, the only way to learn how the game works in by trial and error, a field guide or by using in-game hints. Tactical elements and strategies aren't explained in the game. See More

Top Pro

Huge amount of mods and add-ons available

The modding community of ARMA 3 is quite large, with multiple online communities and free tools provided by Bohemia - the developers of ARMA 3. At the time of writing, there are 115 mods available on ModDB and over 23500 mods in the Steam Workshop. See More

Top Pro

No player limit in multiplayer games

ARMA 3 doesn't impose restrictions on its servers, allowing for a true sandbox experience with a large population. Battles can be fought with hundreds or even thousands of players; multiplayer warfare is definitely large-scale. See More

Top Pro

Long single-player campaign

The average playtime for the single-player campaign (referred to as 'Main Story) of ARMA 3 clocks in at just under 20 hours, while a 100% complete playthough of the campaign averages 39 hours of playtime. See More

Top Pro

Underwater gameplay

ARMA 3 features underwater gameplay with diving gear and underwater weapons. Underwater gameplay is noticeably different, because it uses a third movement axis. See More

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Top Pro

Multiple ways to approach a mission

Metal Gear Solid V gives players multiple choices on how to approach a mission or clear an outpost. For example, the player can choose to use stealth and cunning in order to complete their mission and kill only when it's absolutely necessary, or they can get in guns blazing and kill every single enemy soldier sometimes even sniping each one of them from afar or calling the helicopter for air support. This gives a special flavor to the gameplay and doesn't let it get stale for a long time since it leaves the choice on how to play to the player, without penalizing them for not completing a mission by using stealth (as other previous MGS used to do). See More

Top Con

High learning curve

There is so much detail to grasp in the game that it can be overwhelming, especially at first. It will take a good bit of time to become accustomed to everything the game has to offer and how to control and interact with it. See More

Top Pro

Allows players to create their private military company

Throughout the story of the game, the player will be trying to rebuild their private military which was lost in the epilogue of the previous title in the MGS series. Other than building their "Mother Base" which is an ever-evolving giant structure which serves as a base of operations for the player and other NPCs which help the player, players can also recruit enemy soldiers to increase the size of their mercenary company. These soldiers can help based on their area of expertise to either work on developing new projects or be dispatched around the world to complete missions and earn in-game money. See More

Top Con

Micro transactions

Something often found in free to play games is microtransactions, sadly they are included in the multiplayer aspect of The Phantom Pain going so high as $79.99 for a bundle of in game currency that can be used for advantage in the online part of the game. Considering that MGS V already is a full priced title at $59.99, to see Konami milking their fans for never ending microtransactions is pretty disheartening, especially when considering they can be used to get a leg up over others in the multiplayer by easily creating more resources over other non paying players. See More

Top Pro

Extremely intelligent AI

As the player levels up gear so will the AI, who are programmed to constantly keep the player on their toes. Being that the whole game is designed to allow the player tackle any level in a multitude of ways, seeing the AI always react differently makes for an original experience every time something is tackled. See More

Top Pro

Plays at 1080p and 60fps

There is some frame drops during gameplay but the main target of 60fps is more often reached than not. V-Sync is used, so there is no screen tearing and everything plays at a native resolution of 1920x1080. See More

Top Pro

Ever evolving Mother Base

One of the goals of the game is to capture as many enemies alive as possible. With those captured troops users can start building more of their base out, making for an even bigger and better experience as the game progresses. See More

Top Pro

Reflex system

Once spotted by an enemy time will slow down for a short period of time allowing the player to react more accurately in a tense situation. See More

Top Pro

Large assortment of tools and options

As one plays through the game they can develop more weapons and tools with the enemies they capture. While not every one has to be used, the sheer fact that their is so much choice makes for a lot of fun experimenting. See More

Fallout: New Vegas

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Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Far Cry 4

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Top Pro

Options in play due to creativity

There are so many ways to tackle a situation that makes this game what it is. In one instance you could lure an animal towards enemies in order to kill them, or in another you could run everyone over with a truck. Even better is that explosives can be attached to things, even vehicles, so you can even send the vehicle towards a crowd and blow it up from a distance. Basically you are free to choose how you want to approach just about every situation in the game and those that feel like playing around have the chance to get really creative, which is half the fun. See More

Top Con

Environment feels too familiar

While Farcry 1-3 all had different locales that had their own styles, 4 looks much like 3 and is not that much of a departure. For those looking for a different experience it is not going to be found in 4 sadly. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Adventure aspects add to what would be a stale FPS

Being able to scale cliffs, hunt and trap animals, and use ones environment as a weapon against enemies adds to the basics of first person shooting making for a fun adventure game on top of a slick FPS. See More

Sniper Elite 3

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Top Pro

Slo-mo x-ray kill shots

Sniper Elite 3 has a slo-mo x-ray kill shot camera that shows in graphic detail the kill shots of the game. See More

Top Con

Non intelligent A.I.

Like a lot of stealth games, all it takes is getting enough distance from a guard to make them forget they ever saw the player. This pulls the player out of the immersion of the game seeing such a non intelligent A.I. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Eight large stages to play through

There are eight very large stages the player can play through, each with multiple objectives to illustrate progression on each map. See More

Top Pro

Online multiplayer

There are a few multiplayer modes in the game that allow for player vs. player. See More

Sniper Elite 4

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Third-Person Tactical Shooter Stealth

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

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Top Pro

Shooting works well on mouse keyboard or gamepad

Shotting in the game works quite well with either a mouse and keyboard or a gamepad. See More

Top Con

Short campaign

The campaign in Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is pretty short coming in at around 4 hours total. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Top Pro

Cryengine 3

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 was designed in Cryengine 3, meaning the game itself looks fantastic. See More

Top Con

Very scripted

Playing through the game often feels very inflexible, often pulling the player out of the immersion as doing something that makes sense, such as taking an enemy's weapon is not allowed when the story does not deem it appropriate to further itself along. See More

theHunter: Call of the Wild™

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Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

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