Nazis. If anyone deserves a bullet to the head it's them. Which is just as well as that’s the main premise behind not only this title, but the entire Sniper Elite franchise.

This latest instalment finds you playing as a shit hot sniper shooter, out to change the course of the war.

You play as Harry Hawker, who, as the title suggests, is an elite sniper, flown into Vichy, France in 1944, towards what would be the tail end of World War II. He has a particular set of skills, which allows him to take kills from distance, which can prove useful in war. But his missions also mean he has to take risks by going into occupied towns, surveying the area, and picking up documents to help out his mission.

The game allows you to tackle the missions how you please, within a fairly open world, as well as in any order. And each mission can have a number of tasks, that although not all need to be completed, you kind of feel it’s your duty as soldier to do so, otherwise, what are you doing there?

You’re then free to tackle the mission as you see fit; you can go all sneaky sneaky, as is a sniper’s want, but you can just fuck it, and go all guns blazing, as long as the job gets done. But playing as a sniper is where all the joy is to be had though.

It should also be mentioned that you have the ability to play in co-op too, so you don’t have to play through the campaign all on your lonesome if you don’t want to.

It is a game that encourages ‘camping’ - the somewhat unaffectionate term given to snipers who happy stay in one place in games like Call of Duty, taking out the enemy from one vantage point, which let’s face it, is pretty much the raison d’être for all snipers.

There are a number of sniper rifles to choose from, but after trying them all, you’ll probably get the feel for one more than another, you know the one when you get it in your mitts.

There is an amazing sense of satisfaction you get from taking on a long distance kill, that is amplified by the game’s treatment of it; you get to see the journey of the bullet into your target, and then the impressive effect it has, depending where the shot as landed, so if it’s to the head, you may see it puncture the eyeball and drill deep into the cranium, all shown in a deliciously graphic nature, like the goriest x-ray. And the thing is, you never tire of it, delivering a morbid satisfaction over and over again.

It’s a game that although doesn’t force you to think, you certainly benefit if you do so; for instance, as a sniper, where’s the best place to try and get to? That’s right, a higher vantage point. So if you are dropped into a town, head to the highest building you can. Or if it’s somewhere else, an outpost, or highest point you have access to. That way you can get an overlay of the land, as well as spot patterns that your enemies have, such as walking in a certain pattern.

However if you get noticed, there’s every chance that soldiers will come your way to investigate. This may sound unnerving, but thanks to some curious enemy AI it can work to your favour. We soon found that if we at the top of a building, we could simply kneel at the top of the stairs and await the soldiers to arrive, one by one, and execute them silently with a knife, thus saving ammo. And before you know it, you have a building crammed with dead Nazi soldiers, like a multi-storey cemetery. You are then fairly safe to go on about your business, as you would have wiped out the majority of the enemies in that area, allowing you to be as noisy and as indiscreet as you like.

This is like the twelfth instalment in the franchise, and the structure of the game hasn’t changed much over the years. In one sense you get the feeling that the developers have been a little lazy, by not exploring opportunities to move the franchise forward. They have dabbled with zombies, but that’s only slightly changing the type of enemy that you’re taking out. What about a sniper story in space for instance, or a parallel universe with an alternative history that sees a different environ, timeline and enemy.

That said, the same can be said of titles such as Call of Duty, that are essentially the same game, year after year, and that works out OK for Activision.

The fact is, if you’ve enjoyed previously entries, you will more than likely enjoy this one.

There’s a nice balance to everything, from the weapons to the variety of the missions, that’s all very cosy, in a good way.

There’s a real buzz from scoping out an area, finding a spot you’re happy with, then bringing that scope to your eye, checking your breathing, sliding your enemy into your sights and slowly pulling that trigger, resulting in a most satisfying kill.

We do think there’s an opportunity to do things differently with the game going forward, but at the same time, wouldn’t be adverse to just playing more of it like this, because what it does, it does well.

Where it has developed however is with online modes, which although not our cup of tea, do extend the gaming experience, such as playing the campaign in Axis Invasion mode that allows other players to appear as enemy snipers set to get you before you can finish your mission.

So if you like the idea of taking out a Nazi from miles away in relative safety, you should pull the trigger on this one.