Sniper Ghost Warrior 3

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3
Developer(s)	CI Games
Publisher(s)	CI Games
Director(s)	Paul B. Robinson
Designer(s)	Jess Lebow Alek Sajnach Tomasz Pruski
Artist(s)	Tomek Andrzejewski
Composer(s)	Mikołaj Stroiński
Engine	CryEngine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release	WW: April 25, 2017
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, tactical shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer[1]

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is an open world first-person tactical shooter developed by CI Games. It is the third entry in the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on April 25, 2017.^[2]

The player takes the role of Marine Captain Jonathan "Jon" North,^[3] who, along with his brother Robert, is sent to the Russian-Ukrainian border to destroy an abandoned stockpile of Soviet-era bio-weapons before they're stolen by terrorists. The two succeed in their mission, but are ambushed by an unidentified group of special forces soldiers, led by a man named Vasilisk who plays a game of Russian roulette with Jon before knocking him out and capturing Robert.

Two years later, Jon is sent to Georgia to help destabilize the local Georgian Separatist cells, who are reported to be receiving an abnormally high level of funding and resources. Jon accepted the assignment with the hidden agenda of locating his brother Robert, after hearing intelligence chatter placing him in the region. He is assisted by his JSOC handler Frank Simms, a Georgian Loyalist ex-special forces sniper named Lydia with whom he was formerly in a romantic relationship, and Israeli Mossad agent Raquel, who is in the region looking to capture and recruit a Russian scientist named Sergei Flostov whom she believes is being held by the Separatists.

The Separatists are led by a pair of twins, Davit and Tomas, and a woman named Inna, whom Tomas is scheduled to marry. Jon infiltrates the wedding in hopes of gathering intel to help him assassinate Tomas later, but the wedding is interrupted when Tomas' bodyguard guns him down at the altar before being killed himself by an unseen sniper. Continuing other missions against the Separatists, Jon learns that events in Georgia are being manipulated by an international conspiracy known as the 23 Society, whose forces are equipped with high-tech experimental weaponry and led by a mysterious soldier with seemingly superhuman abilities known as Armazi.

In the process of destabilizing the Separatists, Jon is sent to kill a local crime lord doing business with the Separatists, who turns out to be Vasilisk, who is revealed as a member of the 23 Society. When confronted by Jon, Vasilisk once again plays a game of Russian roulette with him, which ends with Vasilisk shooting himself in the head before Jon can interrogate him.

Jon is eventually confronted by Armazi himself, who turns out to be Robert, who has been subjected to drug therapy, genetic engineering, and brainwashing to transform him into a super-soldier loyal to the 23 Society. Robert demonstrates his superhuman abilities to Jon before unsuccessfully attempting to recruit him into the 23 Society.

Later, Jon receives intel that the scientist Sergei Flostov is being held at a Separatist facility. Jon rescues Flostov, who states that he was forced by the 23 Society to help them create brainwashed, genetically modified super-soldiers. Flostov informs Jon that the 23 Society recently captured an American soldier and are going to execute him soon due to failing to brainwash him. Jon travels to the location where the captured soldier is being held and discovers it is Cole Anderson, the protagonist of the previous Sniper: Ghost Warrior game. Cole, who was defeated in combat by Armazi and later mutilated by him beyond the point of recovery, reveals to Jon that Flostov is actually the leader of the 23 Society, then asks Jon to leave behind his pistol so he can end his own life and die with dignity, which he does as Jon leaves to pursue Flostov. Flostov contacts Jon over the radio and gloats about how the 23 Society killed Robert's wife Milla, then used her death to break his mind and brainwash him.

Jon saves one of the Separatists leaders, Inna, from an attack by 23 Society super-soldiers, and learns from her that the other remaining Separatist leader, Davit, is allied with the 23 Society and responsible for killing her fiance Tomas. Jon kills Davit, and in exchange Inna tells him where to find Flostov and Robert/Armazi, who are located at an old uranium mine where Flostov has set up a nuclear reactor to produce yellow cake uranium for the creation of nuclear weapons. As Jon infiltrates the mine fighting through mercenaries and 23 Society super-soldiers, the nuclear reactor becomes unstable. Jon confronts Flostov and Robert at the reactor, revealing to Robert that Flostov and the 23 Society killed his wife Milla, staging her death to make it look like she was killed in an American drone strike to turn him against his country. Upon learning how he had been brainwashed and manipulated, Robert kills Flostov, then locks himself in the reactor room to manually stop the meltdown in order to give Jon time to escape, dying of radiation poisoning in the process. Jon exfiltrates in a helicopter alongside Lydia and Raquel, vowing revenge against the remaining members of the 23 Society.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a modern-day first-person tactical shooter, similar to its predecessors. The game is designed to be less linear than Ghost Warrior and Ghost Warrior 2, since the title is the first in the series to feature an open world,^[4] which can be freely explored by players.^[5] The open world is scattered with different activities and side missions which are known as "war crimes".^[6] These can be completed by players if they are not playing the main missions.^[4] According to CI Games, the title is designed to be accessible for both players who are new to the franchise or the genre, while tactical enough for more hardcore players.^[7]

The game is based on three different pillars: target, execute, and survive.^[3] Players are allowed to use different approaches to complete missions and defeat enemies, as maps are now larger and more open-ended.^[8] For instance, players can utilize stealth and melee combat to kill enemies, in gun and run style, or use the weapons or gadgets provided, like sniper rifles, to snipe enemies from a long distance.^[9]

The game's objectives will not be shown on the mini-map provided to players. Players are required to find them by completing intel-gathering missions.^[4] Players can also use a drone, which is one of the newest additions to the series and can be controlled by players, to scan and survey the environment, and to detect enemies.^[10][11] The drone can also be used to hack enemies' electronic equipment and weapons, and to create distractions.^[12][3] However, there are risks when players are using the drone, as enemies may become alerted when they spot it. As one of the game's core experiences is sniping, the accuracy of long-range shots is affected by various factors, such as calibration of the rifle's scope, weather, wind speed, distance, gravity, and the protagonist's breathing strength and rate. As a result, players have to plan, adapt, and react to the game's environments to alter these factors.^[4][13]

Navigation is enhanced in Ghost Warrior 3. Players can carry out some “extreme navigation” movements, according to the game's developer, such as free-running, parkouring, climbing ledges, and rappelling. Players can activate Scout Mode, which is an ability of the game's protagonist to highlight places of interest and detect explosives such as mines. Players can also make use of the mode to find a new sniping spot during missions.^[4] The game also focuses on realism; as a result, the open-world features a dynamic weather system and day-night cycle. Players can make use of these situations to create tactical advantages.^[14]

In addition, players can travel to a "safe house" where they can collect supplies and resources like first-aid kits and ammunition for weapons. These safe houses also act as fast travel points for players for easy navigation of the world. In addition, players can craft and modify their weapons and bullets. These upgrades can improve the weapons' efficiency and accuracy.^[4] When not playing missions, players can interact with a neutral faction, which may or may not help players in completing missions.^[4] Safe house is a safe place in the world where the player can choose equipment, sleep to a designated hour, craft, buy items in the shop and start missions. There are several safe houses on each map, and player needs to discover them to be able to use them. There will be loot waiting or new weapons to equip in newly discovered safe houses. Player can fast travel to a safe houses from any place in the world (fast travel is disabled after entering a mission area).

Weapon Cache is a place where the player can change his loadouts. Primary weapons, secondary weapons, side-arms, gadgets, camouflages, and armors can be equipped here from the stock.

Here players can also modify weapons with currently unlocked attachments, or upgrade camo and backpack. New attachments, weapons and gadgets can be unlocked by completing missions, but also found distributed on outposts or out in the world. Once unlocked, the player can buy them from the shop.

Player can buy in here ammo, gadgets, med-kits and armor using game currency if subscribed to battlefield premium also unlocks audio.

At the workbench player is able to craft regular and special bullets, gadgets and medkits using resources found in the world. There are 5 kinds of resources, each used in different proportions to craft different equipment.

After choosing a mission, the mission area will be visible on the map, and a GPS path will be displayed. Various points of interest, which player discovered earlier, will also be checked on the map. Road to the mission area leads through open maps, where the player can encounter events, points of interest, hunt for animals etc. Which route the player chooses is up to him.

The player has its own car for exploration. It will be there whenever he exits a safe house, or travel to previously discovered fast travel points. The player can use it to quickly get across map areas. Enemies can spot the player, even when he is inside the vehicle, so being careful is still required. A traffic system is generated on roads on all maps, so the player can see other non-aggressive vehicles travelling along the roads. On more heavily secured areas, the roads will be patrolled by armored vehicles.

The game is developed by CI Games, which also developed the game's predecessors. While the previous games were not a critical success, the company considered the series a commercial success, as they sold over 5.5 million copies collectively.^[15]

Announced on December 16, 2014 and regarded as "the best sniper experience for PC and next-gen consoles" by CI Games, the game's first gameplay footage was shown during E3 2015,^[16] while the first gameplay was uploaded to CI Games' YouTube channel on July 22, 2015.^[17]

The game's budget and scale are significantly expanded and are larger than that of its predecessors, and the title is the first entry in the series to have a AAA production scale.^[18] The game's creative director is Paul B. Robinson, a military veteran who also has a 20-year career in game development.^[19] The lead narrative designer is Jess Lebow, who had worked on franchises like League of Legends, Guild Wars and Far Cry.^[19] According to CI Games, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 laid the foundation for the game's development.^[20]

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Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 received "mixed" reviews, according to review aggregation website Metacritic. The Playstation 4 version holds a score of 57/100, the Xbox One version holds a score of 57/100 and the PC version holds a score of 59/100.

GameSpot gave the PlayStation 4 version a mixed review with a score of 5/10 writing: "Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 feels like a B-tier, budget-priced game. Even the predictable, profanity-laden story is reminiscent of the type of gritty B-movies Steven Seagal is known for."

• Official website
• CI Games