Dev Diaries | Playstyles and Customisation

Lawrence Barnett – Senior Designer

Hi Snipers,

I am sure that many of you are polishing your rifles getting ready for the release of Sniper Elite 5  on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 4 & 5, Epic, Steam and Windows Store on May 26th. 

The gunplay has always been a key component of the Sniper Elite series as we mix authentic recreations of real World War 2 weaponry, with best in class ballistics to create an incredible challenge that is also great to play.

We wanted to take the guns in Sniper Elite 5 to the next level, building on the successes of the previous games, and at the same time ensuring historical accuracy whilst maintaining the fun factor. This led us to an overhaul of our weapons along with the creation of the new Weapon Customisation options. Where we’ve focused on enhancing the character and feel of our weapons, from sound effects to animations, stats, and finally art. Including the addition of the ‘Ironsights’ perspective, which you will all be able to get your hands on soon.

We have conducted thousands of hours of playtests and what we continue to see is that everyone will have different approaches to the way they play Sniper Elite. Some will be ultra-stealthy, moving with incredible caution and pre-planning every assault to the smallest detail, while others are more carefree, throwing caution to the wind and relying on their trusty SMG, grenades and mobility to get them out of sticky situations.

We want everyone to approach the game in the way that they find the most fulfilling. With that in mind, we have developed the Weapon Customisation so that you can now adjust your weapons to best suit your playstyle.

As you go through the levels you will find Workbenches (each level has three hidden within them). These will unlock various Attachments like scopes, suppressors, stocks, muzzle breaks and more. As you add, remove or adapt different elements of your weapons you will see how they affect four key stats: Power, Rate of Fire, Control and Mobility, as well as the many advanced stats.

To give you an example: a stealthy player after a high powered semi-auto may want to opt for the RSC1918 rifle, equipped with a scope and suppressor. This will be extremely powerful, fairly quiet and fast-firing but the weight of the rifle (~5.3kg without the attachments) means that your movements will be slower. For instance, it will take longer to look down the scope and steady your aim. This is a compromise a more methodical player will be happy to take because they are prioritising power and rate of fire over mobility. However, the same rifle could be setup with the very short “Mousqueton” barrel, the scope removed, and you’d be left with a very different proposition.

A more “run and gun” player may opt for the more lightweight M1 Carbine rifle, which weighs in at around 2.5kg. Providing better aim stability, quicker time to aim and faster movement to name a few of the benefits. By opting for a lightweight stripped barrel and a smaller lightweight magazine you will reduce the weight even further, making the weapon even more mobile and ergonomic. However, this comes at a cost as you will now have a smaller magazine, meaning less bullets, and a touch more vertical recoil due to that lightened barrel. However, for those that like to move like the wind and get up close and personal this is a risk worth taking.

With such an enormous arsenal of options available to both Rifles, Secondaries and Pistols, we’re confident you’ll be able to find and craft the perfect loadout to suit your playstyle.

The customisation options have also enabled us to recreate some incredibly rare and interesting weapons from World War 2, such as the experimental G43 chambered in the smaller 7.92×33mm Kurz round (found in the MP44), which we’ve coined the “G43 Kurz”. We were lucky enough to get our hands on some very special and unique weapons during our trip to the Royal Armouries with the great historian Jonathan Ferguson and found it a great inspiration.

I have probably given away far more intel than I should have, so it’s time for me to return to the sniper’s nest. We’ll have to cover Special Ammunition another time, but in the meantime, armour piercing rounds capable of piercing steel or prohibited soft-point expanding rounds that are devastating against personnel? Choices, choices…

We cannot wait for you to test your chosen Weapon customisations in real time from May 26th. In the meantime you can keep up to date with all the latest information about the game on our social channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Discord AMA

Eyes up Sniper. Join us for our very first Discord Stages Event on April 6th, at 6pm BST. We'll be discussing all of the above and MORE in an exclusive AMA with Senior Designer Lawrence Barnett and Lead Designer Ryan Baker.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to our official Rebellion Discord server and submit your questions on all things Weaponry via the 'sniper-elite-5-questions' channel. 

HOW TO PRE-ORDER SNIPER ELITE 5:

• Steam: Click Here to Pre-Order 
• PlayStation: Click Here to Pre-Order
• Xbox: Click Here to Pre-Order 
• Epic: Click Here to Pre-Order
• Rebellion Store Bundles: Click Here to Pre-Order