While we loved the challenge of Sniper Elite 5 when it launched earlier in 2022, we were soon left wanting for new content in order to keep honing our skills. Rebellion did oblige with a small DLC pack called Wolf Mountain, where our objective was, as ever in these types of packs, to kill Adolf Hitler. Or maybe one of his lookalikes, who knows?
Anyway, the first proper bit of DLC is now here, coming in the shape of the snappily named Landing Force Mission and Weapon Pack. It may come as a shock to learn that it contains a new mission and two new weapons. Let’s sneak off to see what those dastardly Nazi’s are up to once again…
Gamers of a certain vintage will no doubt be aware of the inspiration for this new mission, a film called The Guns of Navarone. In the story of the Landing Force mission, the Nazi’s have taken over an entire island; one that once was home to a luxury resort before deciding that what the decor really needed was a huge great pair of cannons. These massive guns can effectively seal off the coast of France, stopping anything larger than a herring getting past, and so, with the invasion of Europe scheduled, those guns have to go. And who are they gonna call? Well, it’s not Ghostbusters, that’s for sure. We need to infiltrate the island, stop the guns, and then find our way to a lighthouse and snuff it out, signalling that the coast is literally clear. What could possibly go wrong?
The new locale looks just as good as the rest of the mission areas in Sniper Elite 5, and features a good mix of long sightlines for easy sniping, and up close and personal combat in tight, indoor spaces. The big difference this time is that the mission is set at night, and so it is very possible to stumble across enemy patrols entirely by accident; as usual, the fastest on the trigger will run out the winner. Sneaking about with the pistol at the ready, silenced of course, soon become second nature. It’ll need to be too as the enemies are not at all shy about sending for reinforcements – taking out alarms is usually a good first step.
It all plays out well, and sounds good too; just as good as before in fact. All in all, there isn’t a lot to complain about with the presentation of the mission however there are some odd glitches that I will speak about later, but nothing I haven’t seen in a Sniper Elite game before.
But what about these new weapons then? Well, there are two to choose from depending on your playstyle: a silent but deadly sniper rifle, the D.L. Carbine, which has a built in silencer and uses subsonic ammo, making it one of the quietest guns around. Not a lot of people know that the loudest part of any gun report is the sonic boom as the bullet leaves the barrel, so slowing the bullets down will help a lot with a sneaky peeky playstyle.
The other new weapon is the polar opposite – the PPSH submachine gun. With the ability to chew through bullets faster than I can chew through a McDonalds, this is not a subtle weapon, and indeed should you use it the first thing you need to find is the hidden workbench in this mission, as it will unlock a 71 round drum magazine. As this gun can deliver around 1100 rounds per minute, having deep pockets for all the ammo you’ll need will help.
Now, as is usual in these missions, a little light exploring will see you uncover extra objectives, and if you want to three star the mission, you will need to not only find them, but complete them. In this way, replaying is encouraged, as it’s unlikely that you will find all the collectibles in one run. The scene is very much set for some careful exploring and searching.
Problems with the Landing Force Mission and Weapon Pack? There’s really only one but it relates to Nazi’s vanishing. In order to complete a gold medal collection for the pistols, you’ll need to get Ghost kills with each firearm. The easiest way to achieve this is to knock the foes in an area unconscious, then execute them gangland style with a bullet to the dome. Hey, war is hell! However, I’ve noticed that the people I knock out sink into the floor, maybe leaving a foot sticking out, making it impossible to off them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from a game breaker, but it is annoying nonetheless.
Any other faults? Well, this addition gives us a new achievement for completing the mission, which is always welcome, but what I would really like to see is the level cap being raised. I’ve been level 40 with maxed out skill trees for a while now and would like to be able to start earning progression again. Read this as a purely selfish note.
Other than that, the Landing Force Mission and Weapon Pack provides more of that Sniper Elite 5 goodness, and that is always a good thing in anyone’s book.
You’ll find the Sniper Elite 5 Landing Force Mission and Weapon Pack on the Xbox Store
