Game Reviews

Sniper vs. Sniper: Online

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Sniper vs. Sniper: Online

I just don't have the patience to be a sniper. Chances are I'd be popped off as I was busy snacking down on my neatly packed lunch, utterly bored waiting for the enemy to come into view, passing the time by idly fiddling around with the sweetener packets for my coffee.

Head shots are a sniper's bread and butter, of course, and like most shooters Sniper vs. Sniper: Online makes picking off opponents by slamming a bullet through their cranium the main aim. The game's selling point is that you can do this to real people anywhere in the world where a network signal is had.

The game's offline mode should be your first stop, though, as your sniping skills are well honed in this surprisingly decent single player romp. Coming with six set levels, each one focuses on taking out numerous opponents before they have a chance to floor you.

A nifty training mode teaches you the routine: scoping out enemies with binoculars before firing on them. The accelerometer handles your aim, a deft touch sending the view slowly in the direction of your choosing, tapping on the 'fire' button in the bottom-right firing your shot.

It's hardly what you could call a simulation - enemies do pop up in carnival fashion - but it's challenging and fun.

Solo play also comes with two other modes for each map - one that sees you taking on just one dedicated and tricky computer-controlled opponent and another that sets wider challenges, such as hitting 20 flowerpots in time.

These gives Sniper vs. Sniper: Online some offline longevity, but as the title suggests, the meat is in taking on foes over the internet. After a short registration process, you've got two options: competitive sniping and cooperative play.

Head-to-head competitive rounds task you with depleting your rival's health before your own runs down, whereas cooperative presents a shooting gallery for both you and your partner to complete.

Your location is pointed out to your rival at the start of each round, though only if you took them out in the previous one. It's an annoying Mario Kart-style rubber band effect, yet it helps even the odds when two players of completely different skill come together.

Regardless, Sniper vs. Sniper: Online is a title of real quality and one whose fire is only doused by issues of length and structure. While iGuerilla 2: Asian Operations is arguably just as good when viewed from a broad scope, Sniper vs. Sniper: Online has the slightly sharper shot of the two, its simpler controls enabling you to be a bit quicker on the trigger.

Sniper vs. Sniper: Online

Though arguably giving too much of a helping hand to those slow with their scope, Sniper vs. Sniper: Online remains a sharpshooter
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.