Sniping Mission: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Many [[Boss Battle|boss fights]] incorporate sniping elements, such as famously those in the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series. This might occur if you are attacked by an enemy sniper and try to [[Beat Them At Their Own Game]].

 

Is often an [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]].

 

* This is a very popular class of flash game, to the point where some of the newer ones have started lampshading the limits of the system.

** This trope is somewhat inverted when going inside areas such as the mansion near the end of the first game - the sniper goes through the mansion taking people down from about 20 feet away. Amusingly, though the bad guys are armed with semi-auto pistols and SMGs, they never think to rush you...

* Several levels throughout the ''[[Call of Duty]]'' series (even though your character is never identified as a sniper or marksman, beyond the player character "Soap" in the fourth game being the only member of his squad given scoped rifles... but [[It's Up to You]].)

* Every mission in ''[[Sniper Elite]]'' is a sniping mission.

* ''Crisis Core: [[Final Fantasy VII]]'' sneaks one of these in toward the end of the game.

*** Of course, you could gain points to upgrade the sniper rifle by using your sword to kill robots. Also, it must be remembered that this is also the game that has the completely pointless stealth segment.

* The first ''[[Halo]]'' game had this for the third level, although it's not really required.

* The first [[Sin]] has a short section wherein you must snipe all the guards on an oil rig before you can board it. An easy mission, as the guards are never close together and have predictable patrol routes.

* Playing through Magoichi's story mode in [[Samurai Warriors]] 2 will result in sniping mini-missions.

* While it isn't a mission ''exactly'', there's a certain trench area in [[Fallout|Fallout 3]] filled with Super Mutants. The optimum strategy, therefore, is to use a stealth boy and snipe them.

* ''[[Mini Robot Wars]]'' has a sort-of example with one of its [[Mini Game|Mission Stages]] (Sharpshooter). You control a Sniper Minirobot and have to shoot down enemy Machines before they cross the end of the screen. The catch is that you can ''only'' attack an enemy when a [[Crosshair Aware|crosshair appears on them]] (by clicking the middle of the crosshair), otherwise the Sniper will miss.

* The console version of ''007 [[James Bond 007: Nightfire]]'' includes a mission roughly halfway through where Bond faces a good dozen or so snipers while moving through an abandoned nuclear power plant. Except for the few interior firefights, most of the gunfighting consists of patiently hiding and watching for muzzle flashes and where the enemy bullets impact to locate the snipers and shoot them before they get a bead on you.

 

* The first level of ''No One Lives Forever''. Bruno thankfully tells you where every enemy is coming from before they appear on screen, but experienced (or cocky) players can tell him that they'll handle it themselves for the added challenge.

* In ''Unreal 2'' when your character gets trapped at the top of a tower after the Skarjj sabotage the elevator at the bottom, you have to use a sniper rifle to protect the engineer who is trying to get to the tower and fix it so that you can get back down. Thankfully, although badly outnumbered, your protectee is a Marine with a shotgun who can take down a few enemies before getting overwhelmed, which does give you ''some'' room for error.

** [[Vice City]] had a fairly similar mission. You have to protect an ally during a drug deal.

** Also, a mission where you have to snipe about 25 Cubans as fast as possible.

* Multiple times throughout the ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' series.

* ''[[Resident Evil]] 4'' has this twice, with the second requiring the user to defend both themselves ''and'' the target.

* Inverted in ''[[Half Life]] 2: Episode 1'', in which the [[Player Character]]'s sidekick Alyx at one point grabs a fallen enemy's sniper rifle and provides covering fire for ''him''.

** And again in Episode 2. Since Gordon never actually ''gets'' a sniper rifle (the closest he gets is the scoped, heated-rebar firing crossbow), any time there's a sniper mission, it'll be inverted.

* In the first ''Battalion Wars'' game, there is an escort mission where the player is only allowed to control the aerial units while the AI controls the land units. The objective is to clear the path to the end using said aerial units, and to make sure at least one of the land units does not die.

* ''[[World in Conflict]]'' had a mission similiar to the ''Battalion Wars'' one, with the AI only controlling amphibious transporters and infantry. You had to protect those as they captured command points, which air units cannot do.

* 007: Nightfire had a level with a major sniper-escort section where a Bond has to provide sniper support from the tower of an airbase. Subverted however because the silenced Walther pistol that is signature to the franchise, is in fact [[Hit Scan|more accurate and does more damage]], the fact that AI Bondgirl being escorted will react to gunfire by taking cover behind an object that provides maximum exposure to all present hostiles, really helps to punch the whole level down into a [[Scrappy Level]], [[It Got Worse|a second sniper section shows up later in the same level]].

** Thankfully, the console version drops this in favor of an intro/training mission where Bond snipes the cars chasing Dominique through Paris. If a new profile is started (which automatically begins this mission), the game automatically locks onto the gunmen or tires to make it a turkey shoot, and it's still quite easy with manual aiming.

 

* The duels with Sniper Wolf in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. The second, though, is easier if you use your remote guided missile instead.

** It's also entirely pointless. In what is the series' best case of ''[[The Battle Didn't Count]]'', {{spoiler|even after Raiden successfully shoots Vamp several times in the face and prevents Emma's health bar from even reaching the half way mark, she is critically wounded, and you are taken to her death scene. Way to waste your time.}}

** Or advancing the clock on your PS2 a few weeks so he dies of old age.

** Despite the cheap methods of defeating The End, the game rewards you for going the extra mile and NOT draining his life bar, but to actually break his stamina bar.

* While not a true boss battle, you have to bring down a sniper in a building who's found you and your comrade in the ''Call of Duty: World at War'' mission "Vendetta." As your comrade will only act as bait twice, a way to overcome this through a gameplay exploit is to remember which window he calls out, quit and resume the mission from the main menu. Immediately put your crosshairs on that window, hold your breath when he asks if you're ready, and hopefully the sniper will walk right into the shot. You also have to kill a German general at the near-end of the mission before he can escape off-screen to the right side, although there's an Achievement/Trophy for landing the fatal blow with a pistol, and he has at least one more marksman covering his escape.

 

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[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]