Sniper Vs Sniper: Online

Sniper Vs Sniper: Online (SVS for short) rocks! This game is a blast to play. I'm normally not into playing games over the Internet (and know I'm in the minority given my passion for gaming), but figured with 'Online' in the title it might be a good thing for me to exercise that portion of the game before writing a review. Conclusion? Great game! And I'm glad it made the jump from the iPhone.

In SVS you play the role of a sniper. Your goal? Shoot the enemies! This isn't a deep game... just a fun one, and a great game for mobile devices. Once in a game you'll be looking at some scenery and will have to target the enemy (or enemies). You can zoom in with binoculars or get an even closer look with your sniper rifle along with firing a shot. Binoculars give you a wider view and are a better choice for finding your target.

The graphics are nice... the audio unobtrusive... and the controls are great. Plus, I'm not seeing any real slow down during play which is important for a pseudo-twitch game like this (which further puzzles me after seeing some in Com2Us's prior release... then again I suspect Heavy Gunner is a much more taxing game). For those wondering, yes.... there is a set of solo missions and this game is not limited to online play. I suspect Com2Us could advertise that better as that was an initial concern of mine... especially if I'm in a 'no coverage' zone. Controls are simple... tilt back and forth or up and down to move your view around and find enemies. Tapping on the screen changes modes between full view, binoculars, and the sniper rifle. Tapping also fires if you've got your rifle in hand. There are also a few on screen buttons to change between the modes and game play is smooth.

Network play? There's a '1 on 1' mode and an 'Alliance Attacks' mode. 1 on 1 is just that, and Alliance Attacks is essentially a team play mode. Plus you get to play with those owning the iPhone version of the game so jumping into a game took a max of a minute during my network play session in mid-afternoon. I played a couple of 1 on 1 games... first played against a guy from South Korea that got me twice, I then got a head shot in, and he dropped yielding a victory for the USA! My next opponent was from the USA and was clearly better than me having playing 17 games to my 1... the game does do some balancing though. After getting it it gives the hit player a bit of help in finding the opposition. My current ranking puts me around #90,000... I am that good.

Single play mode starts off with some basic target shooting of police targets in batches of 5 at gradually increasing distances before jumping into snipers that shoot back. I enjoyed single player mode just as much as network play. I'm also going to be honest... this isn't a game I can see playing for hours on end. It has levels, but all you're doing is sniping progressively more difficult targets and opponents. I love it as a mobile game as I typically want something I can play for 5-10 minutes which waiting at the post office, during kid bathroom breaks, or what not.

Summary? This game is $2.99 and is a whole lotta fun. I've loved sniper games ever since Silent Scope on the Dreamcast and while that game had more of a story the sniping is just as good here. Network play is the icing on the cake. 5/5 stars and I pretty much knew that after about 2 minutes of play. Here's a video (from Com2Us and the almost identical iPhone version demoing online play mode):