100% Recommended ***
This game takes some time to get used to everything & then it becomes very very good. The sniping mechanics for example requires a learning curve, but it gets better with experience. It took me to the second mission before feeling comfortable. Major positive - the graphics are gorgeous. The gameplay is very good. The levels are very expansive. It's fun!
A few idiosyncrasies: Getting stuck moving sometimes. Climbing isn't great, but ok. Game isn't saving progress when I would expect it say after completing a mission objective. I had progressed quite far in this one part & got killed. The save was way back at the very beginning.
I hid in one of those bins & I was getting hit with shots from an unknown direction & died soon after. The shots were going through the metal seemingly. The sniper shots bounce off some heavily armed enemies. It's like a pebble hit them or a bug was biting them & they sort of brush it away. (these were head shots) When you are detected, you will die very quickly, so you need to spot enemy snipers very carefully.
The enemy AI is either superhuman or clued out. When sniping & they detect you, their firepower is all directed exactly at your location. Other times, they stand motionless & oblivious to your presence. As you're killing off one after another enemy soldiers, the remaining ones would probably realize something may be amiss & they are not observant to you lurking around.
The enemy can throw a frag grenade any distance & it will land directly at your feet. You can be behind absolute cover, but you will take very heavy damage from shots that seemingly go through anything & chip away at your health very very quickly. The machine guns of the enemy rival the best sniper shots for precise accuracy. There are arrows flashing all over the screen in the sky to warn you of detection, but unclear what that means. Are the enemies flying in the sky? Lots of non typical things to take note of. I had played Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 & was used to most of this, but it would be better to maybe clean up some of these non typical things. Then again, the game is a blast, so who really cares about minor things. I'm just mentioning this.
Have to say again that the graphics are superb. Just beautiful to look at everything. Crisp, beautiful colours. The missions are exciting, the gameplay is very good. Missing a sniper shot can place you in firefight situations & that may not be a bad thing at all. You have to figure your way out of this & that can be very interesting. Also, the bounties are quite good & should not be missed.
If anyone likes sniper games, this is a must buy!!