Contract Killer Sniper: Shoot ‘Em Dead [ game review]

Posted By Puching Zhang in App Picks, Features, Gaming, Mobile

BreakingModern — From the people who brought you Deer Hunter 2014 comes a game that, unfortunately, doesn’t quite live up to the height of its predecessor. That’s right, I’m talking about Contract Killer Sniper, coming to a phone near you! All right, all right, I will admit, Deer Hunter 2014 has a lot to live up to. Contact Killer Sniper is a good concept, but it just doesn’t pack the same punch. But that’s all right — let’s get into the game.

Initial Impressions

Contract Killer Sniper’s premise is simple. You’re a sniper hired by an agency to take out bad guys from around the world. Each mission gives the player an objective, whether it’s to take out an entire group of enemies or make sure a special VIP is killed in action.

Repetitive Baddies

For the first few missions I thought this was a good campaign. It’s like a mobile version of Assassin’s Creed — you go out, find a baddie to kill and pull the trigger. However, in this game, the bad guys you kill are so generically boring. They have such a finite amount of character models that you feel like you’re just killing the same guy over and over again. Glu Games certainly tries to carve out each villain as a unique individual, but it falls pretty flat.

That said, the game does retain some of the diversity of Deer Hunter 2014. There are different kinds of enemies, ranging from raw recruits to rival snipers (you didn’t think you were the only one able to get off cheap shots, right?). The game camp also extends around real world locations with five regions, from North America to East Asia. I know you guys are all dying to shoot that one villain with the heavy Russian accent — you can, you can.

Mechanics, Guns and Bugs

The game doesn’t skimp on the gun choices with different sniper rifles and assault rifles per region. There are special weapons too, like the Tesla Gun. The gameplay, put simply, is a lot like Deer Hunter 2014. Glu Games got a little lazy in this respect, as it repeats the same mechanics, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, the designers recycled the slow motion final kill mechanic, whereby the final bullet fired is shown flying in slow motion toward the target. I don’t blame Glu Games for repeating that feature – it’s a great feature and is part of the reason I loved Deer Hunter 2014.

Contract Killer Sniper’s execution mechanics are not as solid, though. As I was playing I sometimes found the camera looking up at the sky, or I couldn’t see my character at all. That’s basically cheap bugs hurting the playability.

Bugs aside, the graphics are quite good by mobile game standards, but I wouldn’t call them exceptional. One aspect that I found unique about this game though is that it has more environment interaction than other first person shooter (FPS) games. The player is able to shoot cars and barrels and make them explode, thus killing multiple enemies at once (explosions are always a plus in my book).

Multiplayer (FTW)

The game also has a nice multiplayer feature, whereby the player is able to attack another player in the game by invading his basecamp and trying to assassinate him and steal his diamonds. This is an awesome concept, not only because it allows you to troll your friends, but also adds a dimension of player versus player (PvP), something that’s mundane in the world of online and console gaming, but a unique add-on for mobile gaming.

Overall I would give Contract Killer Sniper a 6/10. I like the concept — a mobile FPS game with excellent sniping mechanics and an innovative PvP feature, but some of the execution was not done well. The gameplay felt repetitive at times, and there were some annoying bugs and glitches. Do I think it’s a good investment of your time? Yes, because the gameplay is good, and the multiplayer feature really stands out. It plays out like a good sniper game and has unique features not found in other FPS games (explosions people, explosions).

Contract Killer Sniper is free and available for both Android on Google Play and Apple iOS.

For BMod, until next time, this is Puching Zhang signing off.

All screenshots: Puching Zhang courtesy of Glu Games