The Sniper Elite franchise has risen in popularity among fans, primarily due to the wholly unique elements of gameplay that it provides, within what is otherwise a saturated genre of games. The World War 2-era shooter franchise offers a much more tactical gameplay experience, with the lone-wolf sniper focus necessitating calculated movements.
Undoubtedly, one of the most engaging elements of the Sniper Elite franchise is the fascinatingly gruesome killcams that are triggered by well-placed sniper shots. Being a feature of Sniper Elite from its very first iteration, the now iconic killcam feature has only further developed and evolved with every subsequent release.
Sniper Elite
The killcam feature has been an alluring element within Sniper Elite titles ever since its inception. Albeit in a way that now pails in comparison to more recent titles, 2005's Sniper Elite possessed its own killcam system that was still impressive for the time, and that has helped see the Sniper Elite franchise produce some of the best sniping games ever.
With Sniper Elite predictably leading very heavily towards long-ranged engagement with enemy combatants, the development studio Rebellion had to think of a way to reward players for precise shots, and thus the concept of killcams within Sniper Elite were born. As renowned Sniper Elite protagonist Karl Fairburne, players who successfully fired a headshot-bound bullet would trigger a cinematic cutscene. This would follow the bullet from the end of a player's rifle all the way to their unsuspecting victim, providing a satisfying benefit to more refined marksmanship.
Sniper Elite V2
The second iteration of the Sniper Elite franchise and its killcams came in the form of Sniper Elite V2 in 2012, releasing seven years after its predecessor. A plethora of changes came to the killcam of Sniper Elite V2 in comparison to the first game, befitting of the sheer gulf in time that separates the two titles. Being a remake of the first game, Sniper Elite V2 shares the same WW2 setting and general narrative.
Perhaps the most important change that came with Sniper Elite V2's complete overhaul of the killcam system was the addition of a gruesome X-ray element to killcam-worthy shots. With killcams no longer being relegated only to headshots, any shot that is bound to penetrate any organs within an enemy sees a slow-motion and live-action X-ray of the lethal damage that a player is dealing, with bones and organs in the bullet's path shattering and tearing in graphic fashion. V2's killcams also saw the introduction of explosion killcams, following a bullet into the fuel cannisters of a tank, or the grenade belt of an enemy soldier. Killcam shots in V2 can also travel through enemies for multi-kills, or bounce off of surfaces for ricochet kills.
Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 3 came next in the franchise, releasing in 2014. Although not the same long period of time between its previous release like Sniper Elite V2, Sniper Elite 3 still built upon the killcam system in a logical and necessary manner.
Sniper Elite 3, once again starring Karl Fairburne, but now set in the sunbaked frontier of Northern Africa during WW2, adds X-ray capabilities to many of the newer elements of the killcam system that were brought about by Sniper Elite V2. The aforementioned vehicle explosion killcams were given their own X-ray imagery with Sniper Elite 3, giving players insight to the combustion of fuel within a vehicle, or the damage dealt to a driver through exposed slits of tanks, for example.
New X-ray capabilities were also added to multikill killcams, with any subsequent victims of a multikill also receiving their own unique X-ray, instead of just the first target. Human-based X-rays in general saw improvements with this release, with more intricate detail being provided via the addition of visible muscles and arteries that bullets could interact with.
Sniper Elite 4
With the release of 2017's Sniper Elite 4, the holistic nature of the killcam system was compounded and improved even further. Not only did more elements get added, but some killcam elements from previous games were even removed to make way for more engaging interactions and cinematics.
A welcome change to Sniper Elite 4's killcam system was the introduction of melee-based X-ray killcams. Not having the killcam system relegated to ranged shots not only provided a wider range of killcam possibilities and variation, but also does well to convey just how synonymous the franchise was starting to become in terms of the varied and graphic killcams that were on offer.
Sniper Elite 4 also offered a variety of environmental kills within its campaigns, with the successful triggering of these hazards also getting their own killcam animations. Traps also received their own X-ray killcams, as well as shrapnel from explosives also triggering X-ray visuals. To make way for this slew of new content, all vehicle-related X-ray killcams were removed, apart from the shooting of a driver.
Sniper Elite 5
Sniper Elite 5 is the upcoming latest installment to the franchise, and promises to bring more upgrades to the killcam system. While the exact extent of new additions are not yet known, there are many elements to Sniper Elite 5's killcam system that have already been revealed.
Promising to be "more realistic and grisly than ever," the fresh killcam system for Sniper Elite 5 will see bullets deflect off of bones during an X-ray, opening up unpredictable paths of bullet travel within the body. In addition to this, it is known that both SMGs and pistols will have their own unique killcam animations within Sniper Elite 5, widening the killcam variation even further within the Sniper Elite franchise.