Best sniper experience

[Cooper]

Whenever a game has a sniper rifle, it egnerally stays in my inventory right from the moment I get it.

But most games don't get it right, and I'm looking for suggestions for games with the best sniper experience (not necessarily entirely focused on sniping though)

FarCry has, in my opinion, one of the best sniper experiences. All down to the AI response. You'd be lucky to get a handful of hits before you were flanked, they'd take cover immediately (sometimes hillariously on the wrong side of the cover...), even blind-fire in the direction of the sound, and pretty effectively flank you through forest-cover. (FarCry 2 is also pretty good, but not as good)

Crysis failed at this. Almost all targets were always inside shacks, or behind 8 foot high fences. And the camo made it too easy when this was not the case.

Sniper: Elite is not the game for me. Almost from the start it's more effective to be carrying and using anything but the bloody rfifle. Oh, and the checkpoint and limited save system is a pain in the arse.

Any opinions on Ghost Warrior? Or is it worth getting somehting like ARMAS II or something like that?

[mrpier]

Bad Company 2 worked reasonably well with the sniping, but I think Far Cry still has it beat.

[KauhuK]

Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl or Stalker Call of Pripyat. Either one with Complete mod. The real sniper rifles in both games are somewhat rare but you can use other rifles for sniping too.

[Creeping Death]

Bad Company 2 worked reasonably well with the sniping, but I think Far Cry still has it beat.

As much as I love BC2, the sniping is nothing more than lining up the dot with someone's head. No wind to take into consideration and very, very little in the way of bullet drop. Very easy.

Besides, the last thing that game needs is more snipers.

[DarkNoghri]

Jedi Knight 2. The sniping wasn't anything special, but man, I loved that disruptor rifle. Charge fully, hit someone, and they vaporize.

Woohoo!

[Basilicus]

For fantastical sniping experiences that have very little basis in reality, the original Unreal Tournament may have been THE best sniping experience I've ever had. UT2004 didn't do a bad job of it, but the maps weren't quite as conducive to getting a good roost up and dominating.

Day of Defeat has wonderful sniping - because of the assymetric nature of the maps and every roost having its strengths and weaknesses, teams need to work together to properly protect snipers and call out enemy snipers and MG nests. That's entirely up to stellar map design.

Shattered Horizon also has some great sniping, because - Oh my God! Where was he? Hundreds of meters away? Upside-down?!? On a twirling platform!?! In shadow? Floating with a deactivated suit in space?!? WHERE IS HEEEE?

For single-player, I'd have to agree: nothing really compares to Far Cry and Far Cry 2. Far Cry 2's generally open savannahs made sniping a little easier than Far Cry's dense jungles and meant you got in more sniping duels than constantly shifting positioning battles...but then Far Cry ruined everything with supermutants, so...six and one-half dozen.

Certain games, like Borderlands, should have competed, but the A.I. wasn't up to the task, which made sniping far less exciting and dangerous than it should've been.

[Cooper]

Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl or Stalker Call of Pripyat. Either one with Complete mod. The real sniper rifles in both games are somewhat rare but you can use other rifles for sniping too.

I love the Stalker games, and generally use the Dragunov the moment I get my hands on it.

Problem is, the AI is crap at dealing with a sniper. They just run around like idiots.

Or, on the complete mod, fire back at 800 metres away with an AK on auto and get super-perfect shots...

[EndelNurk]

It sounds like signing up as a sniper with the Arma 2 folks might be your best bet.

[StrangLove]

Airsoft >.>

But seriously, occasionally the lads on the ARMA server will let you play with a rifle, and then it's jolly good fun and very real-feeling, if you're at a range over 500 meters.

[GraveyardJimmy]

Red Orchestra/ Darkest hour is great for sniping.

The sniper is useful for taking out MGs, anti-sniper operations, clearing chokepoints etc. A bad sniper can lose a map, its that important.

[mashakos]

Metal Gear Solid! It introduced the jitter mechanic: The longer you keep scoping at a target the more erratic your grip gets. To relax, you need to collect and use the Daizepam powerup. This powerup is especially awesome because it exists in real life too!

MGS is alittle too old school, so I would recommend MGS2.

[Rakysh]

TF2. G'day mate.

[BenWah]

Anyone remember the old original operation flashpoint, that had a fantastic sniping experience.

[Anthile]

ArmA 2, really.

[wcaypahwat]

[QUOTE=mashakos;8115 To relax, you need to collect and use the Daizepam powerup. This powerup is especially awesome because it exists in real life too!

[/QUOTE]

I probably wouldn't recommend mixing firearms with anti-depressants.

oh! JFK Reloaded?

[Drake Sigar]

Operation Flashpoint?

[westyfield]

Project Reality mod for BF2.
I was covering my squad's assault on an oil refinery from atop an oil tower a few hundred metres away. From that height I could see over the fence into the refinery, and inform my squad mates of where the defenders were. My job was basically to sit still, watch what's going on and try to avoid being detected - I wasn't to fire unless it was necessary or a guaranteed kill.
The first fireteam went along one fence, round a corner and through the gate, just before a pair of enemies rounded the same corner. I yelled a warning, my friends turned around, found cover and took out the enemies. More came to investigate and I noticed the enemy squad leader (recognisable by his uniform and equipment) standing next to the enemy medic (ditto) ready to ambush our second fireteam. I put one round through both of them, our squad rushed the base and cleared out the remaining defenders. Just in time for me to notice enemy reinforcements coming over a ridge...

I could ramble on, but I won't. PR's great, try it.

[Kablooie]

Probably the original Crysis, for me. At least the enemy AI was smart enough to move towards my nest (and often where I couldn't snipe them).

I very much love sniping in Fallout3, too, even if the npc's are idiots. Mostly as I like seeing slomo skull explosions. Yes, I'm twisted that way.

I think the most challenging sniping was in TF2. It took skill to get consistent head shots, which was the point, I believe. On the other hand, sniping was so OP and ridiculous in Gears1 (you could not only snipe someone 5 feet away, but even melee them with the rifle) that I left that MP fairly early.

[sabrage]

I know this isn't going to be popular, but I thought MW2 had some AWESOME sniping sections, especially that one spec ops mission in the snowy mountains.

[Universal Hamster]

Its not PC, but I would say Goldeneye on the N64.
Its because of the controller really, there is no artifical hand-shaking or breath holding to be controlled by another button, when you zoom in you actually have to be steady handed to get the shot right.