Maybe one day we will have a cool sniping game that is both realistic and fun, but that day is not today. Sorry...
In this game, you play as American secret agent and sniper disguised as German who is (surprise, surprise...) trying to stop the naughty Nazis from selling their nuclear technology to the Soviets in the last days of WW 2. Historical facts aside, this gives you a good excuse for crawling through the streets of war-torn Berlin and shooting Russkies in the head (my apologies to our fellow Russian gamers - I meant no offense, it's just the way this game treats Red Army). Altough head shots look really cool, that alone is not enough for a good sniping game. Sure, the game is very realistic when it comes to sniping. You have to be mindful of your posture, wind, gravity effects on bullets (so-called "bullet drop"), distance from your target, and all kinds of things to make an accurate shot. Even your heartbeat rate and breathing can make a difference.
That's all great, but after a few good first impressions, you'll begin to notice game's many serious drawbacks. First of all, the AI. Don't get me wrong, enemies are smart alright. In fact, they're too smart. Very often they'll swarm you like locusts on even the slightest hint of your presence. It's like they telepathically know where you are, which becomes really frustrating, considering the fact that this was supposed to be a stealth-based game (camouflage and carefully chosen sniping positions are crucial to any sniper... duh!). So how the smeg are you supposed to be stealthy then? They're also insanely accurate. You wouldn't expect a sub machine gunner to hit you from more than 50 meters away while running sideways across the street, but it will happen on a regular basis. As for the enemy snipers, they're no more than a nuisance. Despite the fact that they're ALWAYS hiding in perfect sniping positions, they can't hit you even if you stand tall and wave your hand at them. What should have been the highlight of the game (duels between skilled snipers) turn out to be nothing more than waste of effort, because enemy sniper are mostly harmless.
Oh, and don't think you'll get many chances to shoot your targets from tall buildings and church towers (unlike the real life sniping). Most of the time you'll be crawling through dull streets, taking shelter behind garbage piles. Despite the fact that you're actually SURROUNDED by buildings, you can enter very few of them. Oh, and yes, enemy snipers are all miraculously positioned in those spots you can only dream of. It's like the game shows you what you could do as a sniper, but never actually lets you do it. And even when you do, you usually have to snipe everyone around you just to make it to the building alive, so it's not very rewarding. Well, there are a few good missions in the game, but most of them are dull and involve a lot of slow-paced crawling. Play this game for longer than one hour, and by the end of the mission you'll be so pissed off by tons of enemies who jump out of nowhere (despite your best efforts to stay hidden) that you'll forget everything about sniping and just start blasting away with machine gun, just to get through the level.
Well, what else to say about a sniping game where sub machine gunners turn out to be the biggest threat to an "elite" sniper? The game is kind of cool, and fun for a while, but unbalanced AI, poor mission design and a lack of ability to use real good sniping positions turn it into a one-trick-pony that gets boring after a few missions. I seriously doubt anyone would play it all the way to the end, but I'd lie if I said I didn't enjoy it, at least for a short while.