Finished my first playthrough (Normal) and wanted to share my first impressions.

I enjoyed the game and would recommend it if you enjoyed previous Sniper Elite and Zombie Army games. Dropped down to Normal on my first playthrough because for some reason I couldn't shoot straight at first. Only played the campaign, haven't played any Season Pass content yet.

The main campaign was shorter than I expected but the missions and side objectives were what you'd expect from a Sniper Elite game. AA guns, lots of them. Nazis too.

Sniper Elite 5 reintroduces armour piercing ammo which makes dealing with armoured vehicles a lot quicker. There's also non-lethal, subsonic and match grade ammo. Can't say much about the new ammo types as I haven't really used them enough. Takedowns now offer a lethal or non-lethal option.

Each map has 3 different starting locations, the default locations and two other locations that you have to find and unlock. A nice feature that allows you to mix things up a bit.

Rocks are replaced with empty bottles. No longer an infinite supply but you can find empty bottles all over the map. Throwing a bottle at an enemy's head will knock them unconscious which is handy and neat.

Truck engines can now also be used for sound cover, just like generators. Alarms are also new-ish. Once the alarm is triggered, sirens will call for reinforcements. Alarms can be disabled and booby trapped as well, so that's fun.

Zip lines to travel across larger distances relatively fast. I suppose they're handy but I'm not sure if they really add anything.

A crowbar and bolt cutters are new tools. They can be used to open doors and supply crates, some can be opened by picking the lock or brute force, others only by brute force. You can also use them to cut holes in fences or sabotage mission objectives.

The Kill List is a nice addition. Every mission has an optional objective to kill the target in a specific way. Some are easy, others are a bit trickier but they were fun to do and I'm sure I'll have fun with them in the next few playthroughs.

I do have some issues with the game, though. Nothing that made me regret buying this game but I still want to mention them.

First of all, it is set in France. Not one French person to be shot, though. Not even civilians. In Italy we got to shoot Italians on both sides but in France the best we get are NPCs slipping in and out of their stupid French accents. Very disappointing.

The graphics are really nice, the fabric of Karl's sweater looks pretty realistic but at the same time the player models look a bit more plasticky. The facial animations are more detailed but look off, especially in the cut scenes. Corpses often have wide open, contorted mouths and for some reason a lot of them also end up sticking their asses in the air as if to say "Fick mich hart, Karl, du heißer Scharfschütze" which is more comical than anything else.

I always found the Zombie Army games to a bit a jankier than the Sniper Elite games when it comes to the controls in general. Weapon handling was the most noticeable difference to me and Sniper Elite 5 feels more in line with Zombie Army 4 than Sniper Elite 4.

Gun handling feels different, more Zombie Army than Sniper Elite but I can't quite explain what that means. The balancing of weapons and other decisions don't make sense to me. They added the Drilling shotgun but it doesn't have a rifle barrel, which is the defining feature of the Drilling. Also, Mosin, poor thing.

Maps are big just like in SE4 but feel emptier, first few maps have a lot of open fields and hedges. Villages and military structures are smaller. Feels a bit more open world compared to SE4, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the difference in design, I think SE4 had better level design with elevation differences and pathing. Traversing the terrain in 5 is a lot jankier. Lots of invisible walls, hills you can't climb, obstacles you can't mount or vault.

Getting interaction prompts to appear can be a pain. Especially picking up items from safes was quite iffy. I point directly at the documents but no prompt, have to do a little dance to get the prompt and then I still have to pick up the TNT or ammo or whatever before the documents even register. Don't know why that is but it is annoying.

Enemies are spread thin, I first thought that was due to Normal difficulty but apparently it's no different on higher difficulties. Will find out for myself soon enough.

Not a big fan of locating work benches to unlock weapon upgrades. I suppose it's nice to change or upgrade your rifle on the go but adding three, one for pistol, SMG and rifle each is a bit much. I very much would have prefered individual weapon challenges like in SE4 to upgrade instead of unlocking them across the board.

And last, but not least, there sadly is no Overwatch mode. I'm sure Invasion can be fun but Overwatch was really good in SE4. A huge improvement on SE3 and I would've loved some DLC missions for Overwatch.
I prefer co-op, don't really touch multiplayer so the removal of co-op Overwatch means a game with less content.

Finished my first playthrough (Normal) and wanted to share my first impressions. I enjoyed the game and would recommend it if you enjoyed previous Sniper Elite and Zombie Army games. Dropped down to Normal on my first playthrough because for some reason I couldn't shoot straight at first. Only played the campaign, haven't played any Season Pass content yet. The main campaign was shorter than I expected but the missions and side objectives were what you'd expect from a Sniper Elite game. AA guns, lots of them. Nazis too. Sniper Elite 5 reintroduces armour piercing ammo which makes dealing with armoured vehicles a lot quicker. There's also non-lethal, subsonic and match grade ammo. Can't say much about the new ammo types as I haven't really used them enough. Takedowns now offer a lethal or non-lethal option. Each map has 3 different starting locations, the default locations and two other locations that you have to find and unlock. A nice feature that allows you to mix things up a bit. Rocks are replaced with empty bottles. No longer an infinite supply but you can find empty bottles all over the map. Throwing a bottle at an enemy's head will knock them unconscious which is handy and neat. Truck engines can now also be used for sound cover, just like generators. Alarms are also new-ish. Once the alarm is triggered, sirens will call for reinforcements. Alarms can be disabled and booby trapped as well, so that's fun. Zip lines to travel across larger distances relatively fast. I suppose they're handy but I'm not sure if they really add anything. A crowbar and bolt cutters are new tools. They can be used to open doors and supply crates, some can be opened by picking the lock or brute force, others only by brute force. You can also use them to cut holes in fences or sabotage mission objectives. The Kill List is a nice addition. Every mission has an optional objective to kill the target in a specific way. Some are easy, others are a bit trickier but they were fun to do and I'm sure I'll have fun with them in the next few playthroughs. I do have some issues with the game, though. Nothing that made me regret buying this game but I still want to mention them. First of all, it is set in France. Not one French person to be shot, though. Not even civilians. In Italy we got to shoot Italians on both sides but in France the best we get are NPCs slipping in and out of their stupid French accents. Very disappointing. The graphics are really nice, the fabric of Karl's sweater looks pretty realistic but at the same time the player models look a bit more plasticky. The facial animations are more detailed but look off, especially in the cut scenes. Corpses often have wide open, contorted mouths [strike] and for some reason a lot of them also end up sticking their asses in the air as if to say "Fick mich hart, Karl, du heißer Scharfschütze" [/strike] which is more comical than anything else. I always found the Zombie Army games to a bit a jankier than the Sniper Elite games when it comes to the controls in general. Weapon handling was the most noticeable difference to me and Sniper Elite 5 feels more in line with Zombie Army 4 than Sniper Elite 4. Gun handling feels different, more Zombie Army than Sniper Elite but I can't quite explain what that means. The balancing of weapons and other decisions don't make sense to me. They added the Drilling shotgun but it doesn't have a rifle barrel, which is the defining feature of the Drilling. Also, Mosin, poor thing. Maps are big just like in SE4 but feel emptier, first few maps have a lot of open fields and hedges. Villages and military structures are smaller. Feels a bit more open world compared to SE4, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the difference in design, I think SE4 had better level design with elevation differences and pathing. Traversing the terrain in 5 is a lot jankier. Lots of invisible walls, hills you can't climb, obstacles you can't mount or vault. Getting interaction prompts to appear can be a pain. Especially picking up items from safes was quite iffy. I point directly at the documents but no prompt, have to do a little dance to get the prompt and then I still have to pick up the TNT or ammo or whatever before the documents even register. Don't know why that is but it is annoying. Enemies are spread thin, I first thought that was due to Normal difficulty but apparently it's no different on higher difficulties. Will find out for myself soon enough. Not a big fan of locating work benches to unlock weapon upgrades. I suppose it's nice to change or upgrade your rifle on the go but adding three, one for pistol, SMG and rifle each is a bit much. I very much would have prefered individual weapon challenges like in SE4 to upgrade instead of unlocking them across the board. And last, but not least, there sadly is no Overwatch mode. I'm sure Invasion can be fun but Overwatch was really good in SE4. A huge improvement on SE3 and I would've loved some DLC missions for Overwatch. I prefer co-op, don't really touch multiplayer so the removal of co-op Overwatch means a game with less content.