You can strip the game way down. Next to no HUD, no assists, smarter enemies, no way to track foes except remembering what you've seen. It's harder obviously but it's more interesting. With all those assists on I felt terribly bored by the lack of friction or challenge. My advice? Put as much on "authentic" as you can and take your time with it, for a much more memorable experience where you'll really have to engage with what you're seeing and hearing.

Those options aren't the game's only shake-up. Co-op returns and it quite radically changes how Sniper Elite is played, allowing synchronous take downs and coordination that gives the game a whole new dimension. Then there's the new invasion mode, a Dark Souls-esque system where players can enter other's games as an Axis sniper. It brings a real Enemy At The Gates energy which adds way more tension than the offline game can provide, as you suddenly have to slow down your pace and duel it out with a real thinking enemy instead of the slightly dim AI. No tricking a real player by chucking a bottle off into the distance. If the thought of strangers waiting out in the bushes is a little much, you can always turn it off completely. That said, it'd be a shame to not engage with the multiplayer side of things because I think even the game itself undersells how much these features enhance the experience.

Under the right circumstances Sniper Elite 5 is a decent, occasionally great, stealth game—surprising enough to give it an edge, but too inconsistent to keep it. It wisely has its eye on the competition; it just can't quite hit the mark.