Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a tactical shooter stealth video game developed and published by CI Games. It is the sixth entry in the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series and is the sequel to Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts. The game was released on 4 June 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Tactical/stealth FPP shooters are a unique genre. There aren't many these days. SGW is series with a long history and Contracts 2 is just another piece in that history that delivers all the flavors of being in the boots of a silent and deadly assassin that looks through the scope of his sniper rifle.

Working on that kind of a game required a lot of tactical thinking and planning. Hence, SGWC 2 is a sandbox semi-open world game with various places, locations to explore the player wishes for. You got your target, you got the means and now it's all up to you (the player) how you gonna play it. These elements were necessary to take under consideration when we planned missions.

I took part in both story planning and level design/layout of the mission that I took under my wings. And regarding the mission itself, it was the contract on Rashida Qalat. 

Besides creating geometry/landscape I've also did the scripting on mission objectives, AI placement and their patrol routes, cover system, alarm behavior and reinforcements. In addition surveillance/security placement.

RASHIDA QALAT

She is the mastermind of SGWC 2 story. Our task is to eliminate her as well as accomplish several other objectives in the area.

The gameplay loop of the SGWC 2 can be summarized in few bulletpoints:

- reach the mission area

- scout the area

- decide the approach

- complete the objective

With these in mind, when level designing each mission area I had to have in mind how the player wants to play. If he wants to go all guns blazing, lets give him the means, lets give him some cover to cover areas. If he wants to have a stealth approach, let's make hidden paths, holes in security. Or maybe the player would like to snipe from vantage points his enemies? Let's make these too.

Each approach must be considered during development. And with these, each level in SGWC 2 was created in mind and Rashida Qalat is no exception.

Here are some areas I've been working on:

Mission Start

Mission Start should point out your main objective or the landmark we want you to focus and remember. In this case it was Rashida's fortress -- her base of operations and likely the place where we can find her.

Docks

Here the objective is to sabotage three nuclear missle stockpiles. Each one of them is placed in different area.

Train Depot

The objective was to retrieve train manifest. It was hidden in well guarder building in the center of the compound. There were several approach methods and since it was in a valley, there were several good vantage points to scout and snipe.

The Fortress

Our final objective (although the player can decide which order of missions he complete) -- to eliminate Rashida Qalat and additional one, to free any prisoners she holds. Her fortress is divided into three parts. Lower part of fortress, upper part and sewers/tunells beneath the entire area. The latter, connects both surface areas and is a very good way to infiltrate through -- it's also the location of prisoners objective.

And here's the full walkthrough video of the mission: