Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts (also written as Contracts, SGW:C1) is the fourth entry in the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series developed by Underdog Studio. It is set in newly-founded Siberian Republic where player, as a mercenary sniper and hitman executes contracts given to him by unknown clients with a middle-man supervisor of an unknown identity. SGW:C1 was announced by CI Games in August 2018 and released in November 22, 2019 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As of April 26, 2023, SGW:C has following ratings on selected websites: 74% positive Steam reviews out of 8,332; 92% likability on Google; 71 points on Metacritic (user score: 66).
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, however it is not an open-world type of game - instead, it features a set of open levels to give players multiple ways of approach. Every level features a number of contracts being the "main quest" tasks, challenges encouraging player to replay locations and eliminate enemies in different ways, hidden bounties allowing player to hunt down other mercenaries bodyguarding the highly-valuable targets, and collectible items scattered through these locations. Player has to finish previous contracts to unlock following regions. The game does not have a definitive ending and after finishing the main quest player can go back to previous locations and complete any remaining activities.
"Experience pure sniper gameplay across the harsh terrain of modern-day Siberia in a brand new contracts-based system that encourages strategic thinking within engaging, redeployable missions. Contracts delivers tailor-made missions that offer a clear main objective with a fixed monetary reward, and options to complete secondary objectives for bonus payouts – sniping gameplay at its absolute best." - Quote from CI Games website
During the game, between the contracts player is able to change Seeker's loadout and adjust the chosen set of weapons and gadgets to expected situation. Player's primary weapon can be a far-range sniper rifle or medium-long range marksman rifle; secondary weapon can be a short-to-medium range rifle or a compound bow. There is also a set of sidearms: pistols or revolvers. All these weapons can be modified through Customization Screen and be equipped with attachments like better scopes, suppressors, camouflages and different ammo types, which alter weapon's statistics. Seeker can keep up to 6 extra gadgets in his inventory like medkits, grenades, drones and mines.
After exfiltration, for every contract done Seeker earns money and tokens. Cash is earned through completing missions and challenges, killing and looting enemies and doing certain activities. Money is the base requirement for unlocking guns, gadgets and attachments. Tokens are earned through completing contracts, challenges and gathering collectibles. They are required for buying some late-game weapons and upgrading Seeker's skills.
Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts is predominantly a singleplayer game, but has been expanded with free DLC adding multiplayer mode (See DLCs section).
Story
A contractor named Seeker has been hired as a hitman by an unknown company/institution that uses Handler as contractor's supervisor and middle-man. The mercenary has been sent to newly proclaimed Siberian Republic which was a part of Russian Federation before. Due to relations cooling down between the Federation and region of Siberia, and Russia benefiting from local resources without any gratitude, a new political movement called The People For An Independent Siberia has risen up. Regional governor, Nergui Kurchatov, resigned from his post and joined the movement, thus cutting off any ties with Kremlin.
Some time after, a Siberian War of Independence started. Despite Russian army's efforts, many soldiers serving there were Siberian and defection occurrences were rife. War ended almost as soon as it started. Kurchatov was proclaimed a Prime Minister of the Siberian Republic and started reigning with his family and friends on most notable positions.
Some people were disappointed with how Kurchatov performed his duties, and his family's greed and behavior of hoarding wealth and taking away from ordinary people caused Siberians to rise up again. A new militia force called Siberian Wolves has showed up, stealing state assets, attacking oil fields and governmental buildings. Leader of Siberian Wolves, Nastya Surikova, became a hero of the oppressed people.
To maximize the chance of successfully executing his contracts, Seeker receives top-notch futuristic gear including a special mask hiding his identity that allows to communicate with Handler, displays crucial data about his surroundings and has many more features; along with this he is paid for every executed contract that will destabilize Kurchatov's power.
Characters
| Main Characters | Targets | Bounties* |
|---|---|---|
| Seeker | Nergui Kurchatov | Ivan Yashin |
| Handler | Olga Kurchatova | Vaslav Mikhalkov |
| Dimitri Ivanovsky | Sergei Varshavski | |
| Igor P. Sekhov | Mikhail Cherenkov | |
| Leonid Nizhlev | Leonid Streltsov | |
| Alexei Arensky | ||
| Ilya Stoletov | ||
| Boris Tabakov | ||
| Andrei Dargomyzhsky | ||
| Konstantin Ursov |
*Only bounties with names and character background are listed.
Enemy Types
Soldiers of the Siberian military observing movement near the ridge in Altai Mountains.
Apart from Seeker's contract Targets and Bounties, there are plenty of other hostiles the player may encounter during the game. There are various enemy types that can be a serious threat depending on players situational awareness and environment. They can be categorized into Basic Enemies and Special Enemies.
Basic Enemies
- Regular Soldiers - versatile units that are dangerous only in groups. They are relatively easy to kill.
- Riflemen - tougher Regular Soldiers that tend to be more aggressive and are capable of using high-class grenades.
- Sergeants - close combat specialists armed with shotguns, immune to gas weapons.
- Marksmen - soldiers equipped with long-distance weapons, able to see better and further and deal a lot of damage.
- Heavy Soldiers - units equipped with explosion-resistant suits and helmets that can withstand a lot of firepower. They are slow, but equipped with machine guns and require heavy-hitting ammunition to be taken out relatively easy.
Special Enemies
- Officers - skilled soldiers on par with Sergeants but can be interrogated for information about contracts.
- Drones - relatively easy to destroy but will bring enemy's attention upon explosion and can track player very easily if spotted.
- Rival Mercenaries - elite snipers hired to kill the Bounties like the Seeker.
DLCs
After game's release, CI Games has published 13 paid and free downloadable content packs available to be (bought and) downloaded through Steam, GOG and PSN (some were later added to the base game with released patches and hotfixes).
- Sturm Bodyguard 9 handgun released on November 22, 2019
- SV-Amur sniper rifle released on November 22, 2019
- Steam Mist Weapon Skin released on November 22, 2019
- (Free) Kell-T DLC released on November 29, 2019
- (Free) Summer's Nostalgia Weapon Skin Pack released on November 29, 2019
- (Free) Positive Vibes Weapon Skin Pack released on November 29, 2019
- World Flags Skin Pack released on January 24, 2020
- Soundtrack released on February 11, 2020
- (Free) Multiplayer mode released on March 4, 2020
- (Free) Wallpaper pack released on January 11, 2021
- Savage Sniper Weapon Pack released on December 2, 2021
- Seeker's Selects Weapon Pack released on December 2, 2021
- Merciless Marksman Weapons & Skins Pack released on December 2, 2021
Weapons
Seeker can be equipped with a set of weapons: a primary weapon being his long range rifle, a secondary weapon for short and medium range combat, a sidearm being a handgun allowing for (stealthy) close quarters combat and up to six gadgets - consumables, throwables and other devices.
Primary Weapons
- HUB-93
- SV-Amur
- HJ 7.62
- Tactical XCR 700
- MSSR 10
- PR15 HERA
- Marcus Tactical 8
- Model 550 TRV
- Tai Hu SR3
- Blower R93
- Model Ron B82
- Reese ESR 2020
- OFB SVDM
- SOO-KSV 2020
- Soris T50
- B95 Chris
- Madison EMS 25
- Sturm - Precision
Secondary Weapons
Sidearms
- P5Q Steel
- Sturm Bodyguard-9
- Sturm Military-45
- IMP-443
- FFF-45 ACP
- Mad Sheriff 9
- Spring 686
- Fort P99
- Falcon IRM
- Guss M9
- Rotweil M23
- Gaston 21
Gadgets
- Frag Grenade
- Flash Grenade
- EMP Grenade
- Gas Grenade
- Throwing Knife
- Med-Kit
- Adrenaline Pack
- RWS SR-50
- MUAV "Dragonfly"
- Warning Device
- TMRP6 Anti Tank Mine
- Gas Mine Trap
- Bouncing Betty
- Decoy Trap
- C-4 Explosive
Customizable attachments
All weapons have their own unique attachments despite some having similar design. Please view page of a chosen gun to see its available attachments.
Skills
See this page for a full list of skills, branches and upgrades: Character Development (Contracts)
Between contracts, the player can upgrade Seeker and his gadgets through development section in Loadout tab. There are four categories of skills, which are divided into several branches, and each branch has a line of upgrades. Each subsequent upgrade requires purchasing of the previous one in that branch. Sometimes a line in a branch forks and the player has to choose between two available skills.
Difficulties
Contracts features three types of difficulties player can choose from in the beginning of the Tutorial mission. Once
- Marksman - Game difficulty is decreased. Enemies are less aware, they see and hear the player only when he's near. Enemy's weapon damage is reduced.
- Sniper - Standard game difficulty. Enemies are aware of the player, they see and hear the player from the standard distance. Enemy's weapon damage is on a standard level.
- Deadeye - Game difficulty is increased. Enemies are much more aware of the player, they spot the player easily in the open, and hear him from the greater distance. Enemy's weapon damage is increased.
Regions
Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts features five playable locations (and sixth being the tutorial section) called Regions. Every region has it's own set of contracts, challenges and collectibles and the more elements are completed, the higher completion percentage will be.
Bajkit Proving Ground
Altai Mountains
Kolchak Harbor
Beketov Valley
Arakcheyev Fortress
Sibirskaya-7 Junction
Gallery
Trivia
- Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts is not a direct sequel to previous games in the series. It features different set of characters and there is no real connection to older titles in the story.
- First three games in these series were titled Sniper: Ghost Warrior. This game and all following from "Contracts" series are titled Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts and should be considered as a separate installment.
- Within game files there are plenty of assets that have been copied from previous games like character textures, maps and weapons. They aren't used in final game and are considered leftovers from the development phase.