Yes, that is the actual title of the game, and yes, I did consider not including the full title here. Not including the full title would’ve been a disservice to the game though, as ultimately, the title perfectly encapsulates both how weird it is, but also that it’s an actual simulator when it comes to its sniping mechanics. Nevertheless, I’ll still just be referring to it as Sniper Simulator 2026 for the rest of the review.

Sniping in videogames is nothing new – we’ve been doing it since the 90’s – but the mesh of surreal and overtly weird visuals and audio, like those seen in the great indie game, Cruelty Squad, and a focus on in-depth sniping, is unlike anything I’ve seen before. Whether or not the combination actually works, or if it’s just a gimmick to pull in fans from similar games, is something I hope to answer in this review.

Sniping is fun, when you get to do it

The best part of Sniper Simulator 2026, by a long shot, is the sniping. It started out feeling really finnicky, as the sniper rifle – and other gadgets – is handled pretty much exclusively with your mouse cursor. To aim the sniper, you use your cursor to grab and move around the stock of the rifle. The zoom in, you grab and drag the zoom knob on the sniper’s scope. To load your sniper rifle, you reach into your bag, drag a magazine out from it and insert it into the rifle, and then you use the cursor to pull back the bolt handle to chamber a cartridge.

This approach to handling your sniper rifle extends to gadgets, of which there are a few. For example: When sniping, you have to take wind and distance into account, and these are both measured with gadgets that, too, are handled using your mouse cursor. While there are other gadgets in the game, these two are pretty much needed for all levels.

Sniping is great, and so it saddens me that you don’t get to do it for a large chunk of your playtime. Most levels start you out with only your sniper rifle, but without bullets and your necessary gadgets. You then have to spend time running around searching for these items, sometimes going through mazes or doing some pretty terrible platforming, when what you’d much rather be doing is snipe stuff. It just feels like unnecessary padding, and I honestly would’ve rather the game was shorter – despite already being plenty short – than have to do a treasure hunt for items. It kept me from replaying levels, which would have probably increased my playtime, but in a way that would have been enjoyable.

Unapologetically weird

The aesthetics is perhaps where it’s the most similar to its sources of inspiration – namely Cruelty Squad. Everything about the visuals and audio is meant to feel like you’re moving through a fever dream. For the first hour or so, I found that it had a certain charm to it. The way textures look like they’re painted in Microsoft Paint, and how the trees are faces that constantly look at you – it feels like a low-effort shitpost, but intentionally so.

Whether or not intention is enough to make it more than that though, is something else entirely. I would argue that intention does not turn something bad into something good. Where Cruelty Squad succeeds in its aesthetics, is in variety and extreme absurdity. Cruelty Squad doesn’t just re-paint the real world in a low-effort style – it also creatively invents and includes the absurd and otherworldly. Sniper Simulator 2026 fails in that it sticks too much to reality, while keeping an aesthetic more fitting to that of the unnatural. So although it’s looks weird, it just looks weird for the sake of it.

Conclusion

Sniper Simulator 2026 is strongest in its sniping mechanics, which provide entertaining and decently deep gameplay. It’s then a shame that so much of the game is spent not actually sniping, and instead doing chores that function as little more than padding. The game has an interesting art style, but I had hoped it would delve more into the absurd, as it currently feels to lack a creative touch. There’s currently a level editor in the works, which could provide better levels with more focus on sniping, but as it isn’t here at the moment, I recommend holding off on getting the game until its been implemented.