The 5 Best Sniper Rifles in Video Games

TGS discusses the best sniper rifles in the business and what makes them great.

"Sniper rifles are powerful, accurate over long distances, and relatively light compared to weapons that fire explosive charges. The greatest advantage, however, is the ability a sniper rifle gives a player to be sneaky. You can risk your life (and stats), machine gun or shotgun in hand, by meeting a well-armed man face to face, or pick up a sniper rifle, climb the tower, and blast the fool from where he can't get you."

[ape007]

am sure killzone 2's will be 1 one of the best of all time

and btw,where's the gears of war sniper and the goldeneye\perfect dark 64 snipers?

[zaza126]

Honestly, Im as excited for Killzone 2 as the next guy but why do you have to take a story that all gamers can enjoy and twist it in some way that killzone 2 is the best

[buy a ps3]

seriously dude their is a time and place for fanboy arguments. now is not one of those times STFU ape007.my favorite is the lazar sniper from Halo2.

[ThanatosDMC]

I think the special forces unlockable weapon for Battlefield 2 was the best. It's super accurate and extremely quiet too. Perfect for being in enemy territory without being noticed.

Unless a UAV flies overhead then... you're pretty much gonna get hunted down or an arty strike.

[C_SoL]

ape is right. I was in the beta to know. Killzone2's sniper rifle is probably the most coolest realistic sniper rifle ever in a game and there's nothing wrong with that. It deserves to be on that list. He's just saying it will be among the best. Killzone2 deserves the attention.

[kwicksandz]

Perfect dark 64 has the best sniper of all time

It sees and shoots through walls AND tracks enemies automatically.

[ape007]

oh I totally forgot

halo has 1 of the best

and about me for shutting me the f up

was there any fanboyism in my comment

I mentioned gears and 2 n64 games

???

[LoVeRSaMa]

I'd say the AWP from CS and CSS [=

(Thats mainly due to the flickshot & Quick Scope)

[N4360G]

I agree,the sniper rifle in Killzone 2 is sick,only 19 days left until Killzone 2 is released!!

[kparks]

were is the BARRETT??????

[bodybombs]

what about Unreal tournament 3, the sniper in that game rapes. i would have to say the perfect dark farsight would be the best of all IMO though, like stated above it can see through walls and shoot through them as well, with a tracking laser for secondary fire

[ape007]

PERFECT DARK IS THE BEST FPS OF ALL TIME.

"take her down man"

"one stupid gun"

"jeez"

"am going for cover"

"I don't wanna die"

"what the?"

"you b!tch"

perfect dark has simply the best enemy voice acting\death animation\shooting ever

nothing can beat perfect dark on n64

[Pika-pie]

I used to love the Goldeneye sniper rifle.. It was awesome cause you could use it at distance or close quaters..

I used to be untouchable in multiplayer until someone would come up behind me and karate chop me. Damn the person who always used to play as odd job!!!!!

[stevenhiggster]

I totally agree with 1.7, and anyone who has played Counter Strike will agree too, no sniper rifle comes close to the "noob cannon" that is counter strike's AWP, one hit kills everytime, and the noise off it is unbelieveable! Love it. I have used most of the rifles on the list and the AWP is a massive ommission.

[Montrealien]

I agree, the lack of CS, CS:S`s AWP is just plain wrong. I mean that damn gun is banned from servers, lol, And that sound, oh how I hate that sound! greta gun, great sniper, deserves some recognition.

[Bonsai1214]

awp is far from a noob weapon. its not a one hit kill if you hit below the waist. it takes actual skill to use if you're awping against people who know what they're doing.

[evrfighter]

some of the prettiest and kewlest kills of all time were probably done with the awp.

sure a noob can get a random kill with it but in the right hands you'd better come out with ur crosshairs already planted on the dudes head or get a well placed twitch shot or its over.

seriously pro awp users are looked up to and idolized in the pc gaming community. as pathetic as that sounds...

of course getting a headshot on a chopper or jet pilot as he flew by with the 50 cal in battlefield 2 makes you feel really giddy inside.

[DA_SHREDDER]

M40 COD4

[Bubble Buddy]

^ IMO, the most underrated sniper rifle in the game. This baby rapes.

[jBat17]

iron lungs makes this combo even deadlier

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@DA_SHREDDER

M40 has to be hands down the best sniper rifle in the call of duty games yet. Perfect combination of accuracy and death. (:

[IzKyD1331]

M40 kicks the .50 cal's ass

[SAiOSiN]

+acog in non-hardcore and stopping power. :)
hardcore search is the best though!

[iHEARTboobs]

Stopping power and iron lungs, thats all you need. Can't stand the acog though.

[kparks]

the m21 overkill and iron lungs

[xwabbit]

This is open zone i can do anything i want!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EE
KILL ZONE 2 WILL RAPE EVERY FKING SNIPER!!!!!!!!! Lol i sound like a fan boy ! OMG NO! I'm getting the Why this fever! SH!T! JK.... you can see I'm bored...... *CRYING* ..... i want my mommy :(

[ape007]

"This is open zone i can do anything i want!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E EE"

HAHAHAHHAHA THAT CRACKED ME UP DUDE

LAUGHED OUT LOUD LOL

[xwabbit]

I even get a disagree in open zone... some people rlly hate me 4 no reason LOL!

[inbfour]

Resistance getting high marks.

[Bubble Buddy]

What other sniper rifles can slow time down :P.

[callahan09]

When I saw this article title, I instantly new Resistance's had to be on the list. I'd put it at number 1, for sure.

[Electricear]

I loved the sniper rifle in both incarnations of Resistance:FoM, and as soon as I read the title of the article, I knew it deserved to be in the list some where. I was happy to see it in the number one spot as it really is one of the most fun sniper rifles I've used in a game.

[crillyconlig]

sniper is a joy to use, 2 levels of zoom, awesome pop sound as you fire, and sixaxis, it can work for you or agaisnt, minor movement in the controler to nail a headshot, or violent shake messes your shot completly, just like a shaky hand using a real sniper.

[NaiNaiNai]

amazing how they got it to work after Killzone 1's sniper O.o that thing just sucked.
-nai-

[NaiNaiNai]

what..... all i said was that the killzone 1 sniper rifle sucked. i mean if you want to deny that then you a really really blind.
-nai-

[bigbomber]

..

[cryymoar]

nah dude it's all about the AWP!

[TheColbertinator]

I agree.The Fareye from Resistance is a monster.Chimeran heads have flown countless times when I have that rifle

[DavidMacDougall]

I totally agree but when i've got the bots head i like to smash it into something first before i cut it

[DreamcastFanboy]

I liked warhawk's Sniper alot.

[Simple Jack]

killing someone in warhawk with a sniper is almost the equivalent of an orgasm.

[zaza126]

I completely agree.
Shooting and killing with that thing was always hard but it was so satisfying
I especially loved having sniper duels, good times...

[UnSelf]

is by far one of the hardest to use.

but oh, does it feel so effing good to snipe someone out of the sky wit one

[ThanatosDMC]

I brought down a warhawk with a sniper rifle. Was it three to four shots to kill one? But it was all ready about to blow i just took it out with a lucky shot.

[monkey602]

It takes 3 shots to bring down a full health warhawk

[marichuu]

I'm terrible at Warhawk, especially when it comes to flying, but the sniper is definitely satisfying to kill someone with.

FEAR 2 demo sniper was great too, you could literally split people apart with it :P

[DARK WITNESS]

i actually love the one in the pic the most; the Halo CE sniper.

i loved the way when you zoom in on a target it would display distance and latitude and all that... and the night vision.

i didn't like the sniper in halo 2 or 3 though.

[Firstkn1ghT]

It's got to go to the Halo Sniper. Especially Halo 3 since you get an award for every headshot.

"The only reason Bungie’s Sniper Rifle didn’t make it higher on this list is the high recoil and low capacity magazine. Four doesn’t cut it."

One of the few snipers that actually take some skill to use.

[C_SoL]

.....jumping in mid-air and shooting sniper rifle doesn't cut using skill.......

[IaMs12]

And yah it may have High Recoil but it doesnt screw up your accuracy really. By the time your reticule moved the shot has made its target. And your already looking for a new one. 4 shots tho is little but its deadly. Anymore would make the multiplayer annoying even more with spamming snipers everywhere

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Weirdly enough...

...the "advanced" sniper rifle Firstkn1ght speaks of is used by almost everybody online.

Yeah...

...that sure does take a lot of skill.

[mastiffchild]

Is it me being stupid or did he only list three after saying best five?(Halo/cod/resisrance-only three there)

[Elven6]

Uh oh, looks like something went wrong with our server, Far Cry and Battlefront were on the list but something went wonky, I will let the author know.

[hydro-lx]

no, he said 5, but the idiot forgot to put discriptions for the other two, I.E. the farcry sniper and the star wars sniper

[mastiffchild]

Yeah, wondered why there were pictures from Farcry and SW but no descriptions-sorted.

[Elven6]

Hydro, I already explained what happened in the above post, and the term "idiot" coming from you after the spectacle you made on N4G this past weekend is like a Klansman saying he’s in it for kicks.

If you’re going to call someone that term it might help if you had at least spelt properly.

[hydro-lx]

and where did i spell anything incorrect? in what articles did i misspell as well?

[Elven6]

In the English language it's proper to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. There is also no such word as "discriptions", as for your articles, well I think the N4G community told you enough as is.

[hydro-lx]

what the f%&k do i care about a comment, you think imma go through every comment and fix everything, at least my articles are spelled correctly. i wanna see you do better at a site and an article day in and day out with everything better... i could go through your list of comments and point out a s%^t load of errors... but you wanna seem like the smart kid and act like you know best... your just sad...

[Elven6]

I don't care, if your going to attack ones intelligence like you did above at least act intelligent yourself. People make mistakes thats fine but when you attack someone by calling them a idiot it really crosses the line. I've only seen the work you've done over the weekend, it was far from quality.

Hydro, meet my site.. ^^^^^^

[Madgunner]

Medal of Honor: Allied Assaults Springfield' 05 or the Kar98 could of easily be in that list, that game's Community revolved around Snipers and the main popular thing was SNIPER ONLY and Sniper only ladders, tournaments, scrims and matches

*^*[BSS]*^*|=|MaDgUnNeR|=| (to anyone whos played mohaa) you know who Black Sheep Squadron is
Number 1 Sniper only clan in mohaa

Peace!

[Spinitus]

Halo 2 human sniper pwns all.

[PS-Wii-60]

is without a doubt THE BEST sniper rifle in gaming history.

Secondary fire is a grenade launcher!

But even better...

"Ghost Bullet" allows FULL CONTROL of the projectile (in slow motion) to direct where you want, even around corners, for MULTIPLE headshots!! In some sections of the game that could mean as many as 6-8 headshots from a single bullet!

*EDIT: @ knight With all the enemies storming you at once you need the firepower but, w/e. I knew before reading your comment your choice was gonna be Halo related...typical.
Try playing other games for a change =/

[Firstkn1ghT]

Jeez might as well put a nuke on the sniper that takes out everybody!

Such a noobish sniper.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

...and what does that make the sniper rifle from Halo?

[stealthx]

wheres the socom's sniper rifle. that was a great one

[Darkfocus]

doesn't anyone remember that pistil from turok evolution that unfolded into a sniper rifle. I love that thing :D

[GEV1L]

The counter-sniper rifle(not sure what the model was maybe a .50 cal) in GRAW was definately one of my favorites. It had explosive tipped ammo so you could pick off people through concrete walls with the thing(also without using perks a la call of duty 4 which also had some great snipers made even better depending on the perks you choose).

The sniper in the gta 3 series was fun too not that it was a great weapon, but for the ridiculous fountain of blood when you get a headshot.

[monkey602]

I dont like the Halo rifle. I'd at least put the Gears rifle in there instead (Yes I know it was explianed why not). And Warhawk's like said above

[Reshun]

Who needs to zoom in with those lol, the crosshair is perfectly set

[PS-Wii-60]

I think it was Perfect Dark on the 64, but I could be wrong.

[monkey602]

Reminds me of Timesplitters 2

[Firstkn1ghT]

That was the Rail Gun.

[Man_of_the_year]

i think that gun you speak of was in Red Faction for the PS2 and xbox.

[swiftshot93]

the most satisfying head shots were with the original sniper in RE4

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

T_T

its prolly cuz the m21 is semi auto

[40cal]

The M40 in Call of Duty 4, the 50 cal. in Metal Gear Solid 4 (only 2 million Drebin points for this bad boy), and the sniper rifle in R2 is awesome online.

[beatrixkiddo]

First person on here to mention MGS4. IMO all of the Sniper Rifles in MGS4 Kick a$$. Even the Cheap a$$ M14 that is fully automatic. I think the Metal gear Snipers are the most realistic of all games except maybe socom. As far as games that are unrealistic, Halo's snipers are a ton of fun and can't beat the slo-mo Blood spurting from the heads in the resistance series

[TheIneffableBob]

Any sniper rifle list without Counter-Strike's Scout or AWP is automatically fail.

[IaMs12]

Haha yah i totally forgot about the scout and AWP.

[TenPThor]

Definitely, I was surprised not to see the AWP on there.

I thought it was a shoe in. xD

[UVBEENHALOWNED]

I hope your not being sarcastic, but the awp from cs SHOULD be at the top of every list. The feeling of a headshot or just a nice shot from the awp is the best feeling ever! Gimme a break with the scout though :P

I don't play the game anymore, but everyone who has played cs knows this! I have yet to find a fps game that gives me that satisfying feeling like counter strike.

[marichuu]

But God do I love the Scout lol

[read disc error]

two of the top sniper rifles ever all in one game. (but only noobs use the AWP j/k). I prefer the scout because you move quicker and there is nothing as satisfying as taking someone out with a scout especially if they have an AWP. It's the definition of owned.

no rail gun from Quake 3 either

this list = total epic utter fail

[paskowitz]

I have to say the sniper rifle in the Fear 2 demo is sick. No joke it cuts people in half. Not to mention you can slow down time while watching your target get blown in half. It is like Gear's and Resistance's sniper rifle in one. The sniper rifle in Black was also really satisfying. Hitman Blood Money also had a cool sniper rifle. I think both games had versions of the Walther W2000.

[Mutley416]

I`m a Fareye guy... loved Snipin with it- had over a 1000kills with it-
went 25-0 with it :)

[Uzesgelen_Goo]

Scout is really good hit and run
AWP is monster one shot one kill. (well except 2 shots on leg)

[anubis12]

yeah id say scout and AWP.....i mean who hasn't played counterstrike at one point in there life.

[Flare149]

Definitely agree with this. I mean all the others on the list are cool just for general things (sound, laser, recoil) but the RFoM sniper is a real treat to use in fights and can be used even in close combat or far away using it's adjustable zoom. I think the other big part of it is that it's only available in single player (or at least the slow time function) so it makes you crave it more

[CobraKai]

Does the Rail Gun from MGS4 count? you can zoom and destroy gekkoes in one shot.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Probably not the article made some refrence to reality. You are more likely to see a laser sniper rifle then a hand held rail gun. The operational but not yet deployed rail guns existing today can only fit on a ship.

But reality aside. Yes. But my choice would be the predators plasma caster. Now that is sniping.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[akiraburn]

If anyone remembers the original Deus Ex, I personally would say that has one of the nicest Sniper Rifles out there. All the game's guns were really cool and made very versatile due to the modification add-ons you would find throughout the game. Specifically I mention the sniper though, due to the game's overall feel, and because nothing else even came close at the time (save maybe one or two games), and can still hold it's own today.

Stat changes made different guns more stable, and when you added on the silencer attachment the rifle was all the more amazing. The fact that you could pick off enemies from such a massive distance gave you a great stealth advantage. You could also do such immense damage that you could even take out some mechanized stuff with little hassle. And with the AI being far above average for the time (, they weren't immediately alerted that someone had been shot unless they passed by the body or if they were very near to the person who was shot. That gave you more options as to how you would choose to progress in the game.

Besides that, I was also a fan of the rifle in No One Lives Forever 2, and the Fareye in Resistance 1. While Resistance 2 added more realism with gore and dismemberment, I like the feel and satisfaction more in Resistance 1 overall. In both the slow-motion mode in single player as well as online, noting was more satisfying than racking up tons of those brutal kills with tremendous ease.

A notable mention to me, was also the Sniper Rifle used in Uncharted. While it didn't get a lot of use through the game, I thoroughly enjoyed the small amount of time I had it.

[Ethreon]

Farcry 2’s AS-50 would be my pick from those, Fareye at second place.

I like my snipers overpowered in MP. :>

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I agree with the status of halo's sniper rifle in 5th place. But it is the only gun on the lists that can kill with a ricochet. And thank this article for NOT mentioning any sniper rifle from Battlefield Bad company.
The barrett (although not a sniper rifle) is a horrible mess dumbed down like a typical EA game. In reality it is used first and foremost as an EOD/anti-materiel rifle, being too large and unwieldy to use effectively in a live firefight. But damn it does make a hole.

[read disc error]

sony fanboys just don't get how superb the physics are in Halo.

[Amnesiac]

The physics were amazing and ahead of their time in Halo 2. Halo 3 on the other had is more or less a regression in the series. Hell, it's native resolution isn't even HD. Halo 2 is one of the best video games of all time, Halo 3 isn't. Don't get me wrong, Halo 3 is a good game, butter smooth gameplay, amazing polish. But let's be honest here, after the sales of Halo 2 and hype of Halo 3, they could've put Barney episodes on a disc and called it Halo 3 and it would sell 5 million copies.

If only they would've kept the melee system the same, Halo 3 could've been sooooooooooooooo good.

Oh, by the way, go play the Killzone 2 demo, you'll forget about Halo.

[Shane Kim]

I haven't tried the sniper in KZ2 bu it looks freaking awesome.

[read disc error]

where is the AWP from Counterstrike? the sniper rifle from Resitance 2? lmfao! nobody plays that game and most who play it are total noobs. the writer likes to camp noobs who actually still play resistance 2. plain and simple.

[Elven6]

You do know what the purpose of a Sniper rifle is right? It was made for camping, even in real life!

[evrfighter]

the problem with that is that in video games, a good scope doesn't camp

[FxckOSX]

Gepard M6 anti material rifle.
or WA2000.

[Horny]

needs cs sniper and socoms m82

[AnttiApina]

Farsight definetly! You could see through walls. Now that's awesome!

[gameraxis]

I have to say, drop the Cod 4, and the Lightning gun from Unreal Championship 2003 is the best sniper rifle of all time...

[Dark_Overlord]

I can guarantee it kills more than 2 people in 1 shot, gets some mates to line up in a row then see how many you take out in 1 shot :-)

[ShAkKa]

i like the sniper rifle in Resident evil 4 and the Hitman games had some pretty good ones too.

[Jellzy]

Pretty poor list to be honest, not enough thought went into what could have been a good article.

For instance never mind all these Console FPS, wheres the AWP from CS/CS:S, and the PSG1 from MGS1 etc?

[Trebius]

The AWP was insane...i just wrote a comment about it, didnt think anyone else had mentioned it. Very nice, Bubbles!

[Jellzy]

Yeah its a good idea for an article, but dont head it 'The 5 Best Sniper Rifles in Video Games' and only really pick them from console FPS's.

p.s. Cheers for the bubbles m8, have some back :D.

[Amnesiac]

The Fareye is the best sniper ever, but they should've ranked the Halo sniper higher, and the M21 from COD4 shouldn't even have been on the list, it's for noobs. R700 or M40A3 FTW.

[Bits-N-Kibbles]

Seriously?... I have both resistance and love them both so don't get me wrong, but i was for sure that it would NOT be on the list.

I was hoping something from SOCOM or the Original Killzone Sniper Rifle, or maybe from Timesplitters Future Perfect, and the N64 Perfect Dark

[ThatCanadianGuy]

I loved that sniper in Battlefield 2.

Man..i played that game daily on XBL.Till they dropped xbox like a sack of bricks..

Anyways..yeah,amazing gun ! Loved shooting pilots out of helicopters.
Such a great feeling !

[Caph]

I don´t know if you can count a railgun as a sniper, but the railgun in red faction (2 I think) which could see hearts beating thru the wall. It was just awesome to kill your friends with :D

[asredas]

best is 50 cal from call of duty 4!

[mariusmal]

whatttttt ? m21 ?

the SVD makes that weapon obsolete.

[CurlUpAndDie]

1. resistance = 5th place. this guy is a terd bucket. Gears of War and CoD's is way better. PS3 ladyboy fan indeed

[Asuka]

I actually liked the Killzone 1 sniper rifle. I know its weird and hard to use at first, but after you get the hang of it you truly have full command of your shots! This is the only sniper rifle i found that actually test who is a gamer sniper, because you can make some incredible shots with it once you got the aiming down. After playing with that sniper rifle for so long....sniping is just to easy in any other game where your targeting reticule is always fixed

[Trebius]

AWP - Counterstrike

That's the best sniper rifle ever in my opinion...because it was the topic of discussion for so long...Why is it allowed? Why are people so 1337 with it? *waaah waaah*

When you hear that AWP BANG you know someone went down...haha.

[The Official]

If you play the Demo of Fear 2 the Sniper has a Lovely Kick to it. The Rumbles feels pretty good.

Honestly though.....Convent Sniper rifle has them all beat sorry.....Next to Gears of War 1 Longhot rifle. Active down FTW on some bullsh!t!!!!!!!

[- The Corrupt -]

Would you consider the maxed-out Marksman from R2's Co-Op as a Sniper Rifle? I would...

It has a huge clip, basically eleven shots that can kill most things without a headshot, the sight is badass, there's next to no recoil whatsoever... Oh and can't go forgetting the Electrostatic-Orbs, either - those things wipe out most enemies on their own... >_>

[evrfighter]

You'd think the sniper rifle that gave birth to FPS Doug and "BOOM HEADSHOT!!!!" would be on that list...

for you console people, I'm obviously referring to the awp. seriously just google "boom headshot" to see what I mean