CTU: Marine Sharpshooter

aka: Atirador de Elite
Moby ID: 10675

Description official description

One shot. One kill.

As a sniper in one of the world’s most deadly specialty infantry units, the player will chase down a terrorist organization bent on nuclear Armageddon for the West. The mission: save the USA … and maybe even the planet.

CTU: Marine Sharpshooter, a first person shooter, focuses on the combat sniper, one of the most legendary specialties in the infantry. The player will be one of the elite marksmen, dealing death from afar. Along with the player’s spotter buddy, participate in a series of covert missions that center on preventing the construction and launch of a nuclear missile.

The player/sniper will be accompanied at all times by the spotter, who acts as a radio link to headquarters, provides close fire support, and assists the sniper in finding his target (if the spotter dies, game over). Quality voice-over dialogue draws the player through the plot where the player must chase a fictional terrorist organization around the world, from Afghanistan to Chechnya and then on to a fortress on a small South Pacific island. Along the way the player will encounter wheeled vehicles, helicopters, terrorist troops wielding assault rifles and RPG launchers, and even their own snipers …

Much of the combat will be through the sniper scope mounted on your special sniper weapon, from the massive .50 cal Barrett rifle to the advanced AW. When threats appear closer, there is always the trusty SOCOM .45 pistol (optional silencer) and the infamous K-Bar combat knife.

Spellings

  • Морпех против терроризма - Russian spelling
  • 特种神枪手 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (Windows version)

21 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 43% (based on 9 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.5 out of 5 (based on 9 ratings with 1 reviews)

Alternative realistic shooter tries to be different, but falls short in several ways

The Good
Sniper targeting lets you deal death from a far, something rarely covered in realistic fashion (Quake and UT do NOT count), fairly decent voice acting, nice gritty environment, enemies that behave rather realistically, AI buddy that actually helps you instead of just gets in your way, decent plot

The Bad
Environment is fixed and not destructible, enemy has vision too good to be true (it's pitch black, I have night vis he doesn't and he sees me the second I tiptoe around the corner!), my AI buddy has vision too good to be true (he spotted enemies on top of a hill with NO direct line of sight, as well as behind trees while on the move!), mission objectives are not labeled on a map esp. things like extraction zone and such despite the manual's claim that you have a GPS.. Finally, you ended up doing all the work despite all the "help" during the mission.

The Bottom Line
CTU: Marine Sharpshooter is a first-person shooter with emphasis on sniper action. Basically, you need to take out enemies with your sniper rifle, then advance to various objectives until the mission is finished.

For example, in the first mission, you start in a remote Afghanistan village. You need to engage night-vision mode in order to engage the patrolling guards in the distance. You need to lay prone to get maximum accuracy from your rifle, or at least crouch, but you COULD shoot standing up in a pinch. If you need to move into tight spaces, pull out your pistol and tell your spotter to fire at will... And he will try to protect you, often ignoring his own safety.

The different rifles do feel different, but the differences aren't THAT pronounced. The game essentially simulates a flat trajectory (no bullet drop) as the actual distance shooting isn't THAT far. The 50-cal Barrett rifle is just a bit bulkier than the AW, and have different magazine capacities.

The graphics are decent, with the night-vision nicely done, complete with flickering pixels and greenish tint over everything. However, the Lithtech engine has some limitations where it allowed some odd clipping (enemy's arms and legs are visible THROUGH the walls or doors, etc.) bugs to occur. And enemies can interpenetrate or fall into walls/rocks/etc. Otherwise, the game is basically solid. Caves look like caves, and buildings look like buildings. it's just the trees that Lithtech engine have trouble with.

There is quite a bit of tension as you try sneaking in the dark, engaging enemies from a far, moving slowly to make sure you don't get surprised by an enemy nearby. Use pistol and/or knife on enemies that are REALLY close, and set your buddy in the right "mode" to help you instead of hinder you.

The enemies are pretty smart. They will rush you when appropriate, patrol when they haven't seen you, do side rolls to dodge your shots, and snipe you from afar. However, you can often surprise them by coming up behind them, shoot them before they react, etc. Surprise is usually on your side. What's even more surprising is how often enemies came up behind you from the alternate passages you did not explore. Well, that's why your buddy has that M-16 assault rifle...

For all the authenticity claimed, there's quite a bit of weirdness. It's pitchblack yet the enemy, with NO night-vis equipment, was able to spot me hundreds of yards away. And my spotter buddy can do the same (or better) at night with no night-vis, through foliage, and so on. The ONLY way to sneak up on enemy is to come up behind them or below, and that's not always possible.

The missions are unrealistic as you end up making almost ALL the kills, and the people you're supposed to protect almost none. You call that "special forces"? More like keystone cops. And that applies to both American and Russian special forces you get to "protect" in the missions.

The enemy also NEVER uses radio. They don't raise alarms when their buddy falls over (though they DO investigate). When they die, they usually die with curses on their lips (though half of that is in English?) Strangely, the bodies disappear after about 30 seconds, leaving a pool of blood on the floor and some splotches on walls. At least the death poses are varied, from "shot in leg" to "spun around" to "collapse forward face-first".

All in all, CTU:MS is a novel variation on the first-person shooter genre, though it suffers from "give player all the drudge work and call it fun" symptom, as the mission gets quite repetitious. The lack of a map is almost inexcusable. It is an nice effort marred by some design oddities.

Windows · by Kasey Chang (4598) · 2004

Trivia

German version

When installing the game with German installation settings, all blood effects are missing and killed enemies disappear instantly.

Marine Corp

Actually, sharpshooter is NOT the top tier of shooters in the Marine Corp. The tiers for rifle are: marksman, sharpshooter, expert. However, clearly "Marine Rifle Expert" doesn't have the same verbal punch as "Marine Sharpshooter".

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Marine Sharpshooter II: Jungle Warfare
Released 2004 on Windows
Marine Sharpshooter 3
Released 2007 on Windows
Marine Heavy Gunner: Vietnam
Released 2004 on Windows
Conspiracy: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Released 2005 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Duel on Board
Released 2021 on Windows, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch
SAS Anti-Terror Force
Released 2005 on PlayStation 2, Windows
Marine Sharpshooter 4
Released 2008 on Windows
America's Army: Special Forces
Released 2003 on Windows, Linux, Macintosh
Delta Force 2
Released 1999 on Windows

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 10675
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Bryan Ekman.

Additional contributors: Kasey Chang, Unicorn Lynx, Klaster_1, Duduzets, Patrick Bregger.

Game added October 19, 2003. Last modified January 24, 2024.