Summary
As survival games go,Once Humanbrings something unique to the table. It incorporates a well-fleshed-out main plot, and manages to fuse a believablehorror settingwith a myriad of gameplay features. It has been said thatOnce Humantakes some of the gameplay features of other popular games and tries to merge them into a working whole, which it does quite well.
Playing as a sniperin thissurvival shootercan be a challenge, as many of the boss fights take place indoors, or on a small instanced map. However, out in the wild whilst completing POIs, a sniper rifle can be an absolutely devastating wewapon choice.
TheSN700is available to all players, evenbeginners toOnce Human, as it is unlocked by one of the cheap, basic memetics that the tutorial prompts players to select. Therefore, the SN700 can be crafted within the first couple of hours of starting the game.
However, up until around level 15, and as long as the player has left the New Player Zone, it isn’t really worth using a ranged weapon at all. Even the basic machete that the player is given in the tutorial works well in these first stages of the game, so it may not be worth crafting an SN700 for anything other than curiosity.
TheHAMR - Crumbleis a surprisingly useful sniper rifle inOnce Human. This is primarily due to the fact that it can become the basis of a capable burn build. Setting fire to enemies at extreme range is an entirely valid combat tactic in this survival shooter.
For players who do not have access to a better option, such as one of the legendary sniper rifles, this weapon can take them all the way to the end game once it has been calibrated to the maximum level, especially if the player synergizes their armor mods with this sniper rifle.
SN700 - Gulped Loreshines in a very specific scenario: dealing massive damage to bosses that are accompanied by normal enemies. The way this works is that the player picks off the normal enemies first, stacking up 2.5 minutes worth of increased damage buffs, and then starts on the boss.
This is not a simple weapon to use though. It means finding the right firing position, and hoping that the normal enemies can be dropped quickly, hopefully with one shot each. However, when this tactic works, it is devastating, especially with afully-calibrated weapon.
The entire concept of a defensive sniper rifle seems ludicrous at first glance. However, theAWS.338 - Black Pantheris actually an interesting weapon that could be devastating once a player learns to use it properly.
The combat mechanics for this weapon revolve around the player being in cover, and having plenty of time to take aim at a target. This makes it a very capable first-strike weapon. However, unless the player is at very long range, it is unlikely that more than one or two high-damage shots can be fired off before they will have to switch to a close-quarters combat weapon of some sort.
TheHAMR - Brahminyis a fun sniper rifle to use inOnce Human, especially against groups of enemies. The “bounce” mechanic (poorly translated from Chinese, and can be read as the English word ricochet) results in a bullet hitting multiple targets if bounce triggers.
On a good shot, multiple ricochets can occur, damaging whole groups of enemies in one shot. It works very much like an AoE attack. Overall, this is super fun to see in action, and surprisingly deadly if the player focuses their armor mods andweapon accessoriesfor a bounce build.
As sniper rifles go inOnce Human, this is the pay dirt. While some sniper rifles are used as a first strike weapon, with the player moving into closer range to finish off groups of enemies, theAWS.338 - Bingois all about being a pure sniper.
Precision is a requirement for using this weapon properly. Shots need to target a weak spot and hit for maximum damage potential. If done right, this weapon can take down even mini-bosses in two or three shots. Only the most skilled players will be able to use this weapon well.
