One key feature that never made its way into Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 was the ability to dismember enemies. Publisher City Interactive said that the ultra-violent feature had to be toned down to avoid being banned in countries that have strict censorship laws on such things, such as Germany. The company promised to release dismemberment as a free DLC pack in countries that don't frown on mens' limbs being ripped off their bodies.

Well, some promises are meant to be broken.

Read more: GamePad sniping and hacking »

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is hitting stores this Friday, and City Interactive has announced its first piece of downloadable content. The "Siberian Strike" DLC will be available at the end of March, using the frosty northern winter to stave off the impending joy of spring.

Read more: Winter-themed weaponry across all platforms »

When you're a sniper, the last thing you want to do is miss your target--much less miss it four times. So the latest release date for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, set nearly a year after its initial release target and having suffered three separate delays, should hopefully be the last time we write its name and "release date" in the same story.

Read more: March 12 release moved from January »

It's been quite a while since I first saw an early build of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, having initially previewed the game back at E3 2011. What I saw then--an alpha build that already looked pretty good, thanks to CryEngine 3--led me to believe that City Interactive was on track to finally deliver on much of what the first game promised. In addition to the technical improvements afforded by a shiny new game engine, I was assured that the development team was really honing in on the "Ghost Warrior" part of the moniker, after complaints that the first Sniper game too often degenerated into run-and-gun firefights against AI that had a knack for being able to bullseye the player over long distances through dense foliage.

A recent hands-on demo of the game shows that it is much further along, and though there are still some rough edges to be buffed and polished, it seems like the developer is making good on its promises, more or less.

Read more: A host of improvements »

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 has been delayed again, this time slipping into next year. Namco Bandai didn't give a specific reason for the move to January 15, 2013, but moving it away from August 21 might help it avoid being stuck in the busy holiday season.

Read more: Originally set for March 20 »

If there's one lesson to take away from Sniper Elite V2, it's that players adore watching enemies suffer massive trauma as a bullet rips through their body. Unfortunately for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, not everyone is so keen on it. City Interactive is cutting dismemberment from the release version of its own snipe 'em up then releasing it as free DLC, to avoid the censor's glare.

Read more: German rules against gore to blame »

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 has been laying in wait for just the right moment, watching the wind speed, and has finally decided on a release target. City Interactive announced today that the brain matter dispersal simulator will release on August 21, nestled snugly between the light and breezy summer period and the autumn glut of new releases.

Read more: CryEngine 3 for realistic brutality »

Back at E3 last year, I attended what was described as a tech demo for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2. It was an early look, not based on any final gameplay, that hinted at some of the improvements--both minor and major--that moving the series to CryEngine 3 would afford. This week, the game's producer, Michal Sroczynski, stopped by the Shacknews offices to show me an updated demo from the game's single-player campaign on the Xbox 360. Though I have yet to actually play it myself, what I saw of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 the other day impressed me quite a bit more than I expected it would.

Read more: What a difference an engine makes »

City Interactive today announced release dates for a pair of its military shooters: the CryEngine 3-powered Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, and arcade flight sim Combat Wings: The Great Battles of World War II. Like war? Love video games.

Read more: Dates, platforms and details »

QUICKTAKE: Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is still in a very early state, but I had a chance to swing by developer City Interactive's E3 2011 booth for a closed-door tech demo to get a better idea what improvements and additions are in store. Sniper 2 puts players in the stealthy boots of an ex-Delta Force sniper turned private security consultant named Captain Cody "Sandman" Anderson. Throughout the course of the campaign, players will guide "Sandman" through levels set in four different environments, and help him ventilate the craniums of numerous distant enemies.

Driveable vehicles are just some of the new additions included in Sniper 2.