Sniper Elite 4 Review: The Next Level of Sniping!

SNIPER ELITE 4 REVIEW
Publisher & Developer: Rebellion Developments
Release Date: February 14, 2017
Genre: Tactical Shooter, Stealth

REVIEWS:
8.3/10 – IGN.com 84% – PC Gamer 8/10 – Destructoid! 8/10 – GameSpot

Sniper Elite 4 by Rebellion Developments is a stealth-based tactical first person shooting game. Unlike the predecessor, Sniper Elite 3, this game provides the player with an open-ended semi-open world game where the player can perform the mission objectives via observing terrain, enemies and planning accordingly, in other words, the player has the freedom to choose whether to shoot through the entire level or take a more silent and stealthier approach. In addition, the campaign can be played Co-op of 2 players, giving the opportunity for more tactical planning and a lot of fun. In our Sniper Elite 4 review we will talk about the single player campaign levels, maps, key features of the gameplay, multiplayer mode and critic’s analysis.

SINGLEPLAYER

The game provides 8 campaign levels each with its own unique large maps and side objectives which also have variations from level to level. Campaign missions can become too lengthy making a mission over two hours long. One of the things that make this game more interesting is its setting in Italy, 1943, in the midst of World War II, which is not well explored in video games. The primary objective of the campaign is to set Italy free from the grasp of Nazis.
As the name suggests the game is a sniper game where the primary shooting is with a sniper rifle.

However, the player will be provided with lots of other gadgets, traps and items to help fulfill the mission objective. The player can target and tag enemies, understand their movement pattern, set traps and kill hostiles stealthily. If the things don’t go way according to plan the player can shoot his way through the enemy line.

The best thing that make Sniper Elite franchise so famous, is its kill came. This new installation to the series has more vivid and gruesome kill cam, where it is shown how the impact of the bullet breaks bones or tears through organs. In addition, the kill cam does not make the game feel less satisfying. First of all, the kill cam does not initiate every time the enemy dies and it is also possible to turn it off in the options.

Now let’s talk about the difficulty settings of the game. To begin with, the normal mode is easy enough, and does not even require the applications of the other gadgets. However, the game becomes more challenging in higher difficulties; the enemies become tougher, ammunition becomes scarce and damage threshold is also decreased. The most interesting difficulty level is the “Authentic”. In standard difficulty one has to determine distance, sway of the rifle, recoil and movement of the hostile to land an accurate headshot.

On the other hand, in “Authentic” level, one has to determine wind speed and direction, weapon spread, more scope drift, ammo scarcity, realistic magazines (losing the bullets when it was not fire from a clip in reloading early) and more. All of these factors matter in this difficulty and the game becomes a miniature math problem. To get along these factors and make accurate shot, one requires quite a bit of in game practice. This level makes each copper casing count.

To criticize, the game has some issues with its AI; a dull story line and it does not give any rewards for completing the side objectives and these missions do not have any impact on the story line regardless of their large sum. No effects on campaign outcome and no rewards or unlocks, make the side missions quite ignorable later in the game.

 

 

MULTIPLAYER

The online multiplayer side of the game comes with both competitive and cooperative modes with different offerings. There is the battle of supremacy over an ever-moving control point and sniper vs sniper skirmishes. This marksman affair creates a key difference between Sniper Elite 4 and other online multiplayer skirmish games. The player has to move cautiously through the map, keeping an eye out for the glint of the enemy scope and taking the shot from the other side of the map to terminate the opponent.

This kind of tactical gameplay of sniping, differentiates Sniper Elite 4’s multiplayer from other similar games.Then there is the survival mode where up-to four players work together and survive against challenging wave of enemies. Since it is a sniping game, the key is to find the right spot to tackle the progressively difficult waves of Nazis.

To make the game more challenging the supply drops for loading ammunition also switch places with each wave, forcing the player to move around the map, discover new areas and become more creative in setting traps. The survival mode becomes incredibly tense when mortar fire, tanks and heavily-armored units starts to spawn, which one has to take down by perhaps a sniper rifle.To sort out some bad aspects of multiplayer system, the competitive mode gives a very poor and dull impression on multiplayer loving gamers.

All in all, in our Sniper Elite 4 review we see that it is best in its series as it adds the badly needed mechanics which the previous games of the franchise lacked. It can be seen that Rebellion continues to refine its systems and put together a greater and better long range shooting game which is proven by this latest game in the franchise. The simplistic stealth and action mechanics are well enjoyable. The open world with impressive scale and the freedom to choose how to complete the open-ended objectives, give the player a more relaxed approach towards objectives.

The ability to tackle the environment with freedom, new and swift climbing and running mechanics and long distance shots with Bullet Time which also provides instant satisfaction while giving an insight of the internal damage of the enemy, make Sniper Elite 4 a strong choice when looking for a sniper game.