Skip to content
Sniper Elite 4 – one of the best gaming experiences of all time is back with a whole new storyline! And as before, you will get the chance to smackdown Hitler through the balls… although so far I’ve only got him through the frontal lobe… which is a good start. Shooting others through various internal organs including their heart is another one 😀
The setting is Italy, in 1943, which recounts the intricate machinations behind the Allied invasion of Italy. Once again, you are Karl Fairburne, and you’ll help release the country from the shackles of Fascism, fanning the flames of resistance, and in doing so uncover a terrifying Nazi technology threatening the whole of Europe…
The Italians have been under the repression of Mussolini for the past two decades and the time has come for change. The time has come for you to show the Nazis who’s boss!
With Sniper Elite V2 and Sniper Elite III, I made video mash-ups, mixing in footage I recorded from headshots and other nasty deaths with some top tunes from Limp Bizkit and Vampire Weekend. As I type, I’ve captured a number of these already so may well make another video soon, but I’ll leave it to others to do the whole-level walkthroughs, as I keep dying every few minutes!
Sniper Elite 4 – Sniper Elite 4 – opening gameplay (Ultra settings) (1080p HD) – PC – DVDfeverGames
The graphics are fluid like running water. After a few minutes of playing, the game can feel a little sticky, so I had to save the game, quit out of it completely, and run it again to get back to how it was originally. Bit of a pain, but at least I can get around it. The game makes use of DirectX 12 and, despite my reservations of ‘upgrading’ to Windows 10, and only doing so at the last minute, I knew that DirectX 12 would only be available to me and my nVidia GTX980 graphics card that way, and there are some outstanding results in this game. Check out my opening footage above for a great example of the lighting effects. While running along with the sun in the background, look how it twinkles as it starts to go behind a rockface… so I run back and forth just to amplify the effect.
The pre-release version I was playing was not without its faults, though. Aside from the ‘sticky’ problem, while I was part-way through the first level, it kept crashing any time I tried to reload this after quitting out of the game (hey, I’ve gotta eat sometime!). This foxed me for a while, but eventually, and after trying DirectX 11 as well as reinstalling the entire game (approx 55Gb), I hit upon just restarting the game from scratch. Annoying, but it worked. Hopefully these issues will improve on the final, released version.
While I’m playing this game on a 50″ Panasonic plasma TV, it only goes up to 1080p HD, but there is a setting to increase the resolution up to 4K if you have such a display.
Similarly, while the audio gives a wonderful score amongst the huge explosions and blistering gunfire, and even giving you the quietest moments when you can hear the dialogue of the German soldiers (with subtitles) so you can work out whether they’ve spotted you, it occasionally gets a bit choppy, as if the game is over-reaching itself. It even did this on the main menu.
(Click on the image for the full-size version)
Various random observations that have come about as I’ve played this game, some of which I’ve mentioned before, but updated for this release:
- Important: your bullet will not hit the enemy where your gun’s crosshairs meet, but where some ‘eye’ thing is as you empty your lung, which is just beneath the crosshairs. That can catch you out when you’re in a panic.
- You’re playing in an “open world” environment, with larger locations than before, and the ability to complete the sub-missions within in any order (for example, the first level has you not only killing off a Nazi bigwig, but also destroying cameras containing vital evidence and bumping off other high-ranking Nazi officials). You can escape the location once you’ve achieved the priority aspect of the mission, but stay for all of it and enjoy your time in this stunning country and take in the views!
- In addition, killing a major baddie provides other benefits than immense satisfaction of a job well done – you can get increased heart-rate recovery, for example.
- The AI has reportedly been beefed up in No.4, and I can see that is the case. Far too often they were on my tail… but then Nazis don’t tend to like it when you call them out on their bad points. Just look at Donald Trump! You can occasionally still outrun them, though. Once they get word about your location (y’know, after you’ve just deprived one of their colleagues of their skull!), then sneak away to a nearby patch of flowers and hide in them to escape. Doesn’t always work, but then that’s why the AI is better. And for the times when they don’t find you, treat them as being a bit thick – well, they joined the Nazi party so they can’t be that bright 😉
Sniper Elite 4 – ‘101’ Trailer
More observations:
- Gameplay is always a little problematic with these games and exhibits the issue with many similar other game series (not just Sniper Elite). With so many different buttons to press, I’ve still got my rifle equipped as a baddie’s getting closer and I still think I’ve got a chance with it, when it’s much better to change weapons to one with a faster fire rate, even if it will alert the others – it’s better to alert them that way and then run off than be dead! Also keep an eye on which item is selected in the secondary slot (eg. for grenades). For example, while I was perfectly well, for a change (since I get shot at a lot!), I had the medkit selected, and instead of throwing a grenade, I wasted a medkit. Hey ho. That leads me on to…
- You can run over a dead body for spare ammo, but a search of the corpose occasionally reveals more items, even if it is a bit time-consuming. However, it can be rewarding, since these can include medkits and bandages.
- As with the last game, and as alighted to already, you die way too often, since you can only take a couple of bullets, so it’s rather like real life, but it’s still annoying.
- Last time, it felt like there was way too much stealthy behaviour required in this game, rather than sniping, but in No.4, the balance feels like it has been redressed and the fun has returned.
- Checkpoints were an issue in Sniper Elite III, as they were badly placed, but this time, not only does the game auto-save frequently, but also you can save at ANY time, which makes it much more fun to play as you can get caught in some tricky situations and need that safety net.
- Again, it’s fun to sneak round the environment when you know a baddie is trying to track you down, so you take the route round to follow him from behind and shoot him in the back of the head! HA!
- This game has larger areas with more verticality (if that’s a word), but you know what I mean even if it isn’t, since it means there’s much more height in the levels, so baddies can shoot at you from on high… and you at them!
Sniper Elite 4 – Italy 1943 Story Trailer
I just go for single player gaming, as a preference, but multiplayer fans are again catered for with 12-player Multiplayer, in 7 modes across 6 custom-designed maps, and there’s a two-player online co-op mode for the entire campaign.
In addition, the Limited Edition version of the game includes two DLC – a bonus “Target: Führer” mission, which I’ve already completed and was great fun, and a skin for your rifles to stop the enemy spotting you…
Target: Führer:
- Hidden in a forgotten corner of the Mediterranean, a secret Nazi U-boat facility threatens Allied shipping. When agent Karl Fairburne attempts to assassinate the base’s Commander, he finds his target already dead, executed in person by a shadowy visitor. Karl’s mission has changed: Target Führer! Destroy the U-boat base and take down Hitler in as many ways as you can in this replayable campaign mission for 1-2 players.
Camouflage Rifles Skin Pack:
- In a sharpshooting duel to the death, any advantage could make the difference between victory and defeat. Apply highly detailed camouflage wraps to your rifles, breaking up their silhouette and blending them into the lush combat environments of WW2 Italy. Weapon skins can be used to customise all seven of Sniper Elite 4’s starting rifles for use in any singleplayer, co-op or multiplayer mode.
I look forward to hearing about forthcoming DLC, too, especially in what is effectively an indie game, but one which feels like a AAA title.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get back to the business at hand – the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin’…
Check out more gaming footage on loads of games on my DVDfeverGames Youtube channel.
Sniper Elite 4 is released today on PS4, Xbox One and PC/Steam, and click on the top image for the full-size version.
Sniper Elite 4 – Target: Führer mission video
Important info:
- Publisher: Sold Out Sales and Marketing
- Developer: Rebellion Developments
- Players: single player: 1; multiplayer: 12, co-op: 2
- HDTV options: 1080p and 4K
- Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes
- Subtitles in English
My rig:
- Intel i7 Six Core Processor i7-5820K (3.3GHz) 15MB Cache
- ASUS® X99-A: ATX, HSW-E CPU, USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s Motherboard
- 16Gb Kingston Hyper-X Fury DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
- 4GB nVidia GeForce GTX 980
- 250Gb Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540Mb/sR | 520Mb/sW)
- 3Tb 3.5″ SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200rpm 64Mb cache
- 16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
- CORSAIR 750W CS Series Modular 80 Plus ® Gold, Ultra Quiet
- Creative Sound Blaster Z 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard – OEM
- WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1
- Zalman Z11 Plus Black Mid Tower Case
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
9 9 8 9 |
| OVERALL | 9 |
Cast:
Karl Fairburne: Tom Clarke Hill
Himself: Adolf Hitler
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.