Sniper Elite 4 (PS4)

Sniper Elite 4

I almost bought Sniper Elite 4 when I saw it on sale a few months back. Now I am glad that I didn’t. Not because it’s bad but because it was one of the free games for August with PS Plus. 

From the title you probably get a good idea what this game is about. You’re a sniper with a mission and in Sniper Elite 4 your mission is to eliminate targets, destroy weapons and gather intel. The stealthier you are, the better. Luckily the game doesn’t punish you too much for getting caught, you can almost always find a way to escape and try again.

The game is set in Italy during WWII and most of your targets are nazis. It’s not an unique setting per se but the levels are quite beautiful and varied enough to keep it interesting.

I’m not sure how the story follows the previous games but the game is not that story driven. It’s more about giving you free hands to complete the missions anyway you want. The story gives some context to the missions but are not that essential in my opinion.

Comparing Sniper Elite 4 to Hitman I would have liked the same kind of special opportunities to complete missions that Hitman has. In Sniper Elite 4 there are many ways to complete the missions but only the same tools at your disposal.

Your playstyle will heavily influence how long each mission takes. I completed one mission in an hour and another took about two and a half hours. It’s all about how you want to play. The fastest and easiest approach is not always the most satisfying. Finding a cool spot to silently take out enemies or planting explosives and lure enemies into them is a lot of fun but requires a little patience and planning.

The game also limits the amount of silent ammunition you have so that you can’t just camp in one place and kill all enemies from there. Shooting regular ammunition will pinpoint your location to enemies and they will come after you.

One detail that I found cool was that if enemies run into you unexpectedly, they first get startled so you have an opportunity to take them out silently. The kill cam is also cool the first few times but then just gets annoying and you turn it off. 

Anyone who has a Playstation Plus subscription should definitely check this game out.