[Editor’s note: We’ve had a facelift! New logo, new focus on our content, and all for free for you lovely gamers! Because some truly awesome games are coming onto the Microsoft Game Pass, we’ve got our resident grumpy Yorkshireman in exile to review as many as he can until Christmas]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentle-gamers! As I believe it may have been noted, some brilliant games are now available to play on Microsoft’s Game Pass! So, the organ grinders behind this new and improved website format have got me to play Sniper Elite 4. On with the review…

Premise

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The trailer for this game. Surprisingly undersells this game.

Sniper Elite 4 is a third person shooter game, available on all consoles as of last month. However, if you own an Xbox and fancy saving your pennies, well, download it through game pass. If you’re planning on buying the game on other platforms, it varies between £20 on PlayStation 4, and £30 on Nintendo’s Switch. The game is a sequel to three previous Sniper Elite games in thr franchise, and came onto the games market three years ago. The Nintendo Switch version was released in mid November.

In this game, you play as the protagonist Karl, as he attempts to kill as many high-ranking Nazi officials as possible, Inglorious Bastards style. As in previous versions of this game, the objective is to take out as many on your list as possible, without taking out any extra people, and we’ll talk about that when we get to the graphics section.

Graphics

Don’t let this JPEG put you off, the graphics in this game are the best that they’ve ever been in the franchise. That’s no small statement, yes, but hear me out. The graphics on the game are so astounding that screengrabs from Google really don’t do this game any justice. They really just don’t. To give you an idea, when I reviewed this game on a Xbox One X, I decided to test it. You can genuinely see the sweat dripping down your target’s forehead! Honestly, this game is superb from a graphical point, with only one glitch on the first level giving me pause from giving it a flawless review.

Gameplay

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Don’t worry, Hitler gets it in the end: albeit in reality, not in the game

So, this is the bit of the review where I do get to wax lyrical. The gameplay has been sharpened significantly from the last game in the franchise and it shows. AI opponents are smarter than in previous games, and you’re going to need to rethink your tactics. For seasoned Sniper Elite fans, don’t be fooled: This game knows exactly what you’re going to do, which allows for much smarter gameplay. The genius of this is that both experienced Sniper Elite gamers and new gamers are on level footing this time.

As well as evening out everyone, this game has an extra bit to gameplay that surprises me (and most game reviewers). Instead of just wiping an area of bad guys (in this game, they’re Nazis), the task in this game is to take out your targets without taking out anyone else. If you’re a new gamer to this style, go and play a Hitman game first. Rebellion Developments, who’ve made this beautiful game have taken a leaf from that series. In some levels, you may need to take out unnecessary people, but this game makes you think. Some of the first people in the game can either be taken out by Sniper Rifle, or by shooting something to cause an accident. This is where the game’s strengths lie: Making you think twice before pulling your trigger at every opportunity.

Soundtrack

https://youtu.be/ImIxRxAfKIM
Hardly inspiring, but digging the orchestra!

Sadly, this is where I have to be a bit negative about the game, and I don’t like being negative to brilliant games. Sadly, it seems that all the budget went on making this game as replayable as possible, and not the soundtrack of the game. Why? Well, the music on this game seems to have just been copied from most war films you’ve seen, and there’s nothing original about this film’s diegetic music whatsoever. There’s no “wow” moments musically, and that’s a real missed opportunity in my opinion. The first level in particular, is full of moments to amaze you, but the music doesn’t reflect that.

The foley sounds bring this back from being a completely negative section though. The rifles sound exactly as they should do, and they’ve really put a lot of effort into making the sounds as realistic as possible. The only bit of Foley sound I can’t judge is the sound you hear during the game’s fabled “x-ray” moments. I’ve clearly never heard someone getting shot by a sniper, so I guess you’d better go and find someone who has.

Overall

This game is an absolute joy for anyone who likes games with steep difficulty curves, amazing graphics and brilliant gameplay. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing through it, and to be honest, I highly recommend playing it. It hits the sweet spot between Call Of Duty and Hitman franchises, and is really great to engage brain before trigger finger. I’ll remember that for the next time I meet your dad! (What, I can’t make a “yer da” joke)?

I put 24 hours and 35 minutes into this game.

So, that’s my review done! Have you enjoyed it? Did you like what I put? Am I wrong? Let me know here, and thanks for reading!

Davey.