Saturation with the theme of World War 2 in the games has actually never been a classic fatigue of this content. Battlefield, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty once for prevailing gaming audience fired everything they had on the subject, but mainly from the Allied point of view. Today, with many calling for the return of modern and futuristic warfare in the WW2, it is easy to notice that the saturation actually was the repetition of the same stories, based on real history.

This fact makes it easier to target the spot you Sniper Elite series, or more precisely – his fourth part. The quartet is, in fact, situated on the territory of Italy; and although it shares the same premise of the previous three games so far as your goal is to liquidate as many Nazis, most of the time acts as a chapter of the 2nd World War that the game has not been told in this way. Playing SE4, I’ve noticed a “partisan gameplay” as we have not seen since the Hidden & Dangerous in 1999 (Company of Heroes does not count because it is a different genre).

Location primarily does its thing because the mission of the game mainly taking place in the rural and forest areas, while the tasks mainly centered on sabotage, intercepting convoys and demolition of bridges and so on. It’s not the first time that the guerrilla warfare used in WW2 game, but it seems like it is that previously was reserved mainly for urban spaces games like Saboteur or Velvet Assassin.

The frame of the game is “partisan”, but the main character Carl Fairburn is flexible enough that you can dictate your own fighting style, at least in the first two difficulty settings. Removing the enemy from a distance with a sniper rifle is the most attractive option is the most rewarding. The riskier option of sifting a secondary weapon is also possible, so that your game is not limited to, a way of playing, which is a good thing.

„Gameplay is essentially Partisan, but Karl Fairburn is flexible enough that you alone can dictate how you fight.“

One can indeed do that you are forced to kill and destroy as many enemies and vehicles, because that way you get experience to unlock skills and accessories for weapons. But the balance is in fact perfectly placed – skills that unlock does not make you a great advantage, but anyway, you can change weapons during the mission if you encounter any more effective. No one, for instance, can forbid you to play the whole game with the minimum number of shots. There are even challenges that ,in principle, encourage it, it is just stupid that they are revealed only after you finish the mission.

The campaign extends to about ten hours, which is quite decent durability due to more and more of it was fatigue. There is some dramatic story that would hold you when heated game spends the diversity of the Italian front. I would not mind if the developers at least tried to do something new with the character “Mr. sniper“, but bothers me the stereotype that apparently “can pass” because the games are not movies that a sniper must have a human character as the main character from Enemy at the Gates.

„When the game spends the diversity of the Italian front, there’s some dramatic story that would hold you eager to carry on the campaign.“

Here everything is so banal that I have the impression that I’m playing with the archetype of Duke Nukem, and not with the figure who is eager to help the Italian partisans. And I think that the game definitely has the potential for a better story, at least the idea that for every enemy you can get a description that will tell you whether he is good or bad person, regardless of what is on the opponent’s side. Looks like a totally missed opportunity to Karl F. never comment on such things, but on the other hand always throws himself comments like: “Good shot, if I say so.”

Of course, if we are on the side of realism – he can not get the description of the aiming device, but it can not be this game looking like something ultra-realistic. At the highest difficulty level you get the effects of gravity, wind and authentic damper that time, turn off the HUD aids and so on. It remains, however, a question of artificial intelligence opponents. At the highest difficulty enemies are more aggressive, more durable and more perceptive. Nevertheless, both are dumb as far as tactics.

The enemies in Sniper Elite 4 never behave like some kind of unit, team, squad, call it what you will. They are individual sets of scripts scattered throughout the map. Locate you through a very simple method of detection that can be easily exploited, and when you need to squeeze into a corner act like drunken fools.

„The enemies in Sniper Elite 4 never behave like a team but maximum random.“

Orientation in space is not going to them away from seeking the nearest shelter. They have no plan to surround you but run on the first pass in order to get you as close as possible, even if time risked the life of me where there is no shelter. I do not know how to recognize if you keep using the same tactics, they do not know is meaningful grouped so that for example infantry kept the area around the tank and the like. Because of that already in the first mission, you can figure out the best approach, but it is constantly creating a diversion on the one hand, to draw away the enemies from the point at which you need to reach.

The game is trying to hide so that on a more difficult level, you usually do not live long enough to see this particular crap, but in the end it is not the solution. I would not say that these are the worst enemies that I have seen, certainly there are far worse examples of bad AI. But this is the third Sniper Elite game in the last five years with a very small shift in this field. For comparison, similar genre MGS during this period had a single game, or is in the field of artificial intelligence soared not only above the previous parts, but also other games stealth genre.

„The campaign can share with another player, but it is surprising how the dynamics of co-operative gameplay can do the same mission different from a solo experience.“

Flies virtual Fascists and Nazis still is easier to accept when the game goes cooperatively. As in previous sections, the campaign can share with another player, but it is surprising how the dynamics of solving mission then is different than the solo game, especially if you do not have audio contact with another player. The biggest difference is that there is no shooting position but you have to work as a team and help each other in need.

It is similar to other available modes, but not in a competitive multiplayer is more common situation where “all for one goal, but every man for himself”. This is because the difference between life and death, which determines who will first see. Judging by the experience that I had, the team misses very rarely but there is no real cooperation because it is more dangerous for a team if grouped. Veteran Sniper Elite it is already known, and everyone else, like me, quick to learn the tough way. The exception is the mode in which one player must notice the opponents for snipers or another player. This cooperation is essential and without it nothing is achieved.

„Even when the team, competitive multiplayer is generally quite lonely experience for new players and frustrating.“

Sniper Elite 4 is one of the few games where the graphics quality is very important. Not all the same to you if the image sharp image on the screen or not, whether the textures in the distance blurred or not … What is the image sharper and cleaner, it is, at least in theory, easier to spot the target while you’re targeting. The game is the most correct, although we are repeatedly going to the multiplayer opponent replace with vegetation – not because they are similar, but because the vegetation looks different when viewed from afar, and when zoomed in on her.

I’m not familiar with the situation on consoles, but can say how the game looks quite solid. In the version for the PC to it is still quite well optimized, especially if you have some older AMD cards can take advantage of Direct X 12. Especially impressive is download speed that would say that does not last more than ten seconds, the maps are quite spacious and big.

In the end, it appears that this is the best sequel Sniper Elite series so far. Even with the almost non-existent progress in artificial intelligence and with quite repulsive competitive multiplayer game turned out as nice product. The balance of accessibility and challenging perfect hit, the campaign is varied and fun enough for a double shift – solo and in teams; I’m feeling Italian battlefields should be pleasant for lovers of WW 2 theme. The story is devoid of any tension, but it is already in the background when you distinctive X-ray camera shows what your bullet, knife or hands make a hostile body.