Sniper Elite 4

Sniper Elite 4 brought the American sniper Karl Fairburne to Xbox One, dropping him into Italy during the Second World War, where across sprawling, more open missions he eliminates Nazi targets, sabotages military equipment, and works with the local resistance movement against the occupiers. The game is built on patient stalking, calculating the ballistics of long-range shots affected by wind, gravity, and distance, and on the famous slow-motion kill cam that uses an X-ray view to show the devastating effect of a bullet on an enemy's body.

Rebellion Developments expanded both the size and openness of the levels compared to previous entries, so players can complete objectives in multiple ways, whether through silent infiltration, sabotaging the environment and setting traps, or direct firefights backed by automatic weapons, while the settings of the Italian countryside, port towns, and military bases and fortresses offer varied scenery to explore and plan an approach, and players can also choose from several difficulty levels with differing degrees of ballistic realism. The sound design and dense gunfire effects underline the tension of every shot and the atmosphere of occupied Italy full of patrols and watchtowers, while ambient noise such as aircraft engines or explosions lets players mask their own shots.

The fourth installment was received as the most polished entry in the series to date, praised for the scope of its missions and for keeping the series' distinctive, somewhat brutal style of sniper kills, which became one of the franchise's trademarks. On Xbox One it offered solid technical execution as well as cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes for multiple players, which keeps it a popular choice for fans of more tactical war shooters that emphasize patience, planning, and a steady aim rather than rushed action, and it also offers long playtime thanks to the variable ways each mission can be completed.

Why play it: For fans of more patient war shooters that emphasize planning and a steady aim, the fourth installment offers extensive missions as well as cooperative and competitive multiplayer.