I can honestly say that after some 750(+) articles written in two and a half years from wars in space to wars in the Middle East, from Fortnite to something actually interesting, and so much more, I’ve forgotten at least some of what I’ve said. Given that I can write anything from between 6,000 to 10,000 words a week (a liberal estimate), I think you could understand why that might be. I know I’ll have said X or have an idea of my opinion stated in said articles, but word-for-word? No.

About two years ago I wrote a review that I can’t remember for the life of me, and I’m purposefully avoiding it, no matter what. I’m avoiding it so I can cast fresh-ish eyes on Sniper Elite 4. The seventh in the series that started back in 2005, exploded in popularity like a Nazi’s brains exploded when the second game was released in 2012, to the delight of YouTubers. The second game was very much about that grey and murky shooter thing most games before it had been up to that point. However, this one had a trick up its sleeve. Gore! No, not the 2000s Presidential hopeful, but the blood and viscera thing that makes parental guidance groups shriek in horror.

You bet that the internet was right in there for the vampiric blood and gut sucking they oh so love. The second game (as the name V2 would suggest) was set in Europe as Operation Paperclip was in full swing. The most famous of those people swapping sides during Paperclip was Wernher von Braun, who remarked after his creation hit London, “The rocket worked perfectly[,] except for landing on the wrong planet.” You could also shoot the testicle(s) off of the top-brass himself, Adolf Hitler. Yeah, now your ears have pricked up.

With V2 came success for Rebellion’s gory little series. As a result, a rather crap sequel was in order (along with spin-offs). The third game was set in Africa. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Africa too, I just don’t think it was a great setting for a Sniper Elite game when 90% of the terrain is blinding yellow in the day. However, the 4th game returned to Europe in 2017 (both the year and the game) by way of 1944, with the returning lead that is just the word “gruff” shaved into the side of a bear.

Second Lieutenant Karl Fairburne set off to Italy this time, with the express goal of giving every Nazi within a 12,000 square mile radius a short, back and sides. Set around the Mediterranean coast, there is a proper bit of color and sightseeing as you give Hanz a vasectomy from 300 paces. I might be making his vasectomy a little more permanent than he wanted, but at least I am socially distanced. I have few pleasures in life: biscuits, colorful games, and shooting Nazis in very gory ways.

Such as that time the other day, where I shot a bloke in a shed through his mate’s heart and into his… plums. Well, they do say that the way to every man’s heart is through his gentleman’s vegetable, he just had an affinity for another man’s heart. Ok, joking aside, it is very fun the first couple of million times you see the shocked expression on a man’s face before you explode his orbital bone. It is satisfying making his eye pop like a water balloon in slow-motion flung at a clown wearing a pointy hat.

However, once in a while I just got a little bored slowly trudging my way through the villas to the monasteries of Italy. Though I do believe that is because I was slowly marching through the same levels I’d done just a couple of years ago on the Xbox One, when the game was part of the Game Pass Service. Honestly, that experience made me pick up the game again, though on a different platform. Nonetheless, I did the grunt work once again, as I picked off every nutzlos Lakai and Kommandant in Italy.

That, I think, is a paradox of your goal in the game: You want to kill every Nazi because they are Nazis. However, you have goals and challenges set for you by the game, such as only killing 10 people on (I think) the Regilino Viaduct mission. It is a great challenge if you’re testing yourself, but it’s not really fitting for the Nazi hating character Fairburne, or your own moral reasoning. Yes, it is fairly cartoonish. Especially as you line shots up from several hundred paces before slowly watching a monochromatic shot of a bullet smashing through a window and hitting the grenade of the officer, killing him and three of his men.

Though, for all the cartoonish violence and caricatured villains, there is a very serious and dark tone underneath. The bright daylight and colorful Italian landscape make way for the shadow of night, with dusk bringing you up close with the Nazi war machine. As they trample over Europe and you slowly and viciously push them back, there is an air of how dark the whole thing is. This is my problem with the African setting of the third game, you aren’t making your way through vacated homes and empty streets, or farms devoid of life.

Then you put a bit of sticky tape on the grenade, throw it at a man’s head, and watch as he and his friend cower before they explode and die. What was it I was just talking about, the horror and grim reality of war? Yes, it truly is a tragedy, looking at the small towns and villages the Second World War trampled through, all as I skip merrily through the streets giving Nazis lead poisoning via the lung.

Of course, the mechanics are as refined as you’ll get in any form of sniping; better than that of the Ghost Warrior series, that’s for sure. Every shot feels like it is done with precision, and if you’re like me, you know or not if you’ve killed someone, as instantly Zack Snyder is demanded to release his 12-hour-long cut of a Nazi being scalped. The long slow pause as you line up the shot is only punctured by pulling the trigger and quipping the same line about being shot through the heart.

I think it would be unfair to compare some modern shooters to what is possibly the best Sniper Elite game there is. However, what else do you compare it to? Ghost Warrior? Don’t make me laugh. Sniper Elite trounces that Call of Duty wannabe with a considerable margin. The reason it feels wrong to compare, say, Sniper Elite 4 and Doom (2016) is because they are very different paces of game: One is the frantic chase as you hunt down the biggest monsters in the universe, and the other is Doom where you give a demon a Dirty Sanchez with the wet end of his own genitals.

I think it is far more comparable with the open-world action-adventure genre, a specific part of the catch-all name for modern games. Far Cry 5 is something I’ve been playing a lot lately, and while I won’t compare the stories, the mechanics are designed with similar mindsets. You are the lone gunman (or woman), you have an arsenal of weaponry stored (somewhere?) on your person, and you have to clear out the horrible people that are concerned a little too much about religion. In fact, they are so close in ideals as you scout to tag new enemies that when I swapped over from Far Cry to Sniper Elite, I scouted my next path, fired the loud sniper accidentally, and vehemently pooped myself. I didn’t know what had happened.

As much as I do love a bit of the frantic and guerrilla warfare you bring to the lands of Montana, I think the slow and methodical pace that is Sniper Elite 4 is fantastic. Replaying the missions can feel like a chore, as either you hunt for all the collectibles or shoot every Nazi in Italy. Every mission is a new and fantastic challenge, as you try to find the perfect hiding spot or escape plan for when it all goes a bit Pete Tong. It is the best the series has to offer, not only in gameplay but the colorful and beautiful Mediterranean sights you see, as you shoot a man’s nose off his face.

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Sniper Elite 4

$59.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• "Boom, headshot!"
• The beautiful Mediterranean coastline.
• A free X-ray with every shot.

Cons

• AI isn't as smart as you'd hope.
• Replaying levels can feel like a slog.