Sup, ma dudes.
Finished Sniper Elite 4 today. What a ride. Melee kills while creeping about are incredibly violent and satisfyingly so. Can I interest monsieur in a side of spinal severance with his throat slam? Started out as more a nester while booby-trapping about me but ended in proper commando fashion with baiting in addition to playing tag with my knife – and everyone was it.
Total game time including DLC and time spent on-range was approx. 45 hours. Is the DLC worth it? Yes. It boasts hands-down some of the most challenging and beautiful areas of operation in the game. It comes in four parts and each part – in practice, a mission in and of itself – will cost about 7€ per; that being said, each mission can take some 4-6 hours to complete so you're essentially paying roughly 1€/hour, which is a steal, IMO. Deathstorm 3 alone, for example, kept me busy for 8 hours. There are also two hidden main-campaign missions (Overwatches) and a multi-environment Survival mode versus AI that proves a super fun way to rank up, reinforce gear, unlock goodies, and ultimately git gud; I'm still hitting Survival as I type this. Game-wide, goings-on are mixed up nicely and unrepetitive while there's a clear narrative unfolding in the months of 1943 here. A robust save system is also at your disposal. None of the online trailers or images do it justice – it really pops on the television with rich colour and beautiful depth.
Longest in-combat shot was 357 metres, testicle shot – my personal best but probably only in the decent range for top players. Longest attempted was 647 – yes, you read that right, but I lacked the skill to do it; way too many factors to account for. I never used Aim Assist and couldn't bring myself to activate it so had to swallow my shortcomings. Saw some dudes in multiplayer using Assist and thought it was heretical – why play this at all? Know your rifle or know the door.
Elements I'd like to see implemented or taken to a higher level in SE5 are:
- the inclusion of personal waypoints – big oversight to my mind, and a map more sensitive to elevation differences
- night and day cycles – as is, they have scope glint sunlight or no and while sunrise missions are very pretty, I'd like something more dynamic akin to Witcher 3 in this regard
- more organic jump mechanism, which is here almost an action-halting QTE
- livelier and less theatre-like waterbodies and puddling effects
- automobile commandeering versus only sabotaging or reducing to debris
- more fluid loadout options for type where one can carry two rifles and a pistol without a SMG/shotgun, or then one rifle and two SMGs without any pistol et cetera
Some spoiler-free tips for dawgs who might take the leap in the future:
- Shrapnel – Don't be Billy Bad-Ass and watch as you fire on both objects and Nazi war instruments; if you're within 35 metres, take cover instead of ducking; it really catches you by surprise but you'll get clipped hard by airborne wheels and shards…trust me, lol
- Blue-scarved dudes – These are your homies and who were known as les Francs-tireurs et partisans i.e. the French resistance; don't be an idiot like me and hide from or waste time sniping them, derp
- Objectives – leave incomplete at least one Primary (P) if you want further to hunt hidden objects, places, or wartime documents; there's simply no indication in-game when a mission is a wrap and you're to (a) exfil, or (b) rendezvous at your leisure; it's really a mix and varies from mission to mission; leaving one P undone puts you in control
- Challenges – Every area of operation has three deadeye challenges called Stone Eagles (I don't remember this at all from the North African campaign but I could be wrong); they do a devilishly good job at hiding these buggers so while not hard to hit per se as they are stationary, they can be taxing to find; it's pretty fun though to scan horizons or mountainous depressions with your binoculars; there are still a few I never could discover and I'd spend an extra hour in-mission sometimes looking for my last eagle
- Objectives/Challenges – Some are time-sensitive but are untelling of as much until it's too late, annoyingly; if you happen upon anything to do that's 'underway' or in motion like a propaganda operation or heist/convoy, stop what you're doing and prioritise accordingly
- Miscellanea – most stages have obscured shortcuts or detours that are money – think poor man's Bloodborne; I recommend playing on Elite difficulty or higher and only playing Marksman (Normal) for the first mission to feel everything out – the AI are demonstrably smarter as such and not superficially so where in other games greater difficulty means simply DMG output decreased, received increased; they do a great job here and there will be no endless enemy waves or cheap-shots the kind; war gadgets and suppressed ammunitions will always be in limited supply – fight wisely and defuse various explosives to reacquire at every chance
- Shooting Range – use it, especially if after a hiatus from the series; it's the best way to familiarise yourself with hitboxes for all vital organs and as for specs augmentation of your babies, you'll likely need know each; you can test-drive all weapons here, even DLC goodies when you haven't the DLCs, which was cool of them, I thought; use the range to test and perfect your loadout(s) while saving actual missions for your own immersion and enjoyment (Just a suggestion here)
- Weapons – Don't let the spec Stability preoccupy you too much and impact weapon of choice like it did me – it's just something high or low that you'll learn to intuit so screw it; take windage very seriously at any shot over 200m and on that note, the spec Muzzle Velocity, conversely, is something you should factor into your build
Enjoy, guys, and sorry for length.
cc:
@90 50,
@jojoRed,
@Zer
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