Sniper Elite 4 (SE4) finally makes it ways to the Nintendo Switch, nearly four years after its initial release on other consoles. The Switch version has a reduced MSRP ($40), but is otherwise a straight-forward, yet very high quality, port. I first reviewed SE4 on PS4 back in February 2017, and no doubt it’s a great game, the best in the series (please consider that article a supplement to this one). The Switch has no trouble running the game, and the time I spent in portable mode was also great. That said, the most unfortunate aspect of this release is that all of the DLC — and there is a lot of good, meaty DLC here with extra story missions, actually-interesting character and weapon skins, and other goodies — is not at all included with the Switch version. You can in fact buy this content on the eShop, all for $30 or in smaller chunks, but for a game that is nearly four years old, it’s too bad that it wasn’t given an ‘Ultimate’ treatment with all content included.
That missed opportunity aside, there’s still a lot to love about SE4 on the Switch. The campaign takes players to Italy this time. SE3 was in Africa, and Switch owners were left out on that release altogether. While SE3 was a fine game, SE4 took the series forward with some of the best level and mission design the series has had. I loved the large outdoor missions with the backdrop of Italy; they’re some of the most picturesque and outright fun missions to date.
So players find themselves once again in the boots of Karl Fairbourne, who has been the series’ protagonist since way back in 2006 when the series began on the original Xbox. Karl’s perfectly parted hair and overtly gruff voice is part of a character design that still feels too rigid and generic. And while there is some character development during the course of the game, I’m still not as interested in Karl as some other game protagonists. A so-so lead character isn’t a dealbreaker, but I think this series could really get a boost from a better, more interesting character in future installments.
As far as gameplay, little to nothing has changed from what I can tell from when I first played this game on PS4 nearly four years ago. Difficulty settings allow players to adjust their sniping experience with appreciably levels of granularity. “Authentic Plus” mode will test your mettle with all wind, breathing, bullet drop, enemy difficulty, etc., ramped up, while other difficulty options take out all of the math and “guesswork” of sniping and make it about as point and click as it can be. Regardless of difficulty setting, there is a real sense of awe when you nail a Nazi from long range, the series has always captured those moments impressively. I appreciated that the amount of bullet time camera and gore could be reduced as well.
All ten or so missions of the campaign can be played through in local co-op mode, too. This makes an already great game potentially a lot more fun. One of my favorite gaming memories of the past twenty years was co-oping through the original Sniper Elite on ‘Elite’ difficulty back on the original Xbox. Since then, I have yet to budget the time to play through the other games in the series co-op, but it’s on my backlog to do. Still, even in single player, with sprawling missions and lots of ways to approach a situation (stealth being the best, preferred way), SE4 is a treat. Some missions are impressively long, an hour-plus, but thanks to the Switch’s handy Sleep feature, any lengthy interruptions you have aren’t a big deal.
Bottomline, Sniper Elite 4 on Switch is nearly four years late to the party, but better late than never. It’s regrettable that all of the DLC wasn’t included and that this release was not given the Ultimate version treatment, but, for snipe-hungry Switch players, this is still an excellent game that’s well worth your consideration.
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