14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Rebellion is announcing that it is planning to launch a new installment in the Sniper Elite video game series this year on the PC, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft.
The new shooter will take place immediately after the third title in the franchise and will take gamers to a variety of environments in Italy during 1942.
Rebellion states, "Covert agent and elite marksman Karl Fairburne must fight alongside the brave men and women of the Italian Resistance to help free their country from the yoke of Fascism, and defeat a terrifying new threat with the potential to halt the Allied fightback in Europe before it’s even begun."
The studio is pushing the idea of consequences hard, saying that the mission is so important that its failure will mean that Operation Overlord and the D-Day invasion of France will not take place, and Nazi Germany will be able to keep control of Europe.
The title will once again focus on stealth movement, and long-range attacks and gamers will be able to visit monasteries inspired by Monte Cassino, forests and massive structure that are built to keep an Allied invasion at bay.
The development team also says that Sniper Elite 4 will run at 1080p resolution and solid frame rate on both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Rebellion is delivering three types of experience in the same title
The new Sniper Elite will offer a classic single-player campaign, but gamers can also tackle that Italy has to offer with friends, using cooperative mechanics, and a set of multiplayer modes will also be included.
Rebellion says that the series has managed to sell more than 10 million units so far, and the new title is the first one that will be built for the new hardware from Sony and Microsoft from the ground up.
The studio has not talked about the X-ray kill feature that has been central to all installments in the Sniper Elite series and will probably add even more details to improve the authenticity of the title.
The teaser trailer is a little light on details, but Italy is one of the battlefields of World War II that video games have mostly ignored and fighting alongside a resistance organization could introduce some unique new challenges to the franchise.
It will also be interesting to see the way Rebellion makes cooperative action interesting, given the focus that the campaigns have put on Fairburne until now.
