If you haven’t been keeping up to date with Sniper Elite 4 then you have really been missing out. Fortunately for you, there’s been loads of information released today which you can check out here.
We were given the opportunity to speak with Tim Jones, Head of Creative at Rebellion. Those of you who frequent Game Watcher may be familiar with Tim, and that’s because we interviewed him just under a year ago. This time we’ve asked Tim some questions relating to Sniper Elite 4’s gameplay, the delay to the game back in October and more.
GameWatcher: Could I get you to introduce yourself to our readers and tell them a bit about your game, please?
Tim Jones: Hi, I’m Tim Jones and I’m Head of Creative at Rebellion. I’m proud to be talking to you about Sniper Elite 4, the new entry in our long-running World War 2 shooter series. Sniper Elite 4 continues the series’ staple of gripping stealth and action, and of course great long-distance sharpshooting. This time around we’re current-gen only, which means we’ve taken things up a notch or two with much, much bigger maps to explore, completely revamped AI, new traversal mechanics and tons of other improvements and refinements, all within Italian backdrops that are the most beautiful and detailed the series has ever seen. We’re out on PS4, Xbox One and PC on February 14, so if you’re looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift, we’ve got you covered.
GameWatcher: Sniper Elite 4’s larger maps have essentially transformed the game into a sandbox shooter. What inspired you to go into this direction as opposed to the more linear direction of Sniper Elite V2?
Tim Jones: Well, we saw in Sniper Elite 3 that players definitely appreciated the steps we were making towards more open gameplay, and with the switch to going current-gen only we knew we could make some really impressively sized environments, so it made a lot of sense, really. And having the much larger maps has really informed a lot of the game’s openness. The new ability to clamber across ledges and up and down walls is a big example of that, but there are other touches like the more detailed recon you can get through your binoculars, the different factions you’ll encounter in certain maps and how you decide to deal with them, the new secondary functions of weapons and traps – it all combines to create what we feel is the most open, ambitious game we’ve ever made.
GameWatcher: Can you tell us about some of the lessons you learnt from Sniper Elite 3 that inspired you to create an even more ambitious game?
Tim Jones: We’ve been around a long time now as a company – we’re coming up to our 25th birthday – so we learned a long time ago to take feedback on board and continue looking to improve. We’ve worked to refine all the things that needed refining from Sniper Elite 3, and as I’ve said, look closely to what the players were gravitating towards in that game.
GameWatcher: You’ve included letters from home for some of the soldiers. After reading some of them, I genuinely felt bad about killing soldiers. What made you want to introduce this to the series?
Tim Jones: We’ve focused on going deeper with the narrative in Sniper Elite 4, whether that’s through things like cut scenes or the new areas before each level where you can speak to fellow soldiers and learn more intelligence about the story, the mission. But the letters from home, the greater intelligence you learn through reconnaissance, things like that are designed to produce that kind of reaction and I think it adds a very important texture to the experience. Sniper Elite 4 is a fun form of escapism for sure, but it’s based on a very brutal real-life war that took millions upon millions of lives, and that’s something we don’t try to shirk from.
GameWatcher: You’ve brought back your famous ‘Kill Hitler’ mission (by popular demand, no less). Has the Sniper Elite community asked for any other targets, or is Hitler on top of everyone’s kill list?
Tim Jones: Oh there’s always demand for other targets but you just have to go on YouTube to see how popular the Hitler missions are with fans. Just like last time, there’ll be loads of different, very creative ways to complete your mission and take down the Führer – I can’t wait to see players work them out!
GameWatcher: Back in June you announced Sniper Elite 4 would be delayed until February 2017. Can you go into detail about any of the changes or additions to the game since the delay?
Tim Jones: That was a difficult decision that was largely based around the timing of our virtual reality tank game Battlezone that was launching alongside PlayStation VR in October. As an independent studio we felt trying to release two major games around the same time was a bit much for us. So holding back on it a few months has allowed us to just ensure everything about Sniper Elite 4 is as tight as can be. That is one of the benefits of being completely independent – we can make those kinds of decisions and it means we’ve got just that little bit more gloss to the final finish.
GameWatcher: One of Sniper Elite 4’s big selling points is related to the larger map sizes in this game compared to Sniper Elite 3. How has this change affected how you develop the multiplayer and co-op side of the game?
Tim Jones: Massively, I’d say. We’ve been showing off Survival, one of the returning co-op modes in Sniper Elite 4 that sends hordes of Nazis your way for you to try and fend off. This time around we’ve gone up to four players, but the significantly larger maps have clearly made a difference. Your team has to really do some good scouting across this large environment for the enemies coming towards you, and it’ll force you to work in sync as a team, scouting, tagging enemies, keeping an collective knowledge of who and what is attacking you from where, and what you as a team can do to stop it. From what I’ve seen, people are going to have such a blast with that mode.
GameWatcher: Have you felt pressured by the community to move away from the World War II setting, or are you happy as a developer to do your own thing entirely?
Tim Jones: We’re certainly mindful of those who’d like to see us set Sniper Elite elsewhere – or should I say else-when - but we similarly know many, many of our fans absolutely love the series for its setting and what we’ve done with it. The company bosses and many of us at the studio are big history buffs and World War 2 holds a certain fascination for us.
GameWatcher: Sniper Elite has always been about, well, sniping, but some of these new additions to the game (traps, hanging from ledges, for example) almost turn the game into a Metal Gear Solid V/Sniper hybrid. What brought about these gameplay changes?
Tim Jones: Funnily enough, I remember reading people saying Metal Gear Solid 5 took some inspiration from Sniper Elite 3! But you’re certainly not the first to draw the comparison and Metal Gear Solid 5 is a great game for sure. I do think a lot of it is what the series has been building towards, and as I said before, the larger maps almost kind of inform the decision. The open environments we’ve created are designed to offer more freedom and choice, and we want to ensure you can take advantage of that as much as possible. Traps have been a Sniper Elite staple, for example, but we’ve done some really cool things with it in Sniper Elite 4 like being able to booby-trap enemies. It’s very satisfying when you’re off elsewhere in the map some minutes later, and then you switch to the kill cam that shows you your trap working in beautiful X-ray glory!
GameWatcher: Can you give fans an idea of what they have to look forward to from Sniper Elite 4’s Season Pass?
Tim Jones: I can’t offer too many details just yet – blame my marketing overlords for that – but I can tell you it’ll include all the game’s DLC packs including the Target: Führer mission we talked about earlier. And as per the last game we’re supporting Sniper Elite 4 with tons and tons of content after launch, and ALL multiplayer packs will be free for everyone. But otherwise, please stay tuned for more details!
Sniper Elite 4 will arrive on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on February 14th 2017.
