Whether rightly or wrongly, Rebellion - one of the UK's longest standing indies, something the Oxford-based studio is understandably proud of - has a bit of a patchy reputation. Perhaps it's the frayed edges found in work-for-hire such as the brilliantly conceived but poorly executed NeverDead or the poorly conceived and poorly executed Rogue Warrior (a game which still demands to be held in high regard for its end credit sequence alone).
When Rebellion's been able to work on its own terms the results have often fared much better, as with the recent self-published Sniper Elite series; knockabout action stealth games with delicious period WW2 trappings, they've quickly risen from guilty pleasure to something much more commendable. The end result of the quickfire iteration that comes from a series that's seen five games since 2012 is Sniper Elite 4. And it's kind of brilliant.
Sniper Elite 4 doesn't deviate from the formula laid out by its predecessor, nor does it make any profound additions, but that's all for the best. In placing a focus on the fundamentals - as well as keeping this to current generation consoles, unlike Sniper Elite 3, so that compromises aren't so commonplace - Rebellion has been able to tease out all the potential that's been bubbling under the surface for so long. And if you haven't played a Sniper Elite beforehand, this is most definitely the right time to get acquainted.
0 comments:
Post a Comment