Sniper Elite 4 – Deathstorm Part 2: Infiltration Review

Last time out with Sniper Elite 4, we were making our way through the frozen lands of the an Italian shipyard, taking in the views of the snow covered scenery and getting to work on the interception of the package known only as Todessturm – if only in order to find out more about a secret atomic weapon that was expected to be arriving inside the base. After finishing that mission, it was fair to say that we felt like we had achieved something major; we had almost cracked the overall mission and we were ready to head home in victory. Recently I sat down with the second part of Sniper Elite 4’s Deathstorm mini-campaign and found out that what we thought was work well done, may as well not have even taken place at all.

You see, the idea in Infiltration is that you are searching for a scientist, a man named Dr Antonello Galvani, the man the intercepted Deathstorm package was dispatched to. However early on in the Infilitration mission you find that the hour or so you spent carefully tracking down the Deathstorm package was all to intercept a sample, and that actually the real problem is still very much out there. Oh, and that it is about to be used to create the Deathstorm that will kill the entirety of your allied forces.

Whilst this makes the first mission seem like nothing more than a time waster, there were still plenty of things to praise from it, and Infiltration should ideally be able to build on those rather well. Your objective this time sends you out to the University of Niroli in search of Dr. Galvani, who is being forced to work for the Nazi regime against his wishes. Once there it is up to you to play the hero, recover his research and the cipher to read it, save his wife Veriana, and eliminate the enemy.

This time the setting is a vastly different one to that of the frozen tundra of Inception. The University of Niroli comes with tall towers – that once traversed make for the perfect sniping nest – and combat is no longer interrupted by bunched enemies at close range. The halls and corridors of the university make for some perfect opportunities to land those awe-inspiring long shots. The rest of the walled city brings plenty of alleyways and buildings from which to make the most of those tempting explosives, and can provide suitable cover when you realise that noisy rifle fire wasn’t the best choice.

But whilst the setting is indeed a welcome return to what we have become used to for the majority of Sniper Elite 4, the mission itself is quite disappointing. You aren’t going to find yourself chasing a pointless package, and instead it’s something quite the opposite. The mission seems to feel a lot less important than first time around. Sure, there are plenty of snipers watching from the towers and plenty of security to help the place look valuable and secure, but after the opening scene, and given the lack of ongoing story throughout each mission, the importance of what you’re doing this time around feels a lot less urgent than it should.

As for the objectives themselves, well, the enjoyment you get from these will depend entirely on how you play the game. All four objectives are pretty much found within the centre of the map, with optional ones such as taking out the town’s preacher of propaganda available. Those looking to take everything stealthily will find themselves in for a treat as the high enemy numbers have the place near enough locked down. But if you’re one who runs in guns blazing – which arguably isn’t the point of the game, but is possible – then you’ll not find things too difficult.

The mission end comic-style cinematic makes for a potentially very exciting part three to the DeathStorm content, but when the best part of a mission is the end, you need to question why that is. Of course, those looking for more classic Sniper Elite gameplay will find this mission a blast, given that it’s a lot like the rest of the game, but those enjoying the extra story will find things disappointing this time around. You may even wonder why the Season Pass is quite so expensive.

Overall and Infiltration brings with it an exciting environment full of fresh ideas, such as the use of height and depth, but the opening cinematic really doesn’t help the whole thing feel as free flowing as it should. The gameplay aspect obviously isn’t affected by this and the open areas bring for some great ranged opportunities to take down the masses of enemies, and many will find it as a fairly average DLC offering. But for the price, I’m finding it hard to recommend.