Anyone familiar with these pages will know of our love not just of the Sniper Elite series, but with those created by the Rebellion team. With Sniper Elite 5 due for release later in 2022, the hype meter is beginning to ramp up once more with the latest push being that of a new CGI trailer that hints at the new Invasion Mode that will be found within.
Sniper Elite 5 is due to launch in 2022 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and PC, taking what the Rebellion team have learnt from the likes of Sniper Elite 4 as they look to provide the greatest sniping experience yet.
When it does arrive, Invasion Mode will be in place, allowing players to drop into each other’s Campaign as they take on the role of an Axis Sniper with high rewards on offer. Created by Rebellion’s dedicated production company Rebellion VFX, the new trailer picks up and runs with both in-game and bespoke VFX assets with a tailored audio mix to create a stunning cinematic. You can view it right below these words. And you should too!
He Sun, Head of Rebellion VFX, said: “It has been a real pleasure for Rebellion VFX to be collaborating with the Sniper Elite brand, to be involved in working on such a title was a real privilege. We wanted to create a trailer that evoked a gritty and down-to-earth feeling in its cinematography, as if it was shot with a film crew on a real location. Technically, we relished the challenge of implementing USD (Universal Scene Description) pipeline in our offline rendering workflow. It was an enjoyable creative process with the whole which will hopefully be enjoyed by our passionate community of Sniper Elite fans too.”
What is Invasion Mode? Well, it will bring a whole new dimension to the game’s intense drama and add increased diversity to the tactics that players will have to employ in order to complete their mission. The invading Axis Sniper will have the sole aim to eliminate the player while the Allied Sniper will gain an extra objective: take out the invader. Invasion Mode will also be available in cooperative play, increasing the challenge for the Axis invader as they now have two Allies to track down, but offering greater rewards.
Chris Kingsley, CTO at Rebellion, commented: “Invasion Mode is a fantastic addition to the gameplay experience of Sniper Elite 5. A human controlled invader can act in ways that are so diverse and unpredictable, which adds to the challenge and ramps up the tension even further. The player will be informed that an invading Axis Sniper has joined their game and from that point on it becomes an extremely intense, high stakes game of cat and mouse.”
Chris continued: “For those players who just want a solo gameplay experience there will be the option to switch Invasion Mode off, but we recommend that everyone gives it a try at some point. We have been having a lot of fun with it in the studio, jumping into each other’s games and finding innovative, stealthy ways to take each other out.”
It all sounds a bit good and Invasion Mode will also enable some unique skills for both players. The Axis invader can make use of the AI Axis forces to help locate the Allied player. Tagging an Axis soldier will enable ‘Eagle Eyes’ which means that if that soldier spots the Allied Sniper then their last known location will be displayed on the map. The Axis Sniper can also instruct nearby soldiers to ‘Stay Sharp’, increasing their awareness. For the Allied Sniper, each level has invasion phones scattered around the map which the player can use to discover the last known location of their opponent. But beware, as not only can these phones be booby trapped, but overuse will raise suspicions and reveal the player’s location.
If you are a successful Axis Sniper then you will be rewarded with weapons, items and skin unlocks, while Allied Snipers can earn weapon and character skins by killing their opponent. You will also be awarded with additional XP for having Invasion Mode enabled. More XP is good, yeah?
What’s more, Rebellion has also today revealed the pack and key art that will be the focus for Sniper Elite 5.
Sniper Elite 5 will release on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 & 5, and on PC through Epic, Steam and Windows Store in 2022, allowing players to reprise the role of elite marksman Karl Fairburne as they travel to France in 1944 tasked with the mission to uncover and destroy the Nazi’s latest plan: Operation Kraken.
