Sniper Elite 4 sends the World War II series to Italy this year

Karl Fairburne, the eagle-eyed hero of Rebellion's cult hit World War II franchise Sniper Elite, joins the Italian resistance in Sniper Elite 4, which launches sometime this year on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.

In the description from Rebellion, Fairburne will take up arms with Italians struggling to free their nation in 1943, with the fate of the Allied liberation of Europe on the line.

Rebellion is promising settings in "sun-drenched mediterranean coastal towns, colossal Nazi megastructures, daunting forests and giddying mountain monasteries inspired by Monte Cassino." The studio also promises that all the action for which Sniper Elite is well known will return, particularly the stealth operations that can break down into up-close life-and-death struggles.

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Sniper Elite's last launch was 2014's Sniper Elite 3, the series' debut on the current console generation. Sniper Elite has baffled many observers for strong sales and a devoted fanbase that belies the middling review scores it has received. Rebellion, in this 2014 feature by Polygon, seemed content to play to that cult audience, or at least to those who enjoy a game of long-term patience that pays out in grisly kill-cam animations.

Sniper Elite 4 will feature a single-player campaign as well as co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. No specific date was given for Sniper Elite 4's release but the series' last two editions have launched in May and late June.