When comparing Sniper Elite 4 vs Dark Souls III, the Slant community recommends Dark Souls III for most people. In the question“What are the best single player games on PS4 with high replayability/replay value?” Dark Souls III is ranked 13th while Sniper Elite 4 is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose Dark Souls III is:
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story. Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you. Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Freedom to tackle levels however you want
Sniper Elite 4 puts you in large, open sandbox levels with the freedom to achieve your objective in any way you want. If you're tasked with dispatching enemy units on the map, you can choose to take out the commander first to confuse everyone and lower their morale, or you can take everyone out one by one as you locate them. You can shoot at explosive barrels to eliminate a group of enemies all at once, aim for the engine of a vehicle for an ever bigger explosion, or go in guns blazing without stealth or sniper rifles.
Pro Satisfying slow-motion X-Ray kill shots
While killing enemies, the camera will slow down as the bullet crosses the map, outlining the target's skeleton and internal organs in an X-Ray view to show you exactly how the shot goes through them. Lining up the perfect sniper shot and watching as the bullet crosses the map and crushes through the enemy's skeleton and flesh is a visceral experience. The movement of the camera as it zooms in and captures the spattering blood and cracking bones is the most unique part of the gameplay. Getting to see that level of detail reinforces the importance of every shot, making each bullet more valuable.
Pro Higher difficulties offer nuanced challenges
There are four difficulty levels: Cadet, Marksman, Sniper Elite, and Authentic, with the real challenges and unique changes starting at Sniper Elite. At this setting, there's no aim assist, and shots that are longer than 300 meters are much harder to pull off due to realistic ballistics in each sniper rifle. The Authentic difficulty ramps things up even more, with no aim assist and no UI elements on the interface.
Pro Stealth gameplay that rewards patience
Taking your time to sneak up to a vantage point and line up your sniper scope with the enemy's head pays off in Sniper Elite 4. Avoiding detection and sticking to high points will be your best bet for stealth gameplay, with options to climb up buildings or sneak through shrubbery or behind walls to get to where you need to be. If you're spotted, you can pull out a handgun and dispatch enemies that way, but it's not as efficient as sniping enemies from a safe distance and remaining undetected.
Pro Very fun with incredibly realistic graphics
The game is very fun and you can spend hours playing it. The graphics are amazing and the gameplay is very fun. If you were to complain about the graphics being too realistic and that it might not be for young children, then you can change the settings to turn off the x-ray, and besides, the game is about killing. If you don't want that type of gameplay, then don't play the game, and don't give it a bad review because of that.
Pro Extensive lore that's presented in unconventional ways
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story.
Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you.
Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Pro Stunning environments
The world of Dark Souls 3 looks amazing, so you may often feel the need to stop and take in the beautiful sights. This can be the sheer size of structures, mountains, or caves. It can also be the decorations, inscriptions, or details in a room. There's always so much to look at, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in its world.
Pro Can give a great feeling of accomplishment
The Dark Souls series is known for its difficulty and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. It's filled with difficult enemies and tough boss battles, able to cause you grief on more than one occasion. However, every time you progress to the next safe spot or defeat a boss you'll often be filled with a mix of joy and relief. Beating this game will almost certainly feel like an achievement.
Pro Unpredictable boss battles
The boss battles in Dark Souls 3 consist of several phases, changing up how the bosses fight over the course of the battle. They will gain new abilities, become more aggressive, or reveal various nasty surprises. This creates an enjoyable experience that is different from most modern games where bosses are just glorified pincushions.
Pro A great variety of equipment for almost any playstyle
You'll be finding new pieces of equipment quite often, giving you many options to choose from. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to pick the equipment that best suits your playstyle.
For example, heavy armor will make you move slower, but you'll be better protected. Greatswords have a wide reach, but you swing them really slow. Conversely a dagger is very fast but it has a horrible reach.
Pro Solid controls
This game feels and plays really well. Your character responds to button inputs immediately and it almost never feels like you're losing control over it. The control scheme can also be customized, giving you the option of a more personalized experience.
Pro Great combat system
Dark Souls 3 is a very fast-paced game but it's not just about having quick reflexes. A lot of the combat comes down to exploiting your enemies. To do that, you have to learn their patterns and attack the moment they pause or perform a telegraphed attack. This creates a combat system, which rewards awareness and patience, and is satisfying to master, even if you don't have extraordinary reflexes.
Cons
Con Inconsistent AI competence
Sometimes the enemy AI is smart, calling in backup to surround you once you're spotted, or making clever sweeps throughout your last known location to find you. But other times, the enemy will stare right at you from only a few feet away, or remain knelt behind cover without noticing you dispatching other units right next to them.
Con Standard World War II story
Sniper Elite 4 doesn't do much with its story beyond telling you where to go in order to kill more Nazis. The plot doesn't try to make any commentary on the necessity of war, and it doesn't do enough with groups like the Italian Resistance or the mafia. You won't find anything new or groundbreaking here with the writing or narrative.
Con Not much stat variety with guns
Your starter gear will likely stay with you throughout the entire game, as new guns you receive don't have too many boosts in power or precision. At most, you may choose another gun because of the way it looks, such as a camoflauge skin or an all-black rifle instead.
Con Poor support for mouse+keyboard control
The default DS3 key/button bindings actually prevent full use of certain weapons by requiring the shift key to be pressed and not-pressed simultaneously. Rebinding is possible, but limited by issues like the left mouse button overriding all others and certain bindings not actually working in game (e.g. Shift+MiddleClick).
Con It's hard
You should try avoiding the trap of great review scores since most of them fail to mention the difficulty. It's simply put - hard. A lot of the combat requires quick reflexes, good mechanics, and the mental fortitude to carry on after failing for hours. If you're new to the Souls-like genre or simply want to enjoy a relaxing evening playing a video game, you most likely won't enjoy Dark Souls III.
Con Poorly tuned dynamic visiblity
You may notice some texture pop in while sharply turning the camera. It can be somewhat distracting if you notice it, but most of the time you won't because it happens in the distance.
Con Occasional performance issues
There are portions of the game that will have noticeable framerate drops, which can negatively affect the gameplay. Most of the fault lies with the game engine, so getting better hardware won't help that much.