Sniper Elite 5 Reveals Invasion Mode and Will Be A Day One Game Pass Title

Written by Brandon Hofer on January 25, 2022

News: The next installment in the Sniper Elite franchise will be on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC platforms.

Rebellion has released a new CGI trailer for Sniper Elite 5, the latest installment of the award-winning franchise, hinting at the new Invasion Mode which allows players to drop into each other’s campaigns and take on the role of an Axis Sniper with high rewards on the line. Created by Rebellion’s dedicated production company Rebellion VFX, the new trailer utilizes both in-game and bespoke VFX assets with a tailored audio mix to create a stunning cinematic trailer.

Invasion Mode 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.”

Invasion Mode will 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.

Successful Axis Snipers 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 additional XP for having Invasion Mode enabled.

Sniper Elite 5 will release simultaneously on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 & 5, Epic, Steam, and the Windows Store in 2022. Players will 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.

The new CGI trailer was created by Rebellion VFX. Based at Rebellion Film Studios in Didcot, Rebellion VFX has been formed from industry-leading visual effects supervisors, artists, and developers. The team specializes in full CG environment builds, FX, Compositing, Environment Set Extension, and Virtual Production set builds with projects utilizing both offline rendered and real-time rendered game engine methodology. The on-site capability is further enhanced by Rebellion’s award-winning motion capture and full performance capture facilities, Audiomotion.

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 which will hopefully be enjoyed by our passionate community of Sniper Elite fans too.”

Check out the aforementioned trailer and then tell us what you think. Will you be picking up Sniper Elite 5?