Sniper Elite 4 finds itself strangely relevant in anxious times

Sniper Elite, a cult-hit series and one of the few console shooters that has never left its World War II roots, finds itself surprisingly relevant on the eve of Sniper Elite 4’s Valentine's Day launch.

"There's enough distance to that conflict for us to see it as a comfortable place for our adventures," mused Jason Kingsley, the chief executive and creative director for Rebellion, which makes the series. "Unfortunately for us now, there's kind of a — how do I put it politely? — a worldwide rise in authoritarianism, which is characterized by many ideologies, one of them Nazism."

After almost five decades as an action-movie villainy drawn from long-gone governments and their long-dead leaders, fascism is a very real thing in present political discussion. If not its concepts, at least the circumstances that gave rise to real fascist movements are present in current dialogue. The tone of calling someone a fascist is no longer the insulting dismissal of a cartoonish evil annihilated by our grandparents. It's seriously threatened and angry.

More Related News:

Batman’s had five Robins — here’s why

Titanfall 2’s upcoming Live Fire mode looks intense and fast-paced

Touch the Skyrim: Griffin and Nick start over with a clean, erotic slate

Car Boys: Scaling the tower of Better Gridmap

Here’s co-op puzzle Death Squared in action

Has it really been a decade since Mass Effect launched?