Do you prefer skulking in the shadows and picking your enemies off from a distance to engaging them in open combat? Are you only satisfied when you’ve watched an entire enemy base fall to your rifle, confused as to where the carnage is coming from? If so, then you’re a born-and-bred gaming sniper, and there are plenty of great sniping games out there for you. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 10 best sniper games you can play on PS4 right now.
1. Sniper Elite 5
It goes without saying that Rebellion’s Sniper Elite franchise should be your first port of call when it comes to sniping gameplay. Sniper Elite 5 has a few fun tweaks on the franchise’s formula – its Invasion multiplayer mode is a great fusion of sniping and Among Us – but for the most part, it’s business as usual. Huge levels, lots of ways to approach your target, and a realistic consideration of how a sniper rifle would actually work in real life all lead to a hugely satisfying sniping game experience.
2. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2
Unlike the Elite franchise, Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 takes place in the modern day and revolves around taking down the dictatorial government of a fictional Middle Eastern nation. There are six missions on offer here, each of them incorporating a mixture of long-range sniping, close-quarters stealth, and exploration in order to take down your targets. Contracts 2’s main selling point is its 1000m extreme-range sniping, so if you like putting your skills to the test, check this one out.
3. Far Cry 5
The sniping gameplay in Far Cry 5 is obviously not as realistic as it is in the Sniper franchises, but it’s still well worth a look; you can set yourself up in towers or on the top of nearby hills and snipe enemy bases as a method of clearing them out, and if you do it well, enemies will never be alerted to your position. Far Cry 5 also tells a fascinating story of an American cult gone wrong, and the ending is the bravest thing Ubisoft has committed to in many years.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
There are many things wrong with this fifth instalment of the long-running Metal Gear franchise, but the sniping gameplay is not one of them. As “Venom Snake” (Big Boss), you can scout enemy bases and clear them out with one of several sniper rifles, either silenced or not. One of your companions, Quiet, is also an excellent sniper, so if you want, you can team up with her and take down bases at long range together. Come for the sniping, stay for the characteristically mad Metal Gear story.
5. Hitman: World of Assassination Trilogy
Many people would say that if you’re relying on sniping in Hitman, you’re already doing it wrong, but we think that’s unfair. The Hitman World of Assassination trilogy takes in 2016’s Hitman and its two sequels, and between them, they offer a huge variety of levels and targets to take down. In most of these levels, you can gain access to a sniper rifle, find just the right place to wait for your target, and clip them in the head just when they least suspect it.
6. Zombie Army 4: Dead War
Made by the developers of the Sniper Elite franchise, Zombie Army 4: Dead War is effectively a game-scale zombie mod for Sniper Elite 4. As such, it naturally features some pretty satisfying sniping mechanics, and although the undead make for less satisfying targets than living soldiers do, this is still a well-crafted sniping game. If you prefer to be on the ground where the real action is happening, the close combat options here are great as well.
7. Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red’s RPG suffered from some very well-documented issues on PS4 at launch, and while many of those issues have been fixed, some remain, so we’d recommend playing this one on PS5 if you have access to one. However, the game is now perfectly enjoyable on PS4, and it offers the chance to specialise in stealth. You can use sniper rifles to pick your enemies off from a distance, moving in when their numbers are thinned to explore areas and loot them for goodies.
8. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
If you like Ubisoft sandbox games – and they do very much adhere to a formula – then it’s hard to imagine you won’t like Wildlands. It takes the standard Ubisoft formula of stealth-based assaults on enemy bases and transposes it to a modern military setting, and, yes, you can use sniper rifles if you want to. Each base can be approached however you like, including setting yourself up at a distance and sniping enemies until the base is yours for the taking.
9. Battlefield V
Do yourself a favour and stay away from Battlefield 2042, at least for the time being. The game was released in a rather broken state, and while developer DICE is doing its best to polish the game and fix its many issues, Battlefield V is still where you’re going to get your money’s worth. As a multiplayer experience, Battlefield V offers plenty of chances to get to grips with sniping gameplay; in fact, it may even be what saves you during a particularly tense skirmish.
10. Call of Duty: Warzone
As a battle royale title, Call of Duty: Warzone almost actively encourages you to engage with its sniping gameplay. After all, how do you expect to survive if you’re constantly challenging your enemies to open combat? No, you’re better off taking a different approach here; set yourself up in a tower or high place and watch the chaos unfold beneath you, taking out enemies as and when they cross your path. Sure, it’s not particularly honourable, but who cares about honour when you’re victorious?