Death to Spies: Moment of Truth is a difficult stealth based adventure played from a third person perspective that seeks to challenge any fan of the stealth genre. Set in a World War II setting you’ll find a familiar video game location although unlike many other war games that focus on the direct battles of this conflict you’ll instead be helping your side win through spy tactics.
Launching in 2009 this single player stealth title also serves as a sequel to the first game released in 2007 (Death to Spies). While mechanics of the core gameplay have a number of similarities you’ll find new story and refined mechanics that push the stealth franchise to a new level of challenge. Other notable differences between games in this franchise include a host of new mission locations to explore, additional vehicles, added weapons and spy tools available that is all wrapped up with improved graphics and interface.
Your role in this World War II spy themed title is that of Semion Strogov who is a member of the Soviet counterintelligence unit known as SMERSH. With a wealth of spy training and available equipment you’ll battle against the Axis powers from the shadows to acquire information, sabotage their projects or assassinate high ranking targets. While Semion returns in this sequel his tactical training has increased to new heights and is paired with a mix of familiar and new spy techniques which includes picking locks, knocking out enemies, setting up booby traps and more.
Players will need to utilise all of these tools to maximum effect in Death to Spies: Moment of Truth given the brutal difficult level that the game imposes. This difficulty is driven by the lack of significant tutorials on how best to use your mechanics (although experience in the first game will help you) and the deadly AI that is not easily fooled like other stealth games. At the simplest level this means less obvious patrol paths for enemy units and the lack of over powered disguises that just give you a free pass to explore the enemy base.
To counter this you’ll need to use the abundance of mechanics available, carefully plan and occasionally trial and error different options. These options generally form around potential paths to your objective with Death to Spies: Moment of Truth encouraging you to utilise one of several available routes for most missions. Weapons do also make an appearance and can be an effective option in some situations but you’ll quickly find that this is not designed to be a game that you will shoot yourself through.
For the gamers that enjoy the stealth genre and want to push themselves with a challenging game Death to Spies: Moment of Truth will test your spy skills from start to finish across its broad World War II missions.
Summary:
- A difficult spy stealth game with plenty of challenges across the World War II setting.
- Lack of mechanic based tutorials forces players to explore the mechanics on your own with trial and error.
- Beautifully presented game world with great immersion and attention to detail.
- Plenty of weapons, vehicles and stealth mechanics to master as you explore multiple paths to your objective.
- Great improvements over the original Death to Spies experienced released two years early.
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Review Platform: PC