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Death to Spies
 Work In Progress This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors. See Talk:Death to Spies for current discussions. Content is subject to change. |
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Death to Spies is a third-person stealth game that lets the player assume the role of Captain Semion Strogov, a Russian WWII veteran and eventual field agent of the USSR's SMERSH counterintelligence agency from its 1943 inception. The game begins as Capt. Strogov is called to the Lubyanka building (then the headquarters of the KGB) in Moscow during 1951, and interrogated about his experiences to assist in tracking down a possible traitor to the organization. During his interrogation, the game's missions unfold in retrospective as Capt. Strogov tells his interrogator, or privately reminisces, about his experiences as a spy, saboteur, and assassin around the globe.
On a side note, SMERSH is short for SMERt' SHpionam (СМЕРть Шпионам in Cyrillic), which itself means "Death to Spies."
Overview
The game features a large variety of World War II weaponry, and also a fairly restrictive inventory system with which the player's weapons, equipment, and ammunition can be carried. The inventory itself has only 18 spaces and a weight limit of 22 kilograms to force players to be selective with what they take and leave behind. Inventory items each occupy a single slot and cannot be stacked, so a five-round stripper clip occupies the same amount of inventory space as a 71-round drum magazine would. The game does, however, let players carry a backpack into a level, which will allow for more than the usual 18 inventory spaces to be available, but even this must still respect the 22 kilogram weight limit, and the amount of extra inventory spaces granted depends on the type of backpack selected. Capt. Strogov for his own part cannot carry more than one long gun and one sidearm at any given time.
Death to Spies utilizes a equipment selection screen available before missions to allow players to choose their loadout before starting a mission, which is important because many weapons and pieces of equipment cannot be found in the various levels. Some weapons are not available on all missions at this screen however, and only a limited amount of ammunition (itself variable across missions) can be carried into a mission for weapons available at the pre-mission selection screen.
Like its more popular genre-mate the Hitman game series, Death to Spies also features a disguise system to allow the player character to blend in among hostile forces or access restricted areas, but the latter's is significantly more restrictive. Disguises can only be taken from NPCs who were incapacitated in a (relatively) bloodless manner (the rationale is that clothes that are bloodstained or riddled with holes from bullets/explosive fragments/knife attacks scream "bloody murder"), and NPCs who were killed with firearms cannot have their clothes commandeered unless they were dispatched with headshots (a gameplay mechanic that is somewhat unrealistic as headshots in real life can be distressingly bloody). Even with a disguise, various NPCs (most often officers or patrolling sentries) can and will see through the player character's charade if they get close enough to verify their suspicions.
This emphasis on deflecting suspicion extends even to any long guns carried while using a disguise; if hostile NPCs get close enough to a disguised Capt. Strogov to recognize that a firearm he's carrying is incongruous with his disguise (i.e., if he is disguised as a civilian but is seen carrying any firearm, or if he is disguised as a German soldier and is seen carrying a non-German firearm), they will immediately attack him and/or sound the alarm. Incongruous backpacks are also cause for alarm if NPCs get close enough to verify a backpack's foreign appearance. Aiming a firearm (even one appropriate to a disguise), setting a planted explosive, or throwing/placing any live grenade in the close sight of any NPC are also considered hostile acts.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, the following weapons are only available via the pre-mission equipment selection screen and not in the game's various levels.
Handguns
Note: All handguns can be carried while concealed on Capt. Strogov's person to avoid arousing suspicion, but only handguns that match his disguise can be openly carried without drawing suspicion.
Submachine Guns
Rifles/Carbines
Sniper Rifles
Grenades
Note: Thanks to Capt. Strogov's saboteur training, all grenades can be used in booby traps. Doors can be rigged to explode when opened, and incapacitated NPCs can be turned into "body bombs" that detonate when examined by enemies, or even when raised to be moved by Capt. Strogov. He can remove safely disarm and retrieve grenades used as booby traps at a later time. Grenades cannot be "cooked" when thrown.
Landmines
Note: All landmines can only be carried in backpacks, not in Capt. Strogov's "regular" inventory. Landmines cannot be buried or otherwise concealed when placed, but are still invisible to enemies anyway. Unlike many games with landmines or similar weapons, an NPC must directly step on a planted landmine to detonate it. Capt. Strogov cannot detonate landmines by stepping on them, but he can still shoot them to detonate them prematurely.