Play the SMERSH - kill Nazi occupants

[AidanMcfay]

Im going to have to pick this up, dont know how....but ill figure out a way.

[AidanMcfay]

sob, this was supposed to be a reply lmao.

[AidanMcfay]

ignore that last post, when it posted it looked like I had made a topic.

[Stark]

Ah, Stas you mention different types of badguys and disguises. I notice on the map SOME badguys turn green when you wear a disguise: are disguises more effective against lower-ranked soldiers? In the first part, the regulars seem to see through disguises much slower than the black-clad SS guys.

[K. A. Pital]

Ah, Stas you mention different types of badguys and disguises.

Yeah. They're _very_ different. Each badguy has his "rank" and his "alert level" which is seen on the Map as a view sector (like in Commandos). The alert level is from green to yellow to red. Green is calm; yellow is "careful surveyance" and red is "alert" (if you shoot someone and another guy hears it, he'll go red in a moment).

I notice on the map SOME badguys turn green when you wear a disguise: are disguises more effective against lower-ranked soldiers?

Yes. The higher is the rank of your enemy, the more is the probability he'll recognise an intruder in you.

In the first part, the regulars seem to see through disguises much slower than the black-clad SS guys.

Regulars don't see through them at all. Those guys who turn into green dots have completely believed you're a soldier (unless you start acting strangely in front of them, like crouching, jumping without need, etc.). Don't forget to take off the backpack (can be done in the inventory, right upper corner) and change the weapon for a german one so that you don't cause any suspicions.

Only patrols (who're on "yellow" alert) and officers can see you if you're dressed as a german soldier.

And the sight of all bad guys has two zones - the dark-colored zone, immediate sight, where the guy sees you and immediately reacts. The light-colored zone, is where you can walk around for some time and have the guys pay no attention (if you stay there for too long, however, they would notice you).

[Stark]

Ah, the backpack! I couldn't work out why I was always spotted so easily. Do you drop it, or exchange it, or put it in your inventory or what?

Also, the green guys accepting you as a german will make my next play through MUCH easier. I must try it.

[K. A. Pital]

Ah, the backpack! I couldn't work out why I was always spotted so easily. Do you drop it, or exchange it, or put it in your inventory or what?

Drop it. You don't need it anyway. You can't put a backpack in the invenotry IIRC.

Also, when it shows a [!] on top of the screen, that means you're causing suspicion and it's a good idea to look at your appearance or change position.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

So I take it the option to change the language to English isn't available?

[K. A. Pital]

So I take it the option to change the language to English isn't available?

No. I explained some less obvious controls somewhere on the previous page.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

No. I explained some less obvious controls somewhere on the previous page.

How about inverting the Y-axis mouse look?

[K. A. Pital]

How about inverting the Y-axis mouse look?

Honestly don't know. Why do you need it?

[Stark]

Heh. Once I dropped the bag, I finally got the ! to disappear and could walk around largely unmolested. However if you pull a tiny strangulator out of your pocket people 30m away will spot it and come running.

What's a good method to get a black uniform? Sneaking up behind them seems really difficult, and even after clearing the area around that guy standing guard by the door to a house all alone I couldn't get close enough to whack him in the head.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

How about inverting the Y-axis mouse look?

Honestly don't know. Why do you need it?

Because I play that way!

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Nevermind! I found the option to invert it.

[K. A. Pital]

However if you pull a tiny strangulator out of your pocket people 30m away will spot it and come running.

Strangle only the first guy. Hit the rest in the head. And yes, you should not be under sight when doing it, obviously. An eye icon warns you if you're in enemy sights at the moment.

What's a good method to get a black uniform?

Clean the territory up (kill border patrols) and make your way for the officer's hut. There's a blue officer icon on there, which means you can take an officers uniform in there.

Sneaking up behind them seems really difficult, and even after clearing the area around that guy standing guard by the door to a house all alone I couldn't get close enough to whack him in the head.

Use "T" to whistle while standing behind a house. If the guy is close enough (you'll see soundwaves on the map), he'll come to investigate. Keep whistling. Then run around the house and hit the guy in the head from behind, quickly, before he turns around. With a little practice, it's easy.

"T" also works on "green" soldiers (the ones who fall for the disguise), so you can lure them too, then simply come out of the hide, run around them and kill them. Works good enough. They cry "Was ist das?!" before they die

[Stark]

Oh so you can still use 'E' to knock out people after they've detected you, but before they turn around? And I never thought about using the whistle even though I've used it on the regulars - I thought responding to the noise might make them 'more alert' and even harder to sneak up on. Distracting them then running round the house and clonking them on the head sounds like fun.

[K. A. Pital]

Don't forget that there's also the ability to kill a remote patrol somewhere behind a house, then let others come and see it.

But you have to quickly kill them once they come so they don't put up the alarm.

I've managed to kill 5 goons that way, killed 1, 2 more came, killed them both from behind, 1 more came, and the last also came to the place where bodies were piled up. This niche was very convenient as almost no one saw it directly and I racked up lots of kills

[K. A. Pital]

Okay, I've been playing the game for a whole week now and here's my official review:

Gameplay
Fucking rules. There are usually several alternative methods of getting rid of an enemy (strangle, knife, silenced Nagant, DeLisle carbine or Mosin sniper rifle with silencer), all work for different environments.

Not to mention that this is a WWII-stealth action, it's missions almost all have a historical analogue.

Sounds from opening doors and footsteps are a real bitch, the game really teaches you to control yourself. Especially in close quarters with lots of bad guys behind the door

A little more work on German team AI could've helped, because sometimes it comes down to the ridiculous, you kill 4 germans in a room by luring them out 1 by 1 and the remaining Nazis don't pay attention. But all in all, AI is pretty decent, if Germans hear shots or steps, or whistles, they don't just come to the place where it happened but also check all doors and rooms around it (which could be quite uncomfortable if you left bodies or decided to hide there...)

4,5/5 - very good.

Storyline
As a SMERSH agent you must kill various foreign spies (those mainly come in the form of German and British agents), high SS, Abwehr and SD officials. One of the missions includes liberating a fellow Soviet agent from Gestapo, another one - blowing up a bridge, finding a traitor in a hotel, saving a person from a Nazi death camp, etc. The storyline is solid and follows the battle path of Semyon Strogov, a SMERSH agent who is called for interrogation after the purge fell on Abakumov himself in 1951, because he personally contacted Abakumov. Along the line of his memories you make your missions.

4,5/5 - no "boring" missions or "silly" tasks, highly realistic plot and solid, more or less realistic intelligence characters (comparing to other games with similar plots).

Graphics
5/5. The game is beautiful. Especially in huge open maps, but inside old mansions, hotels and bunkers, too. Not for weak machines, though.

Weapons
All you could dream of. The most often used weapon would not be guns, however - they create too much noise. 90% of kills would be done with the strangle. The remaining 10% - with silenced weapons. Ammo is rare and enemies are plenty, so you'll quickly learn not to waste your Nagant/Mosin ammo for anything.

Shooting from "loud" weapons is a very bad idea on any level. You're immediately heard, localized, and killed by superior numbers of Nazis.

Therefore, despite sporting a very wide arsenal of realistic WWII weapons, their use would be limited. Unless you're a superman killer, of course. Technically, on open maps with sufficient skill you could murder all enemies using grenades + SMGs and sniper rifles.

Sniper rifles imitate breathing and muscle tremor - it's very hard to use them, technically, one needs to be quite good at operating his mouse. I like it that way.

Headshots and heart shorts kill, the rest don't, so be careful where you aim.

Grenades can be used with variable throw strength.

4/5.

Vehicles
You can drive them, A. You can hide bodies in them, B. You can use them to kill enemies, C. In short, very good. No tanks, but you can drive an APC and be very deadly

4/5.

Uniforms
Done with professional help, I guess. They're very good. And you can use them.

All in all, a very good game.