Death to Spies series

[Stealth'91]

hi guys,

nobody inside here knows or plays the fantastic death to spies saga?

 

 

 

 

INFOs: http://en.wikipedia..../Death_to_Spies ----- http://en.wikipedia....Moment_of_Truth

 

OFFICIAL site: http://www.death2spies.com/

 

DEMOs: http://www.gamershel...oad_20919.shtml ----- http://files.aspyr.c...o_Installer.zip

 

A THIRD INSTALLMENT IN SERIES IS ARRIVING.....

 

[demagogue]

Looks interesting. I played through Project IGI recently, and that was vaguely like this, at least just the infiltration parts. This is more detailed. The gameplay itself looks like it's going in the right direction, stealth-wise.

[Stealth'91]

the haggard games (russian developers) were inspired by hitman series and they create this hardcore version putting the player into the role of a s.m.e.r.s.h. agent (secret soviet corporation during world war)...

 

it's like hitman but more stealthly, professional and accurate... the bad is that the protagonist is like a piece of wood... but he can sneak, crouch, climb and lie down like a snake in the grass anyway...

 

try it, buy it!

[Sotha]

After making a few assassination missions for TDM, and playing one, I wanted more. I heard the new hitman doesn't deliver, so I got Death to Spies 1 and 2 cheaply from Steam.

 

I've played now training and first mission. This game is actually pretty deep. You are given a few objectives, you select tools and get into a large level with complete freedom what to do. Enemies are easy peasy if you get them off guard, but if you alert them, you'll die when a beehive gets stirred. AI seem smart,too. Tosses grenades if you camp doorways and such. It combines Commando: Behind Enemy Lines and Hitman in an interesting way. You can see the search cones of the AI in an-ingame map, like in Commando, but the main action goes in the main screen like in hitman. The difficulty bar is high, but unlimited saves (and I admit I savescummed) alleviate that a lot.

 

The controls are a bit clunky (hitman 1 style), and the animations would make Arcturus and Springheel cringe... But once you get used to it, it is pretty damn good. The training mission gives the very basics, but I was still learning a lot during the first mission, for example how far the AI can hear what. I'm pretty surprised why the metascore was so low for this. Will play further to see why. But after a few hours this game feels greatly underappreciated.

 

But thus far I recommend this if you see it very cheaply somewhere, like Steam. If you do, and you notice the player camera behaving oddly (doesn't always get behind the player), or you get stuck in invisible barriers indoors, be sure to activate vsync and triple buffering in the options. That fixed it for me.

[Cambridge Spy]

After making a few assassination missions for TDM, and playing one, I wanted more. I heard the new hitman doesn't deliver, so I got Death to Spies 1 and 2 cheaply from Steam.

 

I've played now training and first mission. This game is actually pretty deep. You are given a few objectives, you select tools and get into a large level with complete freedom what to do. Enemies are easy peasy if you get them off guard, but if you alert them, you'll die when a beehive gets stirred. AI seem smart,too. Tosses grenades if you camp doorways and such. It combines Commando: Behind Enemy Lines and Hitman in an interesting way. You can see the search cones of the AI in an-ingame map, like in Commando, but the main action goes in the main screen like in hitman. The difficulty bar is high, but unlimited saves (and I admit I savescummed) alleviate that a lot.

 

The controls are a bit clunky (hitman 1 style), and the animations would make Arcturus and Springheel cringe... But once you get used to it, it is pretty damn good. The training mission gives the very basics, but I was still learning a lot during the first mission, for example how far the AI can hear what. I'm pretty surprised why the metascore was so low for this. Will play further to see why. But after a few hours this game feels greatly underappreciated.

 

But thus far I recommend this if you see it very cheaply somewhere, like Steam. If you do, and you notice the player camera behaving oddly (doesn't always get behind the player), or you get stuck in invisible barriers indoors, be sure to activate vsync and triple buffering in the options. That fixed it for me.

 

Any of you played MoTmod?

[STiFU]

Hm, I once checked a review of a death to spies game after reading about it here and since it was rated pretty badly, I instantly dropped the idea of potentially getting it. Your review reads pretty well though, Sotha. Maybe I'll check out a Let's Play to see for my self whether it'd be something for me.

[Sotha]

I played the second mission yesterday. The difficulty bar was even higher and even the first seconds in the mission put in a very tight spot. But the logic of the game starts to open to me. This is no action game, but a true stealth. You cannot make rushed decisions (or if you do you will start savescumming). Instead, you gotta observe, observe, observe, and then when you know the risk is minimum, strike without hesitation. And you need to have a plan, so when you push things into motion, you need to know what to do next beforehand. I feels great when all the puzzle pieces move as you predicted and you get away with it.

 

I'm starting the believe that the ratings for this game are poor because of the difficulty. The industry standard is that games are easy past time, where you don't really need to focus much. This game is different. You will hate it for its difficulty. Or you will love it for the challenge it presents.

[chakkman]

I'm starting the believe that the ratings for this game are poor because of the difficulty.

The first part got a 41/100 rating in german Gamestar mag, which is usually an indicator of a bad game rather than a difficult one... in comparison, they rated the Thief series (which features a pretty high difficulty compared to avergae games) pretty high back in the days. Nothing wrong with playing it of course, if you like, then you like it.

[Sotha]

I admit was also deterred by the reviews, but then I noticed that the only trustworthy finnish game magazine Pelit ("games") gave it some 80/100 score, which was enough for me.

 

Funny thing how it splits opinions. A controversial piece of art? ;D

[chakkman]

That's a pretty wide spread indeed. Guess it's always the best to check it out yourself, to see if you like it or not.

[Sotha]

Completed the part 1 of the series.

 

I have a bit mixed feelings about this. There were many things to like, if one likes Hitman-style of gameplay. The game has all the good the genre has. The difficulty was very high. Stealth is binary. If the enemies spot you, suddenly all enemies know about you. This leads to save/load excercise as the mission becomes an impossibility when you are discovered. I'm so glad TDM AI relax the way they do.

 

In stealth games, I think, we are used to get some leeway: the body guard of the target takes a break giving us an opportunity. This game gives none of that. You must find an opening and kill them both. It is sorta good thing, too. We have been used to find a way to fulfill our objectives without the need to kill the innocent civilians. The mappers made sure there was one detail, which allowed you a distraction that allows you to kill the target only. Here it is not so. Often, you just have to kill bystanders to make your life easier. The game gives you no quarter, and that is why you will give no quarter to the enemies. If the target is kissing an innocent civilian, you kill them both. To do otherwise it would be just too risky.

 

If you like hitman games, Death to Spies is a must to play. It is very similar to H1. It can be frustrating occasionally, but I have a few non-spoiler hints:

1) Don't try to do it too fancily. Don't try to sneak too much. Just kill AI if it makes your life easier.

2) A thrown knife to the head is a silent takedown, and you get the knife back. And it is much faster than choking cord.

3) Never bother to avoid civilian casualties. Kill if you have to.

4) Sometimes you just have to clear entire areas of enemies to make life easier.

 

I'm eager to get to the next part of the series. I'll end with a funny screenshot.

Business as usual.

[Cambridge Spy]

Completed the part 1 of the series.

 

I have a bit mixed feelings about this. There were many things to like, if one likes Hitman-style of gameplay. The game has all the good the genre has. The difficulty was very high. Stealth is binary. If the enemies spot you, suddenly all enemies know about you. This leads to save/load excercise as the mission becomes an impossibility when you are discovered. I'm so glad TDM AI relax the way they do.

 

In stealth games, I think, we are used to get some leeway: the body guard of the target takes a break giving us an opportunity. This game gives none of that. You must find an opening and kill them both. It is sorta good thing, too. We have been used to find a way to fulfill our objectives without the need to kill the innocent civilians. The mappers made sure there was one detail, which allowed you a distraction that allows you to kill the target only. Here it is not so. Often, you just have to kill bystanders to make your life easier. The game gives you no quarter, and that is why you will give no quarter to the enemies. If the target is kissing an innocent civilian, you kill them both. To do otherwise it would be just too risky.

 

If you like hitman games, Death to Spies is a must to play. It is very similar to H1. It can be frustrating occasionally, but I have a few non-spoiler hints:

1) Don't try to do it too fancily. Don't try to sneak too much. Just kill AI if it makes your life easier.

2) A thrown knife to the head is a silent takedown, and you get the knife back. And it is much faster than choking cord.

3) Never bother to avoid civilian casualties. Kill if you have to.

4) Sometimes you just have to clear entire areas of enemies to make life easier.

 

When you're done playing Moment of Truth, you should give MoTmod a try - it makes all missions from the first game playable in the second. And remember to donate to Kickstarter if you want Death to Spies 3 to see the light of day, or at least released very soon.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/haggardgames/death-to-spies-3

[STiFU]

When you're done playing Moment of Truth, you should give MoTmod a try - it makes all missions from the first game playable in the second.

Interesting. What's the advantage of playing it in the second over playing the original? Do I still get to enjoy the complete story of the first part?

[Cambridge Spy]

Interesting. What's the advantage of playing it in the second over playing the original? Do I still get to enjoy the complete story of the first part?

 

The second game has new gameplay features, and some of these can be used in the first game's missions with this mod. Here's the main mod if any of you are interested:

 

http://motmod.at.tut.by/mod_en.html

 

And here's something extra I've created to go with it:

 

http://www.haggardgames.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1544

[STiFU]

Ok, thanks, but let me clarify what I was basically asking: If you didn't play the first part yet, would you recommend playing it trough that mod rather than the original? Are all the cutscenes in place, etc.?

[Cambridge Spy]

Ok, thanks, but let me clarify what I was basically asking: If you didn't play the first part yet, would you recommend playing it trough that mod rather than the original? Are all the cutscenes in place, etc.?

 

The cinematics have been disabled but that's no problem - in MoT, they made no sense whatsoever, only serving as flashback triggers to the game's missions. With my addon for the mod, I brought back the story of the first game's missions in the form of briefings, complete with voiceovers.

 

But you DO need to have the first game installed in order to transfer its files on to the second game.

[Sotha]

Yeah, the cutscenes were nice, but useless. It is a bunch of interview sessions, which just slightly elucidates the objectives of the next mission.

 

If the cutscenes are conveying a plot of sort, that fails miserably. I was expecting the interview to lead somewhere, like in Blood Money: a kind of build-up for the finale. In terms of overarching plot, death to spies fails miserably. There is no plot. You just play individual missions, and then the game suddenly throws a strange ending cutscene ad end credits at you. It just falls flat. But as a stealth game, it is pretty decent.

[Cambridge Spy]

Yeah, the cutscenes were nice, but useless. It is a bunch of interview sessions, which just slightly elucidates the objectives of the next mission.

 

If the cutscenes are conveying a plot of sort, that fails miserably. I was expecting the interview to lead somewhere, like in Blood Money: a kind of build-up for the finale. In terms of overarching plot, death to spies fails miserably. There is no plot. You just play individual missions, and then the game suddenly throws a strange ending cutscene ad end credits at you. It just falls flat. But as a stealth game, it is pretty decent.

 

Yes, just very bizarre. Glad forlik decided to disable them for his mod. Sotha, will you consider trying it out once you're done with vanilla MoT?

[Sotha]

Yes, just very bizarre. Glad forlik decided to disable them for his mod. Sotha, will you consider trying it out once you're done with vanilla MoT?

 

I don't have time to replay it immediately again, but perhaps in the future. The hunger for hitman-style gameplay can be roused most suddenly..

[demagogue]

I mentioned it above, but if you like this kind of game I recommend Project IGI 1 and 2 also.