In autumn 2007, 1C released a third person stealth game which was not a mainstream product due to its difficulty, but a popular product with a strong fan-base. This community praised the realism and the high difficulty of the first Death to Spies installment, longing for a sequel. Therefore both companies involved in the first game decided to continue the adventures of the SMERSH (Russian acronym which means "death to spies" - the name of the Russian counterespionage organization during the Second World War) agent involving his persona in many new and challenging missions.

Like the first installment, Moment of Truth suffers from a lack of tutorial and other useful narrative context during the missions. Same goes to the overall story which is present but has no connection with the actual events from the missions (the only thing that you should know is that you play as a Russian spy who has to eliminate German targets or to recover important documents). These minuses will inflict from the beginning the player's frustration, making Moment of Truth a game hard to complete for many newcomers. On the other hand, some hard-fans are supporting this type of minimum information explaining that every mission is much more authentic in this way, giving them an additional thrill.

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Even though it features a high difficulty level, the game is nothing else but a mixture of classic components already used in Hitman and Splinter Cell series, with a more puzzle-oriented stealth style similar to Commandos series. I'm talking about those vision cones showing how far the guard can see you. The danger bar that begins to fill up when you are on enemy's sight is similar to Splinter Cell series while the large environments and the smart level design makes you feel most of the time in Hitman series. This type of level design makes you feel uncovered like a naked baby, making you an easy target for the enemy. Luckily you can change your outfit from other knocked down workers or soldiers, giving you a chance to infiltrate in the enemy's quarters. Once you have entered in any enemy building or base there are no more safe spots. You have to be always on the move and to calculate every guard's movements in order to get further deep in to the enemy's territory.

Every dead body found by the enemy will cause a state of high alert, making the A.I. for a while to change its posture, from neutral to highly active. They will begin to search the nearby vicinity and sound the alarm. Suddenly, the A.I. becomes very aggressive and extremely sensitive. Guards can spot you easily while trying to hide near them. Every noise will attract them to your location while changing clothes becomes a suspicious act for any guards that come nearby you. In these types of situations you have to hide behind crates or dark corners and wait for the situation to calm down. If you are spotted (most of the time) you can fire at them. There are chances that you can cause some victims, as the A.I. tends to be aimlessly while shooting and sloppy while dodging. Unfortunately their high number in every level will make the odds uneven for you most of the time.

Although you character can easily manipulate the enemy in many ways - to stun it from behind, cut the throat with a knife or stab it from behind, immobilize it with chloroform - there are a series of moments when you have no option but to use the fire weapon from your inventory. In this way the usual stealth exploits are replaced by shooting exploits. Let's take for example the second mission which takes place in a secret German facility which hides a U-Boat. The corridors and the stairways sections give you no chance of success but to shoot some guards. Any noise will alarm other guards which will come in the same direction of the corridor in order to check out the bodies of their dead colleagues. If you can find a safe spot (which is quite difficult) you can shoot the enemy one by one making a killing mass.  In any case don't think that you can act as Rambo. The level design, the extremely sensible A.I. which controls a high number of guards and the fact that you can carry only two fire weapons at a time gives you no chance to shoot everything that moves.

Moment of Truth looks mediocre compared to the latest titles from the genre, but somehow unique. Its lack of color in some levels makes it moody while the sepia effect for the fourth mission is perfect integrated recreating a believable WWII picture. The game's graphics succeeds in recreating real shadow and lighting effects which are important in a game like this. If the graphics are acceptable, the sound element has not been exploited so well. Most of the time, you will feel a deep silence even in crowded locations. With the exception of some repetitive German voice lines, only environmental sounds are governing each level (a gramophone song, a telephone ringing, electrical noises, etc).

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Conclusion

Dead to Spies: Moment of Truth is a challenging stealth game featuring realistic events and situations which take place in a smart environmental design populated by an extremely sensitive A.I. It's a game that doesn't cheat in order to be difficult, but it breaks the laws of mainstream market to deliver a believable gameplay experience.

Gameplay: 67

The lack of contextual info and a tutorial makes this game unplayable for the masses. Only the game's community will appreciate its true value. Still, Dead to Spies: Moment of Truth is a game that makes no use of artificial tricks or clichés and remains faithful to its core roots being easily recognized as a stealth simulation.  Compared to other games from the same genre, this is a stealth game 'on the move' - there is no safe place to hide so you have to keep the pace with the enemy and to infiltrate in their territory playing the role of a guard, technician, doctor, lieutenant, etc.  

Graphics: 73

The in-house graphical engine makes its duty acceptable. Without making use of high-end effects, the game looks moody in some levels because of the smart use of shadows and lighting effects. In addition the good environmental design increases the overall quality of the product by offering the gamer some blow minding levels.  Still, the game has received a big minus for the poor textures.

Multiplayer: N/A

Sound: 66

Too much silence in levels, even in animated places. The NPC's hardly articulate a couple of repetitive lines. There is so much silence that you can easily hear the environmental sounds in almost every level.

Hardware: 70