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Alekhine’s Gun – what a strange name for a game. Flashbacks of the Full Metal Jacket chant “This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for fighting, this is for fun ” sprang straight to mind. But no, out of interest I did a little research, turns out there is a Chess move named Alekhine’s Gun where your two rooks get stacked in front of your Queen and can do massive damage to your opponent. Historically, the move was used by Alexander Alekhine of the Russian Federation against Aron Nimzowitsch in 1930, and once Alekhine had placed his Rooks, won the game within four moves.
So you play a character named Semyon Strogov, known as Agent Alekhine who in turn works for the KGB and is hired by the CIA. Hence, you can kind of see where the name ties in and so on, but then again this game did have a bit of a troubled past – two failed crowdfunding campaigns later and Massive Games picked it up and changed the original titled, Death to Spies 3, to the aforementioned Alekhine’s Gun.
I love the Death to Spies series: WW2/Cold War Espionage at it’s very finest. Granted, they look a bit dated now but they are the closest thing to Hitman: Blood Money since it was released, many moons ago. It has large levels, each of which can be completed in numerous ways – this is proper old school espionage. So, Alekhine’s Gun is essentially the third title in that series, albeit a different name. This one tells the story coming out of WW2 with the Cold War is well under way. The game, itself, mainly takes place in the ’60s but there are flashback missions to WW2 for the purpose of the story.
Alekhine’s Gun | Gameplay Walkthrough Part 1 – iMAVERIQ
The gameplay takes you through 11 missions all-round the world, some of which coincide with key historical conspiracies and events such as the assassination of John F Kennedy and The Bay of Pigs Invasion (If you are interested in the Cold War go and have a read). There are numerous ways to complete the levels and objectives, each level starting out with a brief on who your targets are and any additional objectives. The first mission sees you taking out two people, rescuing a captured CIA operative and destroying a tape with recorded evidence on it and so on. After the brief, you get the option to select weapons and additional items to take along with you.
Each objective can be completed in any order you wish but you may find it a bit easier to try and think ahead. The tape, for example, is in an officers quarters. Your primary target is an officer, so take him out, get his clothing and key and you will not be questioned when entering the room; having the right uniform on in specific areas won’t arouse to much suspicion with other guards. Much like the earlier Hitman games, you can – if you wish – just go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Granted, the sheer volume of enemies on a level would make this a bit on the tough side but the option is there if you want to play that way.
Additionally, you can also arrange accidents to happen such as poisoning a drink and putting extra lighter fuel in a BBQ. There are so many different ways you can approach a level and adapt to any situation on-the-fly if needed. One thing that does need mentioning here, though, is that there is no auto save function. Numerous times I have been on a level for a good 30 minutes, sneaking about, completing objectives and forget to save only to find myself back at the very start of the level again. Remember to save often over a few slots in case something goes awry!
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game.
Alekhine’s Gun | Gameplay Walkthrough Part 2 – iMAVERIQ
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!