Level 15: The End of the Butcher

Mission 15 has the distinction of being one of the coolest scenarios in the entire game -- and also one of the most difficult. Your job is to assassinate the "Butcher of Paris," a Nazi officer responsible for the executions of French Resistance members. If this sounds like a difficult task, it is: if the German soldiers are alerted to your presence in any way, they will whisk the general to safety -- essentially ending in a mission failure. So you've got to be as stealthy as possible as you go about your dark task. But a problem with the mission -- possibly even a bug -- makes it even more difficult than it should be. The mission briefing states that the best time to assassinate the general is when he goes for his walk, indicating a path around the main mansion. That's the problem -- the general never does go for a walk, and instead remains inside the mansion's western courtyard. That means you'll have to actually get within range of the courtyard to kill him...not an easy thing.

Your first task is to have the Spy get the uniform, located on a fire escape to the northwest. The trick is to take it slow, be careful, and avoid being caught at all costs. Just to be safe, you should quicksave the game every couple of minutes or after every major action. Before you can get to the fire escape, you'll need to have the Spy kill the single guards near your position and hide their bodies behind the turned-over cars. Your best bet is to have a guard see you, then immediately hit the dirt and crawl away so they'll follow. Using this technique, you'll be able to kill most of the guards in this mission without alerting the enemy. When you think the coast is clear, have the Spy make his way west to the burned-out house. Using that location as a base of operations, he can kill nearby guards and hide their bodies. Be careful when you first get to the building, though; one of the guards will come in and look around, so you need to kill him silently when his back is turned and hide the body in the corner. Your goal is to make your way north, crawling most of the way. When the fire escape and clothes rack are in view, you can time it so the Spy can make a death-defying run all the way to the ladder, climb up, and grab the uniform before anyone becomes aware of his presence. Once you get the uniform it will automatically be worn by the Spy, so don't worry when the guards see you. Use the sodium cyanide and kill the two guards on the balcony -- first the one who patrols left to right, and then the one at the bottom of the ladder. When they're dead, climb the ladder and carefully kill the single guard on the roof.

What's you've basically just done is cleared away the perfect sniper spot. That roof is right across the street from the mansion's courtyard, with a direct line of sight to the general. Naturally, your next step is to have the Sniper make his way west and then north to the rooftop. It's best if you use the Spy to distract any soldiers while the Sniper slips by, eventually climbing both ladders until he's all settled on top of the roof (in the prone position to remain hidden). When the general walks over to the upper-righthand corner of the courtyard (the only place he's in the Sniper's field of fire), take a deep breath, center the sight on the him, and pull a Lee Harvey Oswald. After the general goes down, immediately have the Sniper drop to the prone position to avoid enemy gunfire. He'll likely take a couple of hits, but at least the enemy soldiers won't be able to go up on the roof and finish him off. Once the general is dead, that's it -- all hell will break loose. The alarm will sound, guards will swarm out of the mansion, and complete chaos will ensue for a few minutes. When the alarm is turned off and things calm down, it's time to concentrate on the second part of the mission -- blowing up the mansion. This is easier said than done. You'll have to have the Driver park either one of the armored cars or the gasoline truck right in front of the building, and then blow it up. The real problem is that any activity close to the eastern end of the mansion will cause more soldiers to swarm out, making your job that much more difficult.

Your best bet is to move the Driver in a complete clockwise circle around the map, travelling west from his current position, then north, and then east to the graveyard. By now many of the soldiers will have been killed by the Spy, you you shouldn't have much difficulty getting there safely. Feel free to kill any guards you need to using the pistol; unfortunately, the Driver is without his handy submachine gun in this mission, so the handgun will have to suffice. As you make your way to the graveyard, take special note of the places you can hide, such as the building to the left of the gasoline truck. Once you're in the graveyard, sneak around the headstones and the crypt, finding a good vantage point. Take a shot with the pistol to attract the guards, and kill them one by one as they come around the corner. Chances are the three guards on the street will come to investigate; take them down as well. When the graveyard is clear (and your team has easy access to the escape vehicle) set your sights on the eastern courtyard, just south of your position. If, at this point, you're wondering what to do with the Marine -- keep wondering. I found his presence in this mission to be pretty odd, as the only water comes in the form of two pools. As a result, you'll probably never use him, so just keep him at the start point, out of harm's way.

In the mansion's eastern courtyard should be a group of three patrolling guards and a single stationary guard, standing by the gate facing south. When the coast is clear, have the Spy kill the stationary guard from behind with the syringe; the three patrolling guards will rush over to the body -- and may even yell "Alarm!" -- but no other guards will be summoned and they'll soon go back to their patrol. When the guards are at the southernmost point of their patrol, have the Spy distract them so that the entire column is facing south, away from the car and the mansion. If there are still three guards patrolling on the street north of the mansion, you could have a bit of a problem. Your best bet is to have the Sniper crawl to the northeastern most part of the roof and silently shoot them with his rifle when they come within range. Just make sure your actions are unseen! If you kill the three guards and three more come out of the mansion to investigate, your actions will have been useless.

With the coast now clear, have the Driver enter the courtyard, get in the car, and drive it right up onto the steps of the mansion. When that's done, have the Driver exit the courtyard and get to safety. Here's what will happen next: anytime one of your commandos enters a vehicle, it becomes "tainted," so that any enemy soldier from that point on who sees the vehicle will attempt to destroy it -- even if there's no one inside. You're going to use that fact to your advantage right now. Have the Spy stop distracting the guards. They will turn around, see the car, and open fire. When the car is destroyed it will take the mansion with it, therefore completing your second objective. The only thing you have to do now is pile everyone into the escape van (in the graveyard), have the Driver take it to the extraction point, and the mission will end successfully.