Vendetta

"The rotten cancer of the Fascist Reich ravages Europe like a plague. Their relentless drive into our motherland steals the lives of men, women, and children alike. The arrogance of their leaders is matched only by the brutality of their soldiers. These are the darkest days of the Nazi occupation of Stalingrad."

Vendetta is the fourth level of the single-player campaign in Call of Duty: World at War. Private Dimitri Petrenko, along the side of Sergeant Reznov, two soldiers from the Soviet Union's Red Army, attempt to assassinate General Heinrich Amsel after surviving an attack by the German Wehrmacht in Stalingrad.

Walkthrough
Petrenko survives an attack along with Sergeant Reznov, without being noticed. After a depressing scene of the execution of Petrenko's comrades at Red Square during The Battle of Stalingrad, the player gains control of Petrenko and crawls near to Reznov. Both proceed to crawl to a small opening in the fountain and Reznov tells Petrenko about General Heinrich Amsel, who was in charge of the massacre.

Reznov cannot shoot as his hand has been injured, so the player must take his place. Reznov does not let Amsel be shot yet, due to the fact that he does not want their location given away. After Amsel walks into the building, Reznov orders Petrenko to take out his guards while some bombers are flying overhead to drown out the noise of the shots.

After all of Amsel's guards are killed, follow Reznov. He will lead you through a tavern, and explain how the now deserted city used to be crawling with people. While entering another building, Reznov is nearly shot by a Wehrmacht sniper. Reznov jumps through a window, breaking it, and the player proceeds to follow him. They then ascend a staircase inside the building, and begin a frantic battle with the enemy sniper. After the enemy sniper is killed, Reznov and the player must move quickly before the German soldiers storm the building investigating the shots they have heard.

While escaping, a German soldier and an attack dog outside the building discover Reznov and Petrenko's location, and the soldier warns his patrol, who attack the building with flamethrowers, trying to burn the two out. The player must go prone and crawl past the flame-throwers and run up stairs whilst dodging the bullets of the enemy soldiers now surrounding the building. Once upstairs, a large flaming beam from the ceiling of the burning building falls on Petrenko. Reznov assists Petrenko, and the two then jump out of the top floor, only to be attacked by three more German soldiers, one of which brandishing a flamethrower. Luckily, reinforcements arrive to support Reznov and Petrenko. They then find a higher vantage point in another building to provide sniper support to the Russian allies below, who have prepared an attack on the Germans waiting in the next street.

Dimitri then assists the attacking Russians to overthrow a command post under German control. Once this is done the player must then proceed to kill Amsel. Because of the battle taking place outside his building, Amsel will try to run to his car. Once the player shoots the driver, Amsel will start running on foot. When Amsel is shot, Reznov explains that their allies' death was not in vain, only to be attacked by a squad of German soldiers who storm the building they are in. The mission ends after Reznov and Petrenko both jump into a canal to escape.

Gameplay transcript

 * See Vendetta/Transcript

Gameplay Tips

 * One can attain the "The Professional" Achievement/Trophy by killing all seven of Amsel's henchmen and an attack dog at the start of the level without reloading. As the player only has five shots, one must first kill six enemy soldiers with at most four shots. Kill the rightmost pair with a single shot to the spot where their helmets overlap, then with the middle pair shoot the closer soldier through the head where it overlaps with the smoking soldier's side; the leftmost pair is the most difficult to one-shot as they align for only a moment. (The player should be able to hit the others, then wait for them to line up, or would walk around the fountain and take aim there. It gives one a better angle at which to get both of them when they are close.) It is possible to kill both the last soldier and the attack dog with the last shot, and in fact the official strategy guide recommends this and to restart if one fails, but the dog is only in front of the soldier for a second, when it looks to its right. Therefore the guard should be prioritized for the last shot, while the dog can be killed by a melee attack to attain the achievement/trophy. The fail proof way is double kill at the stairs, double kill at the car, 2 single kills (if the player is unable to manage a double) on the last two, then knife the dog and shoot the last guy.


 * The player attains the "Gunslinger" Achievement/Trophy by dealing a fatal hit to Amsel with a pistol. As the player does not have a pistol at the start, when having to kill the enemy sniper there will be a Walther P38 that spawns on a table near the large hole in the front of the room. It may be possible for a German to drop one also. The best way to get him is to wait until he gets in the car and shoot the driver. This buys about 5 seconds. Aim the sniper rifle at Amsel and then switch to the pistol. It will still be aimed at him so the player can just shoot
 * The player can attain the "Rough Economy" Achievement/ Trophy by killing up to three enemies with a single bullet. This can be done right after killing Amsel's henchmen at the beginning of the level. Instead of following Reznov, stay within the area and wait. Eventually another patrol will come by. There are a lot of soldiers here, so wait until at least three of them line up. Take the shot after they do so, which should grant the player a prize. It should be noted, however, that doing this will cause the player to fail the mission and one will have to continue from the last checkpoint.
 * Whenever killing the group of Germans at the beginning and when the patrol comes, go near the stairway where the 2 Germans and Heinrich Amsel were standing, and there will be a dead German's Kar98k rifle.
 * If one is not attempting the Gunslinger achievement, then the MP-40 is the best weapon for close quarters. However, as the player progresses later in the level the engagement ranges will lengthen and it will be safer to use the PTRS-41, the Kar98k, or the Scoped Mosin Nagant.
 * The best time to shoot one of the flamethrower-wielding German soldiers to start the 'ambush' is almost immediately after being able to aim; there should be one passing right in front of two other soldiers. If the player misses this first opportunity, the soldier will walk back to the same spot again in a few seconds.
 * The best way to defeat the enemy sniper on the harder difficulty modes is to find out where he is when Reznov draws his fire and shoot at the window he will appear at with an MP-40 which can be obtained from the Germans killed near the Red Square. With a little luck, 3 bullets from the MP-40 will hit the sniper, killing him. Reznov will then say "You just grazed him!" or "You have only wounded him!" immediately followed by "The patrols will surely have heard those shots."


 * Be careful when fighting the sniper, because when playing on veteran, it's one shot one kill. This also applies to the other snipers one will face throughout the level, such as Amsel's bodyguards near the end. This makes it important to either prioritize the snipers as the first targets, or stay down and out of their fire until the player can quickly kill Amsel with a single shot.

Trivia
See Vendetta/Trivia.