Cohen 1939 Walkthrough: Chapter Guide and Length
This walkthrough gives the shape of each part of Cohen 1939 and what tends to stop players there. It is built from recorded playthroughs and launch-week player reports rather than a level-by-level script, so chapter details are only given where they are confirmed. For individual fights, use the boss guide.
How the campaign is laid out
- Chapters and levels. Levels are numbered by chapter, so “3.3” is the third level of Chapter 3.
- One character per chapter. Each chapter tells its part of the story through one of the four killers.
- Checkpoints inside levels. Dying sends you back a room or two, not to the start.
- Grades after every level. Badges from grades unlock weapons and upgrades at the hideout between missions. See S ranks and scoring.
Tutorial: the umbrella
The game opens in heavy rain and teaches melee with an umbrella against three drunks. If the umbrella breaks and the last drunk keeps standing up, knock him down and execute him with Space. More on this bug.
Chapters 1 and 2
In the demo recordings, the first two chapters run through these levels. The objectives come from the game’s dialogue in those recordings:
- Heavy Rain — Richard Cohen’s last night. A meeting about the arms trade is an ambush; Tommy slips you a gun. The tutorial prompts appear here (throwing, aim lock, executions, Shift). The ending is a scripted death, so do not waste attempts trying to survive it.
- The Funeral — Richard is buried and Elisa takes over. No combat to speak of; this sets up the gang politics.
- The Unrest — Elisa at the Drunken Raven bar, where a drunk brags about the killing. First level with Elisa’s raven.
- Queen of Hearts — the rival gang’s underground casino at 12 Sparks Street, through a tailor’s shop. You come away with an arms ledger.
- The Warehouse and Eleckhans — the docks warehouse and its vault, ending on Eleckhans.
- The Slaughter House — Sevinda at Old Tom’s Abattoir, freeing people who knew about Richard’s death. Her flow state is introduced here.
- Bill Bison — the banquet and the Butcher boss fight.
The full game may have rearranged some of this, but players describe the same early beats. The story behind each step is on the story page. The Steam achievement Miracle! asks for a zero-death clear of any level outside Chapter 1, which is a good early target.
The Butcher ignores normal melee. Throw daggers or take a Thompson off one of his gunmen. Full tactics in the boss guide.
Chapter 3: the train
Chapter 3 includes a fight aboard a train against the conductor (level 3.3). You need a baseball bat to clear obstacles, and the conductor’s shots kill instantly with little warning. If the bat falls out of the play area, restart from the checkpoint.
Chapter 4: the difficulty spike
The chapter several reviews single out. Snipers kill on sight from long range, some enemies only take melee damage, and doors block movement but not bullets. Clear the snipers first, carry a melee weapon, and use Elisa’s raven or the bodyguard’s slow time when you have them.
Stealth missions
At least one mission makes you sneak and will not let you fight your way out. The trick is to wait for the moment the level asks for, such as the target’s own gunfire covering your shot. See the stealth guide.
How long is Cohen 1939?
There is no official figure. What can be measured:
- A full playthrough with live commentary on YouTube runs 4 hours 33 minutes.
- The demo’s two chapters took about 50 minutes in a no-commentary recording.
- Launch-week Steam reviewers had up to about 6 hours on record when they wrote their reviews, most of them still mid-campaign.
So a first clear lands somewhere around 4 to 6 hours, longer if you are dying a lot. Going back for S ranks in every chapter (only 1.2% of players have done it so far) and the hidden achievements adds much more. See achievements.
Noted. One more name off the list.