We've been to war numerous times. Mostly, we've dug our selves into and out of the trenches of World War II. We stormed the beaches of Normandy and survived by the skin of out teeth at Okinawa. Now however, we're going behind enemy lines in the new stealth-action game brought to you by Replay Studios, Velvet Assassin.
*Prepare for spoilers!
In Velvet Assassin, you'll take up arms against the Nazi forces of Germany as Violette Summers. A British agent who was spurred into upon the death of her husband. Velvet Assassin is actually based off the agent Violette Szabo. A French spy who was captured by German forces and executed when she was 23. However, Mrs. Summers story is told through a flashback of her previous missions leading up to her current predicament, which is lying in a hospital bed, dreaming about her previous missions. During the game, Violette will remember where she really is, as you happen across certain objects or wake up during a mission. These are how most of the cut scenes occur. Throughout the course of the story, you'll be tasked with blowing up specific targets, to finding and killing various targets. Each mission starts off with Violette infiltrating the area, then the next level has Violette finding her target and either blowing it up or killing it. There is the occasional bonus objective in a mission like hiding a certain treasure, or killing certain people. Aside from that, there's not a whole lot of variety. And the story doesn't reveal much other than the fact that Violette had a series of missions, where she eventually wound up in the hospital and the Germans are looking for her. It's also kind of odd seeing as to how a German sniper is the reason why she's in the hospital in the first place. Do you mean to tell me that this sniper, shot his target, and didn't report it or wait around to make sure she actually died? No wonder the Germans lost and Hitler killed himself.
Velvet Assassin really encourages the player to stick to the shadows. Violette can't really take a bullet, even after being upgraded. It is, without a doubt, a stealth game. When faced with a large opposition, Violette can disguise herself as the enemy. You can take out multiple foes by taking the pin out of a grenade and letting your enemy waltz into his pals. When worse comes to worse, you can always use some morphine to gain the upper hand. Morphine slows down time, as red blood cells float across the screen and Violette appears to be in a white nightgown. This is actually the morphine being injected into Violette while she's sleeping. Remember, she's seriously wounded. If there's a well lit area, you can bet there's a fuse box nearby, with the exception of daylight. You can't turn off the sun. That being said, it's no where near the caliber of say, Splinter Cell or Hitman. You can only hide corpses in shadows, there's no cover system, occasionally making it a chore to see around corners and while the game doesn't encourage the use of a gun, the last two levels are disappointing since it throws out it's stealth element and makes the player rely on it's weak shooting mechanics. Some levels also force you into fire-fights, but thankfully, they're over before they start. Bullets will go through enemies, and other objects, as well as fly off in an entirely different direction. There's also not a whole lot of ways to dispatch your foes. You can silently kill foes, light them on fire or shock them using puddles on the floor, or shoot them. The game also relies on a certain amount of trial-and-error. You're going to find yourself loading the last checkpoint a lot, so you'll quickly pick up the timing the guards use when patrolling areas. Another thing with the game is how the enemies stare at you. If they spot a corpse, they'll walk over to it, looking directly at you. Then, they will walk straight towards you, stopping a few feet away from you after inspecting said corpse. Oh and the bugs. Let's talk about the bugs. At one point, I could not proceed past a level because the game wasn't loading my cutscene... Just the audio. My crosshair also disappeared and I occasionally couldn't use morphine. I had to install the game in order to fix some of these issues.
The graphics look marvelous and the lighting effects are, except the game is really dark and makes everything looks pasty. As a matter of fact, the game is so dark, the enemies can't see a body if it's in the shadows, even if they walk right by it. Level design however is linear and you almost always figure out where to go. Watching enemies move through the level by using the keyholes makes it incredibly easy to navigate through rooms, picking off enemies. You'll also learn that Violette is a pretty violent person. She's got plenty of brutal kill animations ranging from a slit throat to a swift kick in the genitals and a bullet to the head. The game sounds great but some of the audio is a bit off. Most of which is noticeable when Violette hits an enemy during her silent kills.
I must admit, I did not expect much from Velvet Assassin, especially when I saw that the producer was South Peak. Even with all of it's issues Velvet Assassin is actually a solid, true stealth game. The enemies aren't too smart, but smart enough, typical of a stealth game. The graphics look great and the soundtrack delivers an added layer of tension at the right moments. The game is done within 8-10 hours depending on whether or not you actually took the time to complete the bonus objectives and find all the collectibles. While I wouldn't actually suggest that people run out and buy this game, it's definitely something fans of the genre want to look into.
Velvet Assassin gets 7 British agents out of 10.
*Prepare for spoilers!
In Velvet Assassin, you'll take up arms against the Nazi forces of Germany as Violette Summers. A British agent who was spurred into upon the death of her husband. Velvet Assassin is actually based off the agent Violette Szabo. A French spy who was captured by German forces and executed when she was 23. However, Mrs. Summers story is told through a flashback of her previous missions leading up to her current predicament, which is lying in a hospital bed, dreaming about her previous missions. During the game, Violette will remember where she really is, as you happen across certain objects or wake up during a mission. These are how most of the cut scenes occur. Throughout the course of the story, you'll be tasked with blowing up specific targets, to finding and killing various targets. Each mission starts off with Violette infiltrating the area, then the next level has Violette finding her target and either blowing it up or killing it. There is the occasional bonus objective in a mission like hiding a certain treasure, or killing certain people. Aside from that, there's not a whole lot of variety. And the story doesn't reveal much other than the fact that Violette had a series of missions, where she eventually wound up in the hospital and the Germans are looking for her. It's also kind of odd seeing as to how a German sniper is the reason why she's in the hospital in the first place. Do you mean to tell me that this sniper, shot his target, and didn't report it or wait around to make sure she actually died? No wonder the Germans lost and Hitler killed himself.
Velvet Assassin really encourages the player to stick to the shadows. Violette can't really take a bullet, even after being upgraded. It is, without a doubt, a stealth game. When faced with a large opposition, Violette can disguise herself as the enemy. You can take out multiple foes by taking the pin out of a grenade and letting your enemy waltz into his pals. When worse comes to worse, you can always use some morphine to gain the upper hand. Morphine slows down time, as red blood cells float across the screen and Violette appears to be in a white nightgown. This is actually the morphine being injected into Violette while she's sleeping. Remember, she's seriously wounded. If there's a well lit area, you can bet there's a fuse box nearby, with the exception of daylight. You can't turn off the sun. That being said, it's no where near the caliber of say, Splinter Cell or Hitman. You can only hide corpses in shadows, there's no cover system, occasionally making it a chore to see around corners and while the game doesn't encourage the use of a gun, the last two levels are disappointing since it throws out it's stealth element and makes the player rely on it's weak shooting mechanics. Some levels also force you into fire-fights, but thankfully, they're over before they start. Bullets will go through enemies, and other objects, as well as fly off in an entirely different direction. There's also not a whole lot of ways to dispatch your foes. You can silently kill foes, light them on fire or shock them using puddles on the floor, or shoot them. The game also relies on a certain amount of trial-and-error. You're going to find yourself loading the last checkpoint a lot, so you'll quickly pick up the timing the guards use when patrolling areas. Another thing with the game is how the enemies stare at you. If they spot a corpse, they'll walk over to it, looking directly at you. Then, they will walk straight towards you, stopping a few feet away from you after inspecting said corpse. Oh and the bugs. Let's talk about the bugs. At one point, I could not proceed past a level because the game wasn't loading my cutscene... Just the audio. My crosshair also disappeared and I occasionally couldn't use morphine. I had to install the game in order to fix some of these issues.
The graphics look marvelous and the lighting effects are, except the game is really dark and makes everything looks pasty. As a matter of fact, the game is so dark, the enemies can't see a body if it's in the shadows, even if they walk right by it. Level design however is linear and you almost always figure out where to go. Watching enemies move through the level by using the keyholes makes it incredibly easy to navigate through rooms, picking off enemies. You'll also learn that Violette is a pretty violent person. She's got plenty of brutal kill animations ranging from a slit throat to a swift kick in the genitals and a bullet to the head. The game sounds great but some of the audio is a bit off. Most of which is noticeable when Violette hits an enemy during her silent kills.
I must admit, I did not expect much from Velvet Assassin, especially when I saw that the producer was South Peak. Even with all of it's issues Velvet Assassin is actually a solid, true stealth game. The enemies aren't too smart, but smart enough, typical of a stealth game. The graphics look great and the soundtrack delivers an added layer of tension at the right moments. The game is done within 8-10 hours depending on whether or not you actually took the time to complete the bonus objectives and find all the collectibles. While I wouldn't actually suggest that people run out and buy this game, it's definitely something fans of the genre want to look into.
Velvet Assassin gets 7 British agents out of 10.
