Preview: Velvet Assassin

Velvet Assassin is a stealth action game with more emphasis on the stealth than the action. The first mission started off with Violette parachuting into France with nothing but a knife and no backup at all. Violette’s objective was to enter a nearby diesel storage facility that supplied German troops and blow it up.

That's easier said than done -- there are Nazis all over the place. The first few Nazis are pretty easy to kill and will remind players of the only good part of the latest Turok game -- stabbing is fun! Violette will stab Nazis through the head, neck, back, and wait for it ... the taint. She has a stab move where she will stab enemies in the taint and then stab them right through the back of the head, as if she wants the smell of the taint as the last thing the Nazi feels.

Violette is pretty weak and can only take a few bullets before getting killed. Stealth is extremely important and there are a few ways to keep her hidden. Staying in the shadows is key. Standing up in a well-lit area will obviously give players away, so crouching in shadows is always a must. Violette’s body will glow violet to indicate that she’s well hidden from enemies. Creeping around slowly is also important. Running or walking fast is a dead giveaway, so patience is a must. If there are multiple guards in an area, watch their patrol patterns and wait for the right opportunity to strike. After killing one guard, make sure to drag the corpse to a hiding spot; otherwise, the other guard will raise the alarm if he sees a corpse.

Of course, it’d be hard for a player to run through the game smoothly in their first play-through. That’s where Velvet Assassin’s Morphine comes into play. Basically, think bullet time, except better. How is it better? Well, for starters, Violette’s clothes change and she’s wearing a sexy little nightgown. Why? I have no idea. But that’s not the point. Everything around Violette slows down; she moves super fast, and the environment around her gets extremely bright with blood cells and flower petals flying on the screen.

Violette is telling the entire game through flashbacks, and her memory can get a little fuzzy when recalling things, especially under stress. Her memories are getting mixed in with her fantasies and nightmares, so injecting Morphine allows for Violette to get her story back on track to play out as it was supposed to. In the beginning, players can only hang on to one Morphine needle, but can carry more later in the game after her stats are upgraded. Players can also increase their health, strength, and more, giving the game a little RPG element.

After entering the bunker, Violette narrates her story, giving players some information on the situation she was facing at that time. The bunker is full of pathways, and it's a little harder to be stealthy here, as most of the area is as big as a hallway.

After killing the first guard in the bunker, I made my way to a room where I had to move a box to enter another room, where I found a pistol. After holstering my gun, I made my way to the door where I took a peek through the keyhole. It’s a stealth game, so just barging into a room with no idea of what’s inside isn’t very spyful (Yes, it’s a word. I just made it up).

The game is pretty linear, but there are plenty of ways to tackle paths. One of the hallways in the bunker had another two-man guard patrolling the area. After killing the first one, I was spotted by the second guard and killed. Trying it again, I was shown a fuse box that I could use to kill part of the lights in the hallway. It made dealing with this section easier, but it wasn’t very clear that players could interact with the fuse box.

Later on in the bunker, I entered a room with a radio playing, where after turning it off, a Nazi guard came back in to turn it on. He stuck around by the radio, giving me the perfect chance to take him out. There will be multiple ways that players can interact with the environment like this to set up enemies, including whistling for the guards' attention.

Some areas will have holes that Violette can crawl through to circumvent enemies. After pressing a button to enter the crawl space, the view switches to first-person mode and players cannot do a thing but crawl while in this position. While it’s a good idea to have more than one way to enter a room, this method did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. It really ripped me out of the immersion I was feeling. Adding some extra animations to see Violette’s arms in front of her while crawling would help keep the sense of immersion, as well as letting players shoot from this position.

As you’re going through the bunker, you’ll come across specific objectives that you can find yourself or by hearing the Nazis talk. For example, Nazi #1 could be asking Nazi #2 to borrow a gas mask. Nazi #2 says he left it in his other pants back in another section of the level. You’re in a diesel station and as you get further into the level, the fumes can get overwhelming, so a gas mask is needed.

Eventually, you’ll find all the parts you need to make an explosive. After the charge is set, players will need to run out of the facility before it is completely obliterated.

I was then taken to a level later in the game where Violette needs to deliver a cyanide pill to a spy being held by Germans. This level takes place in a Polish town, taking Violette back outside to the beautiful environments, yet it is much darker than the bunker level.

As you’re running around this level, you’ll see furniture and bodies of executed Poland citizens strewn about the streets. You won’t ever see an actual execution in Velvet, but you’ll see the aftermath. Replay Studios didn’t want to avoid this part of World War II’s history.

I was in love with Velvet Assassin when I first saw it a year ago. Now, I’m not sure. A lot of works still needs to go into the game, especially in the A.I. department. There was a point where Violette was right next to a guard who should have seen her. Instead, he just stood there like an idiot while the pin was pulled out of the grenade on his belt.

It was also disappointing to see that the game switched gears and became more focused on stealth than action. More focus on stealth helps with the pacing, but some parts seemed like they would benefit more with guns a-blazing than stealth.

Still, the game is as gorgeous as I remember it. It wasn’t perfect, but the colors were extremely vibrant and were a refreshing change from the browns and grays that a lot of shooters like to use. I really want to play the game all the way through to see how Violette ends up in the hospital, too.

Velvet Assassin is developed by Replay Studios and published by Gamecock and SouthPeak, and it will be out for the Xbox 360 and PC in early 2009.