Name: Velvet Assassin
Publisher: Southpeak Games
Developer: Replay Studios
Genre: Stealth-action
Now here's a fresh idea: a game set in World War II. Aside from Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, Hour of Victory, Blazing Angels, Company of Heroes, and about 100 other series this genre has barely been touched upon. Ok, ok. To be fair Velvet Assassin is a different take on the familiar ground of WWII games. Trying to do a stealth game in WWII is a pretty good idea as most have been set in modern times (like Splinter Cell) or older times (Thief series). Both stealth and WWII have had some great games, but can Velvet Assassin find the perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter? Read on to find out...
Velvet Assassin is not part of any series, and is not tied down to any overarching storyline. An original IP developed by Replay Studios and published by Southpeak Games, Velvet Assassin had the opportunity to create an engrossing tale of espionage. Instead it falls flat on its face in the story department. The story follows Violette Summers, a British secret agent sent to do various covert missions and generally fuck up the Nazis chances of winning the war. Except that's a lie. Violette is on her death bed and the game consists of the player playing through her memories. This gives the player the feeling that they're actions have no effect on the conclusion of the story. In addition, the story takes a backseat in the game. There are rarely moments when the player cares about Violette at all, mainly due to poor characterization and pacing. The player has no hope of getting sucked into the story if there isn't any.
The game is stealth focused, so the player will spend a lot of time observing the Nazi patrol patterns, then striking when the time is right. There is also the option to use guns as straight-up combat. The stealth is handled well: there is a blue silhouette that forms over Violette when she is hidden, making it easy for the player to see when they are and are not hidden. The stealth kills are all visceral and well executed, though Violette needs to be at a particular angle when attempting these, which can lead to some frustration if the player is a bit off.
While the stealthing works well, the gunplay is a bag of shit. The aiming reticule never feels accurate, and Violette can only carry one gun at a time with very limited ammo. Obviously this is done to focus the player on the stealth gameplay, but even that idea gets broken along the way. The enemy AI is extremely sketchy, and has eyesight comparable to flipping a coin. At any moment across the battlefield an enemy could spot you, whereas Nazis looking directly at you (with a flashlight) won't even flinch. Because of the amount of times the player is forced to restart because of getting caught, it always feels random if the Nazis will spot Violette or not.
Velvet Assassin adds a few gameplay mechanics to mix things up. Of course killing one Nazi after another would leave a pile of bodies lying around, the player is encouraged to pull bodies to hidden areas to avoid blowing their cover. Violette occasionally gets the option of changing into a Nazi uniform to walk past enemies undetected. This is used seldom though, and for good reason: it doesn't work. Violette gets a "suspicion bar" that indicates whether or not your Nazi friends are going to turn on you. It was never clear why they were getting suspicious of Violette though, as it would dwindle even if I was standing still, not doing anything. This led me to believe that the enemies were just very sexist, and didn't like that a woman got a commanding position and they didn't.
The last little interesting thing that the developers added to the game is the usage of morphine. If Violette has a needle to spare, she can activate "morphine mode" which is like a last ditch attempt to kill an enemy that has spotted her. When activated, Violette strips down to her nightgown and starts running to the enemy. These sequences have something to do with the dying Violette getting injected with morphine by a nurse or something, but it's never explained except in the manual.
The game looks and sounds good at times, and lousy at other times. Violette looks pretty smokin', mainly due to her skin-tight outfit and well crafted body. Some outdoor environments look nice as well, with Paris skylines taking up the background. The indoor environments are all dark, gray, and repetitive. The Nazis all look the same as well. The VO for Violette is well done but unimpressive, as is the soundtrack. The Nazi VO is all in German, and sounds harsher than the language should. The dialogue is extremely lame. Nazis will say the stupidest things that pop into their heads and use way too much English jargon.
The game has a lot of visual problems as well. There is terrible pop-in, screen tearing, and collision detection. The flames are awful, basically looking like orange cones. Because the stealthing of the game is so paramount to the experience, its off-putting that its so slow and linear. There is really only one way to take out the enemies in the room if the player is trying to do it silently, while other games like Splinter Cell allow for multiple methods to take out enemies. Violette also moves incredibly slowly. The player has the option to level up Violette in either her speed, damage resistance, or morphine length, but none seem to affect how the game plays.
There is only one mode, the story. No online or split-screen play available, or any arcade or training modes. The achievements are all pretty basic to get, so there isn't much incentive to play again. The 6-8 hour isn't even all that lengthy, so the player is hard-pressed to actually purchase this full priced game. The only thing that gives the game more length is that the game is so frustrating that it will likely take the average gamer much longer than the game had intended.
With the ability to make a unique game that combines two great genres, it really is a shame that the developers couldn't make the game more compelling. When the stealth works, its very satisfying, but there is so much that is broken about Velvet Assassin its hard to be impressed at all. Its not entirely unplayable, but I could only recommend it to the stealth gamers, as that's really the only well made aspect of the game. What had potential just comes across as bland and frustrating. Velvet Assassin is quite a disappointment.
5/10
Topic: [Video Game] Velvet Assassin (Read 7053 times)