Velvet Assassin

Conclusions

We honestly were astounded at the level of satisfaction we were able to get out of Velvet Assassin as, to be brutally honest, our expectations when we started playing the game weren’t all that great. Somehow the game had passed us by on its marketing tour and we were barely even aware that the game existed, frankly.

Yet, here it is – complete, released and pretty damned good. Linear as hell, sure, with no room for any real exploration or player-driven experimentation...but still a hugely enjoyable game.

Unfortunately though, Velvet Assassin isn’t a perfect game either and it’s a shame that the few faults it has are such obvious, annoying little ones. Tiny things that could and should have been picked up on from the moment the playtesters started up the first level and got quickly trounced by the first enemies.

The worst problem that Velvet Assassin has is the outdated, console-style save system that will only check your progress when you stumble over pre-set, invisible markers. Worse, these markers never re-trigger; so if you have to quickly abandon your game mid-level then there’s no use in running back to an old checkpoint to try and save your progress. You just have to accept that you’re going to lose some data.


On top of that, the checkpoints are often awkwardly placed considering the nature of the game. Putting an auto-save point down by a bunch of supplies and just before you have to cross a patrolled courtyard is a great idea, obviously. But putting the checkpoint just before the supplies? Idiocy. All that means is that when you inevitably get killed crossing the courtyard you’ll have to go through the tedium of resupplying – and you’ll have to do that every time you die until you reach the next savepoint. It might not sound a big deal, but the nature of genre means that you die easily and quickly, so expect to repeat that scenario an awful lot.

That said though, we don’t want to get ourselves bogged down in the banalities of game-playing, because the reality is that we could easily poke holes in any game if we wanted to. Aside from our individual frustrations over the save-system Velvet Assassin actually manages to do an awful lot of things right. There may be parts of it that are about as fun as washing your face with a cheese grater, but it’s a stealth game and that trial-and-error aspect is an important part of the experience.

It’s also worth pointing out that often those parts are only so infuriating because of the player rushing through things or dedicating themselves to doing something in a specific way. We spent at least an hour on one section of the game just because we wanted to kill everyone silently without wasting a shot, but we could have easily just snuck through unnoticed. Masochistic gameplay like that is definitely irritating, but also kind of the point of a stealth-game.


Velvet Assassin is full of lovely touches that help create a unique balancing act-feel in the game too, with some levels opening up limited options for players through disguises and extra gear. It’s just a shame that the use of these tools is so often built into particular levels and shortlived. Having to constantly consider the benefits of a Nazi SS disguise against the noisiness of those high-heels is an interesting dilemma, especially when you can only change outfits at certain hiding spots.

Velvet Assassin isn’t a wholly original game and it doesn’t really do anything at all new. Judged from afar it would seem to be a fairly standard third-person stealth game, what with hiding bodies, stealth kills and luring enemies out of patrol routes and all. Where it differs though is when you look at it up close and are able to appreciate how well all these elements work together and how interesting the main character is.

Third-person stealth games like Velvet Assassin aren’t exactly plentiful, so it’s great to see a slightly new take on the Splinter Cell model make such an impact. The game may be faulted slightly by awkward checkpoints and lack of exploration, but on the whole it’s just as well executed as one of Violette’s victims. If stealth is your cup of tea and you don’t mind the lack of multiplayer then Velvet Assassin is definitely worth a look.

Score Guide