Velvet Assassin

Formats: PS3 & X360
RRP: £39.99
Buy from £17.99
Released: 8 May

Velvet Assassin follows the story of Violette Summer, a real-life British World War II secret agent who dealt with the assassination of key individuals and the destruction of places behind enemy lines. Playing through Violette’s memories as she lies badly wounded in a French hospital bed, you’ll get to carry out her missions of stealth as she helps the war effort under cover of darkness and with ruthless efficiency.

Velvet Assassin reminds us of a distant and difficult past, when stealth gaming was at the peak of its popularity a decade ago.  Back then, there were some great examples of the genre around but there were also poor ones and, when done badly, stealth – more than any other genre – is extremely frustrating. Velvet Assassin employs the mechanics you would expect for taking out your target: hiding in the shadows, silent kills, use of disguises and weapon variety. They are all flawed, though, and let down what could have been a great addition to the canon of World War II games available. You’ll have to find exactly the right spot in the shadows to prevent the guards seeing you and stand in just the right place to pull off a silent kill, but each time the spot seems to be random. Move an inch one way or the other and you’ll end up on the wrong end of a very noisy shoot-out. The disguises aren’t much use as they won’t allow you to be stealthy, nor will they convince the guards for long.

Besides the unwieldy game mechanics, there are several problems with collision detection, with both your character and enemies getting stuck in graphics and the ubiquitous dodgy camera. A good idea is marred by poor implementation – this is a game that should remain in the shadows.

5/10

Review by Kirsten Kearney