Velvet Assassin

The Velvet Assassin is an Xbox 360 game that falls under the Tactical Shooter or Stealth Action genre and it was officially released on the 28th April, 2009 by its publisher, SouthPeak Games. The game is rated as M for Mature content which consist of sexual themes, more intense violence and strong language, which means that it is suitable for players who are more than 17 years old by ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board), while the game’s developer is Replay Studios. The Velvet Assassin (formerly known as Sabotage) features stealth game play and artistic, along with stylized graphics, plus it is designed based on the real-life of British secret agent known as Violette Szabo. The backdrop of the game is set during World War II where players will play the role of Violette Summer, an MI6 secret agent who infiltrate deep behind the German territory without the help and support from the British Government, risking her very own life to defeat the German war machine of the Nazi’s army. Players will go through Europe’s oppression era of Hitler’s regime, engage in various kinds of mission to sabotage and do assassination task in an attempt to help the Allied forces to defeat their enemy. Through-out the game, players will go through 12 authentic European locations similar to the scenario of World War II environment, plus during the assignment, you will also discover letters and treasures left by the German soldiers and forced to deal with frightening nightmares.
The story of Velvet Assassin is about Violette Summer who was born in Devon, England and grew up in a happy family. As an adult, she works in a beauty salon before the war started but during the war she move to London to join the weapon industry. From here, she was noticed by the Secret Services due to her beautiful looks, athletic ability and attention to detail, and was recruited into the M16. Violette lost her aunt during one of the first Luftwaffe bombing attacks and she was further depressed she later lost her RAF husband in battle. However, because of her strong willed and desire to succeed, Violette carried out several missions successfully before a mission gone terribly wrong that led to her captivity by the Germans. Now lost in a coma and dying in the hospital bed, she replays key moments from her past missions through flashbacks. The game provides you with 12 missions for you to fight against the German forces, such as assassination missions of a war criminal, try to survive Violette’s nightmares, destroying a fuel depot, complete a rescue missions, and other objectives typical for the setting.

The levels also provide players with odd alternate route that leads to a hidden supply of enemy weapons or armor. In addition to stealth attacks, players has a variety of ways to kill the enemies, such as releasing toxic gas from a barrel to suffocate them, pull the pin off a grenade of an oblivious soldier, or send a current of electricity surging through a puddle of water on the floor. There is also a play feature called ‘Morphine Mode’ (Morphine Mode allows the player to freeze time for a few moments, providing an opportunity to kill off enemies or try to attempt an escape) where you can enter a dreamlike invulnerable world and kill off the enemies by using morphine. However, the amount of morphine available is extremely limited and players cannot always rely on this mode regularly. Besides that, traditional firearm is also a weapon being used to kill the enemy. Its ammunition is also limited therefore you only use it when the need arises. The levels of the Velvet Assassin are designed for stealth kills and the gun is used as a last resort in defending your life against the enemy. It also features a wealth of authentic Allied and Nazi weapons from the World War II era such as MP40 submachine gun, grenades, Colt .45 pistol, Lugar 9mm pistol, flame-throwers, shotguns, STG-44 assault rifle and the MG-42 machine gun.
As an assassin, Violette’s skills are also customizable where every time a mission is successful player can change her attributes (which include stealth, strength, weapon handling and Morphine Mode effectiveness) according to the preferred playing style in preparing her to anticipate future combat situations. The game enables you to feel the actual scenario of the World War II through Violette’s missions like being inside a Gestapo prison with cries for help and gunshot blasts and crawling through a burning Parisian village seeing civilians being slaughtered by the Nazi’s forces. The sound and music that accompanies every scene also enables player to feel anxious and unnerved, as if you are really in that situation surrounded by violent forces.