8/14/2019 PC Zone - Issue 197 - Velvet Assassin Preview

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A HISTORY OF VIOLETTES

A morphine-riddledEd Zitron beckons Nazis into darkalleyways wearing only his pyjamas

VELVETASSASSINCell, with an indicator showing you how

well-concealed you are depending on the

light and sound youre making. You can

either go for the classic secretive slit-of-

the-throat, or, as your arsenal improves,

a more direct, bullet-ridden approach,

with the caveat being that youll soon

garner the attention of Hitlers finest.

Stealth-wise, developers Replay

Studios have created an intricate system:

your shadow casting itself across a

soldiers view, or the crackle of glass

underfoot might cause a nearby enemy

to investigate. This, if youre canny, might

lure him into a dark alleyway and into the

loving embrace of your knife.

You can also expect a dash of action

though. Another section sees Violet

playing cat-and-mouse with a sniper in

the Warsaw Ghetto, dodging bullets and

trying to find enough cover to fight back

as shots ricochet off parked cars and

street furniture. This may be a dream,

but its still life or death.

Youre not up against a faceless

menace either, the boys at Replay

are dead set on fleshing out the

lives of the individual soldiers

that Violet eventually kills. Thief:

Deadly Shadows touched on

this mechanic, allowing you to

listen in on one poor souls

rash that got worse as the

game went on. In Violet

Assassin this attempt to

add depth to your

opponents is born

from the belief

that WWII

Violette Szabo joined the womens branch of the

British Army, the Auxiliary Territorial Service, in1941. In 1942, shortly after she gave birth to her

daughter, Szabos husband was killed at the Battle

of El Alamein. Afterwards Szabo offered herservices to Churchills spies and saboteurs: the

Special Operations Executive.The SOE sent Szabo into France to organise

French resistance cells. On her second missiona German army unit tried to capture her cell.

Szabo single-handedly kept the Nazi unit at bayusing a Sten gun, allowing the leader of her cell

to escape. After her capture she was interrogated,raped, tortured, imprisoned in concentration

camps, and finally executed in 1945. She was 23 years old.

In 1947 Szabo was posthumously awarded a George Cross the highest award forbravery a civilian can be given.

Replay Studios have used Szabo and her life as a template to make Violet Summera deeper, more engaging character.

History LessonsA little bit about Velvet Assassins inspiration...

IF THERES ONE thing thats

definitely missing from shadowy

stealth games, its the ability to

inject yourself with morphine, slow

down time and cavort in a sexy

nightdress. Fret no further though

because Velvet Assassin lets you

do just that, as well as stab, shoot

and garrotte your way through the

40s in the most bizarre period piece

since Allo Allo.

You see, injured secret agent Violet

Summer has been left comatose in a

hospital after a mission gone awry, and is

reliving her past adventures in a series of

dreams. With me so far? These dream

missions based on the life of Violette

Szabo (see History Lessons) span Violets

career as a secret agent, from assassinating

Nazi commanders to helping other

agents escape the Third Reichs

clutches. Grimmer still, at one

point she even has to deliver a

cyanide capsule to an agent to

save British secrets.

The stealth action itself

is very much Metal Gear

Solidmeets Splinter

DEVELOPERReplay StudiosPUBLISHERGamecock MediaWEBSITEreplaystudios.de

ETA

AUTUMN2008

THE LOWDOWN

Interesting premise

Brings character tofaceless Nazis

Stealth systemlooks effective

Could get repetitive

Still needs a lot of polish

Real source material!

Nazis, like T-Rexes, cantsee anything standing still.

My old nemesis a box.

www.pczone.co.uk

FIRSTLOOK

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8/14/2019 PC Zone - Issue 197 - Velvet Assassin Preview

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ITS A MIRAGE...Replay announce aWWII PC stealthgame, Sabotage.

2005

IM TELLIN YA ITS...and is renamedVelvet Assassin whenGamecock take over.

2008

THE STORY SO FAR

VELVETASSASSIN

1942

VIOLETTE NOTIONSViolette Szabojoins the SpecialOperations Executive.

2002

RE-WINDReplay is set up byMarc Moehring andSascha Jungnickel.

games are usually based on the activities

of larger-scale armies, rather than

soldiers day-to-day work. This is shown

through a series of letters that you can

pick up, based on real-life missives home

from soldiers; intended to give shape to

those who are usually just moving

targets with a penchant for

machine-gun emplacements.

MORPHINE FUN

As mentioned, you have the

ability to shoot up with

morphine. Essentially, as

Violet lies on her hospital

bed, doctors watch her for

signs of distress and pump

her full of the opiate when she

needs it.

At these points Violet can

pick up syringes of morphine that

can then be used to activate bullet-

time a bullet-time that turns

Violets tight catsuit into a skimpy

nightdress. I was shown this minutes

after being assured Violet wasnt

going to be objectified. The noise I

made was a puzzled hmmm.

While I can see how Max

Paynes slow-mo mechanics

make sense in an action

game, whenever Violet

slows things down she has to run over

and stab someone in the same way shes

already done five times before only

a bit slower. And although Replay say

morphine will be rare, theres a concern

that this negligee-time could prove a

detraction from some otherwise very

serious subject matter.

Theres another concern that the

stealth element could become rather

repetitive. Then again, some of the ideas

going into the game show a degree of

cleverness that may well spread into the

rest of the game. You can pull the pin

from a soldiers grenade without him

realising, for example, turning him into

a walking time bomb.

Also having you take the role of a

female secret agent makes for one of

the most original premises in WWII

games yet. The world needs another

Cate Archer, and up till now there hasnt

been much hope for one.

While your Calls of Dutyand Medals

of Honorhave played WWII out as a

homogenous mush of rushing soldiers

and constant gunfire, Velvet Assassin

takes it on a much more personal and

individual scale. The potential to create a

really interesting war yarn is here, even

if this probably isnt a genre-defying

masterpiece in the making. pcz

A female secret agent makesfor one of the most original

premises in WWII games yet

Easy on the eye shadow love.

Release ze bloom!

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