EIEIO 08: Velvet Assassin actually dressed in leather
It's true. The game's title character may be velvet in some way, but the luxurious fabric does not figure into Violette Summers' ensemble. Instead, she alternates between skin-tight leather and a diaphanous, lingerie-like hospital gown. It's definitely more of a video game in that respect than a solemn tribute to Violette Szabo.
Why the hospital gown? The events of Velvet Assassin are framed as flashbacks remembered by a dying Summers, who is lying in a hospital bed as the game starts. She recounts her former missions behind enemy lines. This method of storytelling actually ties into the gameplay in a rather bizarre way.
You can administer morphine to the dreaming Summers, which causes the onscreen Summers to appear in hospital garb, the screen to glow in an ethereal white (with floating blood cells, even), and all the enemies to slow down, making them easier to kill. Maybe the pain alters Violette's perception of events, and the relief brought on by the morphine allows her to remember her successes (since she obviously lived through whatever encounter it was). It is possible to overdose on morphine if you use too much too quickly, which results in an unconscious dream-Violette and an invitation for Nazis to shoot you. This is where the concept gets confusing and a little too meta -- Violette is already unconscious (she's dreaming this, remember), and morphine makes her dream of being unconscious too?
When you get close to an enemy, you can activate a contextual kill-move which plays out in a short cutscene. In the demo, Violette had a knife, so we basically saw her stab people in the back from a few different angles. Replay expects there to be between 50 and 60 kill moves in the final game.
For the most part, Velvet Assassin is like Splinter Cell set in World War II, which is actually more interesting that that somewhat dismissive categorization makes it sound. The demo mission tasked Violette with infiltrating a prison compound to deliver a cyanide capsule to a captured British soldier before any information could be tortured out of him. Violette went from the dank cell block into the opulent warden's office, looking through a secret peephole the warden used to watch the torture, being careful to stay in the shadows the whole time. Real-world-inspired environments like those make the stealth gameplay more interesting.
Why the hospital gown? The events of Velvet Assassin are framed as flashbacks remembered by a dying Summers, who is lying in a hospital bed as the game starts. She recounts her former missions behind enemy lines. This method of storytelling actually ties into the gameplay in a rather bizarre way.
Gallery: Velvet Assassin
You can administer morphine to the dreaming Summers, which causes the onscreen Summers to appear in hospital garb, the screen to glow in an ethereal white (with floating blood cells, even), and all the enemies to slow down, making them easier to kill. Maybe the pain alters Violette's perception of events, and the relief brought on by the morphine allows her to remember her successes (since she obviously lived through whatever encounter it was). It is possible to overdose on morphine if you use too much too quickly, which results in an unconscious dream-Violette and an invitation for Nazis to shoot you. This is where the concept gets confusing and a little too meta -- Violette is already unconscious (she's dreaming this, remember), and morphine makes her dream of being unconscious too?
When you get close to an enemy, you can activate a contextual kill-move which plays out in a short cutscene. In the demo, Violette had a knife, so we basically saw her stab people in the back from a few different angles. Replay expects there to be between 50 and 60 kill moves in the final game.
For the most part, Velvet Assassin is like Splinter Cell set in World War II, which is actually more interesting that that somewhat dismissive categorization makes it sound. The demo mission tasked Violette with infiltrating a prison compound to deliver a cyanide capsule to a captured British soldier before any information could be tortured out of him. Violette went from the dank cell block into the opulent warden's office, looking through a secret peephole the warden used to watch the torture, being careful to stay in the shadows the whole time. Real-world-inspired environments like those make the stealth gameplay more interesting.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Trickob @ Mar 12th 2008 11:23PM
i like the cromulent directions under the picture.
carterman @ Mar 12th 2008 11:44PM
...someone wanna tell the devs to turn down the bloom lighting?
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:36AM
I think that for once, bloom is appropriate (since it's supposed to be dream-like).
BananaBoat @ Mar 13th 2008 1:18AM
I think we all know what the "Velvet" is referring to. Like a nice piece of Red Velvet cake...MmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Yep...I went there good sirs.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:36AM
Candlejack.
You know that the cake is a --
Geist @ Mar 13th 2008 3:31AM
That whole Candlejack is just a dumb m--
V1L3 @ Mar 13th 2008 2:04AM
"framed as flashbacks remembered by a dying Summers, who is lying in a hospital bed"
Ooh, I think saw that episode of Buffy.
Wasn't that the one where one or more of the protagonists overcame a personal conflict and/or made a realisation about themselves which was directly/indirectly related to a particular enemy they were facing whilst dropping one-liners and pop culture references?
Dangerdork @ Mar 13th 2008 2:31AM
No, that's 'Lost". get with it, man
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:39AM
I'm mentally making the correlation with Assassin's Creed, whose protagonist is using his memories to access playable past events. But I admit that the morphine is a nice touch.
I really enjoy when gamedevs try to take a step in different directions.
hvnlysoldr @ Mar 26th 2008 1:21PM
Of course if you die in the Matrix I mean the dream world you die in real life. I wonder how they'll handle game overs.