Violette's only unusual ability is her use of morphine syringes. When under the drug's spell, she transcends into a dream like alternate reality where she can swiftly slay the target of her choosing. This is tied into a wrapper story that involves Violette lying unconscious in a hospital bed as she flashes back through each of her missions. It's very clever and breaks up the dreary environments that Violette typically finds herself in.

Instead of wasting time explaining mechanics and controls, this simple, uncluttered set of tools and abilities allows players to jump into action much quicker than most stealth games and even requires players to revert back to the basics of survival in order to succeed.

Speaking of success, victory does not come easy in Velvet Assassin. This game is hard. Not control throwing hard, but a challenge. If you're spotted by the eagle eyed Nazis featured in the game, Violette will likely die within seconds. There's a checkpoint system in place that will bring the player a room or two back if they are killed (this is approximately 5-10 minutes of gameplay), but I get the feeling that this is probably were most game reviews began to dislike the title. Where they saw frustration, I saw the game giving meaning and consequence to its gameplay. A large part of stealth games for me is the tension that is felt just before taking out a bad guy. That brief moment, just before a move or a kill that will either result in your character moving onto the next task or spell certain death. With a small amount of my progress at stake, these moments are amplified. Additionally, when I did lose my progress, this encouraged me to search for other patterns, find hidden pathways, or try alternate methods. Velvet Assassin understands this sense of tension that is unique to this genre and knows exactly when to pull the player's strings.

The game's World War II setting provides the player with more than just an easy reason to guiltlessly butcher enemy after enemy, but reexamines "tried and true" video game settings from a different point of view with remarkable visuals to match. The game oozes with moody atmosphere from beginning to end. Even if they are not rendered with photorealism in mind, each level captures a gritty feeling reminiscent of noir film classics. When most people think of playing a game set in World War II, American "hoorah" FPS action romps like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor spring to mind. Violette's journey is one that is not glamorized or pretty. I won't spoil any of these moments, but suffice to say I feel that they were very effectively implemented and stayed with me after leaving a round a gameplay.

Most players will not be able to get by the game's superficial blemishes, but I for one wound up having more genuine "fun" with it than Metal Gear Solid 4. Instead of focusing on one bizarrely abstract game mechanic after another, Velvet Assassin rightfully chose simplicity rather than over complication. Many will complain that this results the gameplay feeling repetitive, but I feel as though the game gave more than enough strategies to try with every situation that I enjoyed its linear level progression. This is a game for people that remember what stealth games were like before 45 minute cutscenes, warts and all.

8 out of 10