Replay Studios’ PC and Xbox 360 WWII stealth-action game Velvet Assassin has come a long way. Since first being announced as Sabotage over a year ago, Velvet Assassin has continued to show signs of improvement with each new showing. The same holds true of these latest screenshots. There are only three unfortunately, but in each one you can see a level of detail and polish that didn’t exist even a month or two ago. That’s good to see. How the recent Gamecock/SouthPeak merger will affect the game’s release status is uncertain, but as of now it is still planned to ship early next year.
Don’t go away just yet. We’ve also got preview details on two of the game’s levels, The Lost and The Third Man. Read up on those on the jump.
Velvet Assassin Level Previews:
The Lost begins at sunrise in deepest Nazi controlled France on an autumnal day, bringing with it long shadows offering the element of surprise. With plenty of potential coverings scattered around, along with autumnal trees and bushes providing further excellent cover from detection, players will have to take care not to make too much noise crossing the dried leaves and twigs that layer the floor. If successful in avoiding capture by the SS guards, players will then have to secretly enter the grim and poorly lit Maginot Line bunker system set deep in the hills and mountains of the French border.
Once inside the bunker, lighting is controlled by intense lamps and dodgy electric ceiling lights in certain rooms. This is where sneaking becomes extremely important as players will have nowhere to run if the alarm goes off. Working through the bunker system the claustrophobic and dirty conditions that soldiers lived through on a daily basis can become all too real.
The Third Man brings with it three separate sections involving three distinct environments. During one mission Violette works her way through a sewers system and reappears in daylight in the middle of the Warsaw Ghetto. At this point the historical accuracy that Replay Studios invested so much time in becomes very apparent, from abandoned belongings in the street and executions of families in broad daylight, to gun flashes in the windows of homes as soldiers search for people hiding in the walls, the brutality of what happened soon hits home.
With this mission players lose the cover of darkness and have to be especially careful when sneaking around, remaining observant at all times for any potential cover. As Violette progresses the brutality and the nature of what happened here really is unique to Velvet Assassin.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
