Velvet Assassin is a World War 2 game.........Are you still there? Ok, good. Velvet Assassin is a stealth game.........Your still there huh? Alright, if your still reading this review after those two revelations, then Velvet Assassin might be for you.

Velvet Assassin tells the story of a English female spy named Violette Summer. Violette's job is to infiltrate the German war machine and scalp as many Nazis as she can within a given time limit. Wait, no, sorry, I was thinking of something else. Violette finds herself in a coma from the very start of the game, and you play the mission leading up to her inevitable accident that brought her to this makeshift hospital. This was an odd decision from Replay Studios, the developers, because you play the game in the past, while Violette talks about things your seeing in real time as if she is dreaming it in the first person. Sound a bit confusing, right? Well it sort of is, and this was one part of the game that really could have been tightened up a bit.

Most of the story is told through slide shows before every mission, and any cutscene that we do get is a little too artsy and brief for its own good. It gets the job done though, although it is disappointing they did not go a different route with the story.

Velvet Assassin, as I stated earlier, is a stealth game in the vein of Splinter Cell. I argued with myself over whether or not I should make that comparison, but in the end, I won my argument. Velvet Assassin is no Splinter Cell. This is the very first thing you need to understand. At the start of every mission, you begin with a knife, and maybe a pistol with 7 shots. Scattered throughout most levels are weapon cabinets where you may find some ammo or a new gun to play with, but this is not a shooter, and ammo is scarce. Although the last few levels plays like a shooter, and ammo is aplenty. This is where my second complaint comes from.

Velvet Assassin feels like there were 2 different directors behind the scenes arguing for dominance. It just doesn't know what it wants to be. One second your sneaking around the shadows in a stealth title, and the next your handed a machine gun and told to kill everything. This does not necessarily hurt the game mind you, it is just always noticeable. The gameplay is very solid otherwise. The Controls are tight and responsive, the graphics are dark and creepy, the music and sfx are well done, and the atmosphere is as tense as can be.

Why, then, has it only received 3 stars you ask? Repetition, and split personality Enemies. The reason I was so cautious to compare this to Splinter Cell is because this is not, by any means, Splinter Cell. Splinter Cell has varied environments, smart A.I, and a vast selection of gadgets and weapons. Velvet Assassin has none of these things. For instance, what you find yourself doing in the first level of the game, you will find yourself doing in the last. You go through about 13 or so levels, that all look the same, and do the same exact thing in each one. Find a shadow, hide, poke out and kill a soldier, rinse and repeat. If you love Repetition, you will love this game. The other reason for the 3 stars is the A.I, which has two minds.

Often, the A.I can be extremely cunning. If I am spotted, they will flank me and try to pull me out of cover. They will search the shadows and call for their comrades with scary precision. There were a few times I was outsmarted by the A.I. Other times, however, they will stand still while you savagely murder their friend 4 feet away from them. Or, they will get stuck on a wall for minutes at a time, leaving their backside open for a nice stabbing (wait....wha??). These complaints can, and will, sour the experience. They were serious enough to take me out of the game, and that is a big no no. If, however, you are able to look past it, you will find a good, competent, and suspenseful Stealth title. One that could have been much better, but is fun nonetheless.