Velvet Assassin | Ep. 1 – Nothing Suspicious Here, Just Another Guard Gone Missing

Another brand-new series arrives as we step into the shadows of Velvet Assassin, continuing our Wednesday night World War II theme. Tonight we’re attempting stealth, patience and carefully planned movements through dangerous wartime environments. Naturally, there’s every chance my definition of stealth will involve someone discovering a dead guard approximately three seconds after I’ve declared the coast clear.

This is a game I’ve owned for almost fifteen years, but barely remember playing. After finally bringing it back out of my Xbox 360 collection, we’re about to discover whether I’ve become any better at it since 2011. Judging by what happened during this first evening, I may have discovered why I never returned to it!

🕵️ About the Game

Velvet Assassin is a dark, atmospheric stealth adventure set during World War II. We play as British secret agent Violette Summer, a character inspired by the real-life agent Violette Szabo, as she undertakes dangerous assignments deep behind enemy lines.

The story unfolds through Violette’s feverish memories as she lies badly injured in a hospital bed. Our assignments involve infiltrating heavily guarded locations, sabotaging German operations and silently eliminating enemies while using darkness and concealment to remain undetected.

Unlike many of the games we normally play, Velvet Assassin really does expect proper stealth. Patience, timing and carefully watching enemy movements are essential. Our usual approach of eliminating absolutely everybody so nobody can report seeing us might not work quite so well here.

🕰️ Where We Are in the Journey

This is the beginning of our Velvet Assassin playthrough, although technically it isn’t my first encounter with the game. When we checked the Xbox achievements, we discovered that the only previous time I’d played it was 19 January 2011, which, rather appropriately, was also a Wednesday.

I never actually finished the game back then, having only made it through the first level before putting it away. It has been on my list of games to bring to the stream for quite some time, and finding the disc turned out to be surprisingly easy. Rather than being buried somewhere in my Xbox collection, it had apparently been sitting beneath the television all along.

Tonight we’re starting again on normal difficulty, beginning with a mission to infiltrate a German fuel depot near the Maginot Line in France. As we’ll soon discover, even getting through the opening mission is going to require considerably more patience than expected.

💀 What Happens in This Episode

Our first assignment took us into The Lost – Valley, where Violette had lost her equipment during the approach to a heavily guarded German fuel depot. The objective was simple enough: find a way into the bunker, locate some explosives and make a rather large hole in the German war effort. Unfortunately, the game expected us to do all this without being seen, which is not necessarily how stealth usually works around here. As we all know, if nobody is left alive to report what happened, then technically nobody saw anything suspicious.

Things started reasonably well. We encountered our first guard, introduced him to a little “stabby stabby”, and continued along the path towards another pair of unsuspecting soldiers. This was where we learned about hiding in the undergrowth, including the remarkably effective tactic of going face first into a bush. Very appropriate for this community. We experimented with concealment, wondered whether we could dispose of bodies in the river, and gradually familiarised ourselves with the controls. The game was already feeling a little awkward, though, with some noticeable frame-rate issues even in the relatively open outdoor areas.

After crossing the bridge, things became considerably less straightforward. The enemy soldiers appeared to have an enormous field of vision, and once they spotted us, there was very little chance of escaping. One or two shots were generally enough to send us straight back to the last checkpoint. Our first death loop had arrived, and it certainly wouldn’t be our last. By the end of the evening, we would have managed an impressive sixteen deaths, which seemed rather excessive for somebody supposedly specialising in remaining unseen.

This was also where we discovered one of Velvet Assassin’s more unusual mechanics: morphine mode. Because Violette is reliving these missions from her hospital bed, we can use morphine to briefly slow time, allowing her to approach an enemy and perform a special takedown. For reasons best known to the developers, activating this ability also puts her into rather revealing lace nightwear. Naturally, this raised a few questions about what exactly the morphine was supposed to be doing.

Chat joined in with the discussion, particularly when papasoup60 mentioned having experienced morphine after surgery. I naturally had to ask whether that also resulted in running around in underwear. Meanwhile, profshikari was thoroughly enjoying the morphine-related commentary, which eventually led us to the mystery of the missing seventh Power Ranger. Clearly, that particular Ranger was permanently dosed up on morphine and therefore unsuitable for children’s morning television. We also remembered the unfortunate fifth Teletubby, Simba, whose aerial was supposedly struck by lightning, leaving him with the rather appropriate nickname Cinder.

Armed with our newly discovered “Go Go Gadget Morphine” ability, we eventually completed the outdoor tutorial and made our way inside the bunker. I was beginning to suspect that we had already progressed further than my original attempt back in January 2011. At the same time, I was also starting to understand why the game had spent so many years sitting in my Xbox collection without being played again.

The next section, The Lost – Fuel Storage, introduced a different problem: we couldn’t actually see where we were going. The bunker corridors were incredibly dark, with doors, passages and objects frequently blending into the surroundings. Even watching on my rather large television, I was struggling to make out what was happening. vvoornth commented on how dark everything had become, while garydsteel, who was watching on his phone, was having an even harder time. We occasionally resorted to using the flashlight, although illuminating ourselves in a game about hiding in the shadows was probably not the most sensible approach.

We also encountered some copyrighted music that had to be muted rather quickly, leaving us without the usual game audio for parts of the mission. That was particularly inconvenient when we were already struggling to work out where the guards were positioned. The enemies themselves weren’t helping matters either. Some would happily stand looking in our direction without noticing anything, while others seemed capable of spotting us through the edges of walls. Once alerted, they could be remarkably persistent, and our attempts at escaping frequently ended with another journey back to the checkpoint.

Those checkpoints quickly became one of the biggest frustrations of the evening. There was no convenient manual saving, meaning every failed encounter could undo several minutes of careful progress. We repeatedly made our way through the same corridors, waited for the same guards and listened to the same warnings about broken glass scattered across the floor. It wasn’t long before JD’s Death Loop Incorporated became the unofficial sponsor of the stream. Poor Frodo was repeatedly blamed for not installing a better save system, particularly when another death meant retracing a lengthy section of the bunker.

We did gradually learn a few useful things along the way. Violette could peek through keyholes, search fallen enemies and investigate lockers for supplies. We also discovered that medkits appeared to be used immediately rather than collected for later, although working that out took considerably longer than it probably should have. Stealth takedowns were particularly temperamental, often refusing to activate unless we were positioned directly behind an unsuspecting guard. Morphine helped occasionally, but discovering that we could only deal with one enemy per activation put an end to several otherwise promising plans.

Between all the sneaking and dying, there was plenty happening in chat. Frodo told us about his twelve-hour working day somehow becoming fifteen hours thanks to his truck’s exhaust regeneration problems, which led to the suggestion that he might need to bring a deckchair and supervise the mechanic personally. megxta dropped in before heading to bed, although I naturally pointed out that sleep was entirely optional. vvoornth discussed an electrical inspection, Pub Life Simulator and a fan-made Star Wars video, while profshikari shared his appreciation for older strategy games, particularly Command & Conquer and Red Alert 2.

We also had a few conversations about AIDA, our increasingly unpredictable AI assistant running on a Raspberry Pi. Her quick responses impressed some viewers, although her habit of asking the same questions repeatedly was also noticed. Meanwhile, the community’s Pokémon hunting game provided another distraction when a Tauros appeared at the pier. cheesecollector31 successfully completed the contract using the Sword of the Ancients, proving that at least somebody was capable of finishing a mission without repeatedly returning to a checkpoint.

Back in the bunker, we eventually started making some meaningful progress. After navigating more guards and trying to work out which corridors actually led somewhere useful, we encountered an electrified door blocking our route. Fortunately, asmith501 helped point us towards the fuse box, and after a little more exploration, we managed to switch off the power. That opened the way forward, allowing us to reach the explosives we needed to destroy the fuel depot. Unfortunately, finding the explosives was only half the problem. We still had to get them into position without being killed.

After more wandering through corridors, checking maps and occasionally mistaking cupboards for doors, we finally reached the gas storage chamber. This area was filled with poisonous fumes, meaning we needed to wear a gas mask while moving among the enormous fuel tanks and explosive barrels. There were also several guards patrolling the area, and using firearms was particularly risky considering how much highly flammable material surrounded us. Naturally, there were more death loops as we attempted to work out the patrol routes and eliminate the remaining opposition.

Once the guards had been dealt with, we encountered another problem: where exactly were we supposed to plant the explosives? We spent some time examining the room, checking the map and investigating doors that refused to open. Eventually, we remembered that Violette could push objects around, resulting in some rather suggestive grunting as we shuffled a box into position. It reminded me of the original Tomb Raider, where Lara Croft would painstakingly move enormous blocks a few inches at a time. At least this particular bit of furniture rearrangement finally allowed us to plant the charge.

I had already worked out what I thought would be our escape route. Earlier, we’d discovered a staircase leading towards an opening higher up in the bunker, and I was convinced that was where we would emerge after setting the explosives. The game, however, had other ideas. Rather than heading back the way we came, we suddenly found ourselves racing through an unfamiliar corridor, trying to escape before the entire fuel depot went up.

This final escape became another exercise in patience. We had a shotgun available, but it wasn’t particularly helpful when explosions were chasing us from behind and another two guards were waiting directly ahead. Several attempts ended in disaster, sending us back to repeat the escape sequence. Eventually, we realised that the explosive barrels positioned near the guards could be used to our advantage. A carefully placed shot dealt with the opposition, and at long last, we managed to reach safety.

Sixteen deaths later, the mission was finally complete. Despite all the confusion, questionable tactics and repeated visits to the loading screen, we had managed thirteen quiet kills along the way. I believe the guard on the roof near the beginning was the only one who escaped our attention. For a game that had spent almost fifteen years waiting for another attempt, we had certainly made more progress than expected.

The next mission took us to Paris, one month later, with a new objective involving the Butcher of Paris and a heavily guarded cathedral. There was even the welcome possibility of slightly better lighting. However, after everything we’d experienced getting out of the fuel depot, that seemed like a sensible place to bring the evening to a close.

We thanked everyone for joining us, including Frodo for the continued subscription support, and finished by raiding over to OurChickenLife for some more relaxed company among the animals. We will return to Velvet Assassin next Wednesday, continuing our World War II adventures as we investigate what awaits us in Paris.

Hopefully, now that we’ve become a little more familiar with the controls, the next mission might involve fewer death loops. Although, given what we’ve experienced so far, I wouldn’t necessarily count on it.

But what could possibly go wrong?

🎬 Watch the Episode

If you’d like to see exactly how we managed to turn a stealth mission into sixteen deaths, you can watch the complete first episode of Velvet Assassin on YouTube.

From our first attempts at hiding in bushes to the rather frantic escape from the fuel depot, the full adventure is available below.

You can follow the entire series through the Velvet Assassin Playlist, and don’t forget to visit Dr Ravenholm on YouTube.

If you enjoy the video, please give it a like, leave a comment telling me which death loop was your favourite, and subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss the next episode.

🔴 Join the Adventure Live

Watching the finished episode is one thing, but being there when another perfectly reasonable stealth plan goes completely wrong is quite another.

Join us live on Twitch or YouTube, where you can help us spot the guards, point out the fuse boxes I’ve walked past and join in with the usual conversations while we attempt to make some progress.

You never quite know what’s going to happen during a livestream. We might complete the next mission without getting killed, or we might spend another evening keeping JD’s Death Loop Incorporated in business.

Either way, you’re always welcome to come and join us.

💬 Community & Links

There’s plenty happening beyond the livestreams, and you’re more than welcome to become part of our community. Whether you’re joining us for the gameplay, the conversations or the occasional complete disaster, there are plenty of ways to keep in touch.

Live — Catch the next stream and see whether we’ve learned anything about stealth:
Twitch | YouTube

Community — Come and join the conversations between streams:
Discord

Socials — Follow along for videos, updates and whatever else we get ourselves into:
TikTok | Bluesky | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X

Music — When we’re not sneaking around behind enemy lines, there’s also my music to enjoy:
Spotify | Apple Music

Support — If you’d like to help support the channel and keep the streams going:
Fourthwall | Teespring | Streamlabs

More — You can also explore my other projects, services and writing:
Business Centre | Download the Brochure | About Me | Blog

💥 Sixteen Death Loops Later

So, after almost fifteen years away from Velvet Assassin, we’ve finally returned to the game and managed to complete our first proper mission. It was awkward, frustrating and considerably more difficult than I’d expected, but we got there eventually.

Next Wednesday, we’ll be heading into Paris to continue Violette’s story. Hopefully, now that we’ve become a little more familiar with the controls, we’ll have an easier time of things. Although, judging by tonight’s sixteen deaths, I wouldn’t necessarily count on it.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, kept me company and helped us get through the evening.

But what could possibly go wrong?

— Dr Ravenholm