Since you are replaying the memories of a wounded woman, the developers have given themselves a little bit of license to push things into absurd directions. You can sneak up on a German sentry and trigger the grenade on his belt. Then you melt into the shadows and watch him explode. His colleagues may or may not take notice; for soldiers in a partisan infested war torn city, they sometime seem remarkable uncurious about things like that. You will sometimes need to drag bodies into the shadows or behind walls so as to not arouse any suspicion, but I was not shown the consequences of leaving them about.

Velvet Assassin is stylish and, exploding Nazis notwithstanding, understated most of the time. The brown and gray can be a little oppressive, but the emphasis on silence and sniping is a welcome respite from the noise of most other action titles on the E3 menu. Replay is aiming for a release late this year.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .