8 Gaming Heroes You Didn’t Realise Probably Died Horrible Deaths
3. Violette Summer - Velvet Assassin
Replay Studio's foray into Nazi-occupied Germany was a fairly mediocre one, as although they tried to blend some Hitman-lite gameplay elements such as the uniform-stealing 'Blend Stealth' mode and the often-perfunctory 3rd-person mainstay 'Rage Mode' abilities, ultimately some horrifically spotty A.I., animation and framerate dragged the whole thing down.
The potential for greatness was there in spades though as the story was told in a series of flashbacks, providing the aforementioned Rage Mode in a hilariously-named Morphine Mode, allowing you to instantly dispatch enemies at the push of a button or leg it the opposite direction to resume your skulking duties without the threat of being plugged in the eyes. The game Chris Nolan'd itself all the way back up to the present, where one of the worst endings ever committed to gaming played out.
Not only did the hospital get besieged by Nazis who have caught up to Violette, but in her weakened nightgown-fronting state the developers thought it appropriate to provide many gratuitously sexualised shots of her essentially dying in a sea of flames - a particular lowlight being that shot at 0:50 that just cuts directly to her backside.
Hold on a minute though...
Surely Violette can pull herself through this and avenge those who are opposing her? Throughout the game she's taken on worse and come out unscathed right? Well no, actually. Being that the neighbouring village full of people she was trying to save have all been torched to cinders and she herself is suffering from a mortal sniper's bullet wound, she's only left with two options:
Either go out guns blazing (oh wait, she's in a hospital) and attempt to further wound the general whose face is already half-scarred providing she can actually summon the strength to stand, or succumb to yet more emotional blackouts due to the trauma of a miniature genocide happening right alongside her. It seems here here Replay Studios were going for the old 'Nazi Germany Was The Worst Thing Ever' routine, and it would have worked if they'd built a strong protagonist who was cut down in her prime, rather than an over-sexualised distressed damsel in a flimsy nightgown. Atrocious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0PkrUeSC74