Stolen

Stolen Designer Diary #1

Currently scheduled for release in early 2005, Stolen is a stealth-based action game in which you'll assume the role of a professional thief named Anya Romanov. Details of the game's storyline are a closely guarded secret at this point, but producer Graeme Puttock is more than happy to talk about his own Stolen story (as well as a few new gameplay details) in this, our first Stolen designer diary.

Almost There

By Graeme Puttock
Producer, Blue52

The project is close approaching its beta milestone. This means that, essentially, the game is close to completion. So we're polishing features, fixing bugs, and implementing final assets for speech, sound, cutscenes, and more. It's been a long road since I started on it more than a year ago. Prior to that, another producer held the reins, and I was forced to kill him in some bizarre Star Trek-like battle to the death.

Another unique and interesting slant to Stolen is that at each step of the way, we force the player to realize the consequences of his or her actions. Guards cannot be permanently killed or otherwise disposed of (although Anya can knock them unconscious and drag them out of the immediate area), and they will eventually awaken...to alert the rest of the guards on a level. Guards can follow Anya through doors and into adjacent zones, making every move the player makes important, especially when trying to pinch one of the many desirable and infinitely stealable objects that make up the player's objectives.

Anya's high-tech gadgets and thief tools form another aspect of the game that provides the player with the opportunity to become better at his or her "job." Gadget games that correlate to real-world activities actually open up as you progress through Stolen.

The storyline is twisted and convoluted, but it's not entirely our fault. However, Jaid, the project director, will tell you more about that later.

Gamespot