GamingHeadlines: First off, when we read through the sparse information about the game, we were reminded of Sly Cooper, only made for adults. Are we completely off base with this analogy?

Jaid Mindang: There are certain similarities between Stolen and Sly Cooper; the thieving aspect and stealth mechanics for sure. Stolen is aimed at a slightly older audience than Sly Cooper, mainly due to the more complex nature and difficulty of the game. The storyline, setting, graphical style and the realistic nature of Anya's combat and athletic abilities also give Stolen a more mature feel.

Sly Cooper is an excellent game and we'd be very happy if Stolen was compared favourably with it.

GamingHeadlines: Does Stolen run off of any particular engine, or are you working from the ground up?

Jain Mindang: We have written our own in-house 3D engine intended to give the most realistic lighting and shadowing possible. Everything (the environment, player and other characters and props) can cast volumetric shadows onto everything else. Everything can cast per-pixel ‘specular’ light, and everything is lit in the same way. This makes the world feel more immersive - our aim was that characters genuinely look like part of the environment they are in, not like cut-outs on a pre-lit background. Making the art work with the lighting engine utilising some movie-style post processing effects, such as bloom filters and depth of field, we went for a realistic but also stylised look borrowing heavily from film noir - harsh shadows and over brightened light.

GamingHeadlines: Can you describe how this game will play out a bit? Will it be linear or open ended?

Jain Mindang: First off let me say that we’ve been inspired by the Hollywood heist movies such as Entrapment, Mission Impossible and the Thomas Crown Affair. At the time when we initially developed the concept, there were far fewer titles in the genre, but although there are more now, we are confident that Stolen has a new angle of its own which the players will enjoy.

There will be a variety of approaches that the player can take to achieve mission objectives, and they don’t all have to be completed in sequence. Although the mission objectives don’t change the game environment and the enemies allow you to play the game in a variety of ways, ranging from getting through without detection and leaving no trace as to you passing by, to thoroughly subverting all the embedded security systems and leaving every guard with a sore head.

GamingHeadlines: This title has been in development for quite a while. How big will this game be?

Jain Mindang: Although the concept has been rattling around at Blue52 for a long time, it’s only really been in full production for about 2.5 years. It’s not easy to quantify until we’re through the testing stage. Currently we have 4 large locations in the game, with numerous restart points and a streaming system that allows the player to walk through an enormous map without any noticeable loading times. As such the game cannot be broken into levels in the same way as a platform game, for example, so all we can say for now is that we anticipate a play time of 3-10 hours per location, depending upon the competence of the player and whether or not they choose to explore the level or just doggedly pursue the primary mission objectives.

GamingHeadlines: Can you elaborate a bit on what a “Hollywood Thief” will play as?

Jain Mindang: Okay let’s turn the question around.

Stolen distinguishes itself by the absence of lethality in dealing with the enemies. You can destroy the drones, but you can’t kill any guards, only incapacitate them or knock them out temporarily. A large portion of the player’s abilities are geared around avoiding detection and actively evading capture. As such being able to permanently remove guards from the picture would unbalance the gameplay by removing the need for much of what Stolen is about.

GamingHeadlines: Can you describe a few of the gadgets players will be able to use along the way?

Jain Mindang: Okay here are two which are linked but there are many more with similar inventive ideas:

Goggles - Anya's goggles are linked to the ArmPad. They have a telephoto zoom function to allow her to spot distant cameras or guards. They have additional special functions outlined below.

Sonic visor view - this device is integral to Anya’s goggles. It uses passive audio detection sophisticated sonic interpretation software to triangulate the position of any objects that are creating a sound and display a real-time video image from the data. In order to balance the ambient noise and the required sensitivity of the device for maximum use in the field, Anya needs press the audio detector against wooden doors order to pick up and interpret micro vibrations through the flat surface and effectively “see beyond” the door. Doors provide the optimum balance of transmission and damping properties. Walls are too thick.

GamingHeadlines: With so many stealth games on the market, what makes yours better than the competition?

Jain Mindang: That will be for gamers to decide but we believe that they will find the range of possibilities and the depth of gameplay within the spectrum of stealth to be much more than is afforded to them in other titles within the genre. In many other games stealth is only something that the player needs to perpetuate until they kill the enemy who might hear them and raise the alarm. In Stolen, stealth is something that has to be worked on throughout. After that, there are a variety of approaches which the player can take ranging from the confrontational to evasive, from systematically subverting or neutralising security systems to simply being a ghost, invisible to the security systems and leaving no trace of your passing.

GamingHeadlines: Will there be any multiplayer modes in Stolen?

Jain Mindang: Stolen has a single player focus!