Stolen

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on February 07, 2004

First Impressions: Sexy siren steals stealthily.

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One of the best games of all time (at least in my opinion) is the under-appreciated Thief: The Dark Project. Released at the end of 1998, Thief was a genre bending revelation: it was a first-person shooter that discouraged you from shooting. It was the father of the Уfirst-person sneakerФ stealth genre and proved that creeping slowly in the shadows and avoiding conflict could be just as fun as running around like a maniac with guns blazing. Developers quickly began adding УstealthФ levels to their standard FPS titles, and even attempted full stealth games as well, though none could match the surprising intensity and thrills of Thief. The excellent Splinter Cell series comes the closest, though it still stubbornly holds on to many standard shooter elements, allowing you to blast your way through many situations Ц which sort of defeats the purpose of a stealth game.

Luckily for sneak and creep fans, UK developer Blue 52 appropriately enough УstoleФ Thief's concept and will soon release Stolen, their entry into the world of stealth.

While Thief took place in a medieval fantasy world, Stolen is set in the near future and attempts to emulate the look and feel of films like Entrapment. You will play as Anya Romanov, the best professional thief in Forge City. Your helpful partner, Louie Palmer, relays vital information through your headset and builds cool gadgets that make it easier for you to sneak around undetected. Many of the gadgets seem to have been, um, УstolenФ from Sam Fisher's house, like her ArmPad, a PDA-like device that sends information to her heads-up display (HUD) goggles and helps her hack into computers. She is armed with a silenced gun that shoots electric nullifier rounds (similar to Sam's sticky shocker) used to stun enemies or short-circuit electronic devices like cameras and turrets. She also has Splinter Cell-like sonic emitters (a fancy term for a noise-maker) to distract enemies, and spy bullet-like markers that can be shot onto guards and cameras, highlighting their location on Anya's HUD map. No word on whether she has Sam's wallet too.

One of her coolest gadgets is sonic vision, which uses sound waves to create an X-ray-like image in her goggles, allowing her to see through walls and give her an internal view of locks, thus making it easier to pick the tumblers inside. But since it requires sound to work, Anya sometimes has to make noise to use it, which could alert enemies. If you don't want to risk it, you can always use your night vision and telescopic zoom to scan the area for threats as well.

As in all stealth games, your most useful gadget will be your trusty light meter; the darker the reading, the less visible you are. And although Anya is wearing a sexy skin-tight, low-cut catsuit, she definitely does not want anyone appreciating her looks; after all, darkness and shadows are the thief's best friends.

Like Sam Fisher, Anya is played in the third-person view; a good choice considering she is very athletic and can perform many acrobatic moves like wall jumps, using zip lines, and creeping hand-over-hand along narrow ledges. You will be able to temporarily switch to a first person view, but this is used only for scanning your surroundings, locating items you can interact with, and finding hidden bonus items you can pilfer.

Anya can sneak up behind enemies to grab and knock them out (or if you want to be really cheeky, pick their pockets). However, since the emphasis is on stealth, you may want to avoid any confrontations with enemies altogether. Unlike Thief or Splinter Cell, unconscious guards will eventually wake up and alert their colleagues; and once alerted, guards will actively hunt for you armed with flashlights and guns. And don't think that simply hiding in a closet will keep them off your tail; fully alerted guards will search outside their preprogrammed patrol patterns, so no hiding place will be safe for long. Running away won't help either; levels will be littered with cameras, lasers, motion detectors, robotic gun turrets, even flying robotic cameras. And don't think you can get the bad guys off your tail for good by using your deadly Sam Fisher skills because you'll run into one tiny little hitch: you will be unable to kill people.

You also have to be careful about trying to trick guards; Blue 52 is putting a lot of work into the enemy AI, so don't expect the usual responses we've seen before in stealth games. Enemies will have a short term memory, which means if you keep using the same tricks over and over (for example, repeatedly using your sonic emitter to distract the same guard), they will know something is fishy and will increase their alert level to the point of actively searching for you, or even calling for backup. So, needless to say, sticking to the shadows, avoiding enemies, and using your head will be the best way to succeed.

The story is a well-guarded secret, but we do know that you will start off stealing priceless items for a mysterious person who has contracted your services. You soon discover that your employer may not be the person you thought he was, and must use your stealthy skills to stay alive and unravel the mystery.

The game takes place across four locations: a museum, a prison, an office tower, and a mountain-top satellite installation. Although there are УonlyФ four levels, they will be quite huge with many different areas and sub-sections, each with its own unique challenges for you to overcome.

Graphically, the game looks incredible, with impressive light and shadow effects, and some very cool weather effects as well. You'll have to share the game's beauty alone, however; a thief's life is a solitary life, and as such, Stolen is single-player only (but will be Xbox Live aware).