| Exlusive: Velvet Assassin developer interview. |
|
Exclusive Velvet Assassin interview with Inga Mittendorf (PR Manager at Replay Studios).
Q: Can you tell us more about the game's use of medication, how does this affect gameplay and can players opt to use this at any time?
Velvet Assassin is played from a retro perspective: while Violette is lying comatose in her hospital bed she recalls all her passed missions and you as a gamer play through those experiences. Whenever Violette is remembering life-threatening situations her body in hospital shakes from fear and anxiety. To calm her down a nurse injects her with morphine. Violette, in her paralysed state of mind cannot differentiate between reality, dream or memory and integrates the effects of the medication into her memories, using it as a method to re-correct them and prevent herself from an early end because she is aware that she did not die in that particular situation. From time to time, when she passes certain places she suddenly gets flashbacks of special situations and feelings which help the gamer to understand more of the background of the story.
Q: Can you tell us more about the use of the environment and how it affects gameplay?
There are many things in the game that you can interact with in very different ways: on the one side you have objects that can be destroyed, like special lights, glasses, souvenirs that are lying around. But there are much more interactive things you can do within the game: you can turn off fuse boxes, find hidden switches that open secret rooms, shoot at barrels and make them explode, set fire to oil puddles and many more things? So using the environment becomes an important strategic element when it comes to killing your enemies. Clever planning and using the environment can help you immensely and save your precious ammo.
Q: What happens if Violette is discovered, is it 'Game-Over' or will she have to fight or hide to get out of trouble? Will there be alarms and a cool-down period for example?
She actually has different opportunities when that happens: when the guards are on alert and have discovered her hiding place, Violette can keep in the shadows until they calm down. But when they are alarmed they will search for her and then she needs to stay cool. She can attack them with her knife or try to shoot them and in real emergencies she has her morphine. But really you should be avoiding these confrontations as much as possible by coming up with strategies to sneak through the levels.
Q: Violette is an assassin, but will she be performing more tasks than just killing targets, can you give us an example?
There are six different missions for Violette - spread over 12 levels - and each has an overall goal. The missions are designed to showcase how one person can bring about the downfall of a corrupt state. And this doesn't just involve killing targets. For example, in Warsaw she must find three allied agents to give them cyanide so they can kill themselves before being interrogated by the Nazis. While in another she tries to prevent a massacre of civilians. There are also traditional sabotage missions to blow up fuel or ammo depots and assassinate a Nazi VIP. The biggest explosions will be in the Hamburg harbour, where Violette marks the target for British bombers.
Q: Being an assassin is not really a job for softies, will the game be gruesome or more subtle when dealing with death?
We got an M-rating in America and in Europe an 18+. Silent kill manoeuvres in the game sometimes are really brutal and show all of Violette's anger about her tragic past. But nevertheless I wouldn't say that those scenes are worse than in a shooter. So even though I'm a woman, I find most scenes exciting rather than frightening.
Q: What tools will Violette have at her disposal?
Violette has her flashlight and the Fairbairn Sykes Knife with her. Additionally she can pick up several items like guns, collectables for upgrading, medikits, a vest, keys to open locked or secret doors, morphine phials and a gasmask, which helps to protect her against toxic gases.
Q: Will players be able to sneak past enemies rather than kill them if they so choose - can players complete the entire game without killing anyone?
You can definitely play this game without many kills, but you'll still need to get blood on your hands at some point. You may need to take out an enemy because he has something that you need to proceed on your way, so he must die for you to get that.
Q: Will there be any sort of stats screen between missions?
Yes, the mission screen that shows you all the information you need on the level also gives you a mission rating.
Q: Will players be able to replay levels?
Yes, of course. They can look for all the items hidden in the level or just try killing enemies in different ways.
Q: What sort of environments will Violette be working in?
To keep the game historically accurate we tried to build the environments from original plans. We remodelled houses, harbours and many other small things based from aerial photos and maps. The only thing that isn't accurate are the symbols on the cars because we're not allowed to use those.
Q: Can you give us some more details about the game's AI. How perceptive are the guards and will their patrol routes be predetermined or to a degree, or somewhat random?
The perception is dependant on the source, which means that the guards hear you easier when you run with heavy boots on. If you sneak they cannot hear you, but as soon as they see you they will react! The patrol routes are predetermined as this makes more sense in the levels. The guards are on fixed positions and need to control a certain area so they need to patrol these routes. But as soon as they get suspicious or alarmed they walk on completely different routes and search for you in all corners.
Q: What replay value will the game have? Can we expect adjustable difficulty, and if so how does this affect the gameplay?
There are, let's say, four reasons for replaying the game: - Check out alternative approaches how to get through the game, which can mean playing it more action-oriented or vice versa.
- Upgrading Violette's abilities in a different way, which can mean upgrading the morphine instead of the stealth or something like that.
- Unlock the missing achievements or fight for a better mission rating within the single missions.
- Master the 'Agent' difficulty setting.
Q: Will there be any action sequences, or is the entire game stealth based - can players choose to adopt a less subtle approach if they choose?
There's a mix of action and stealth, so it's to the player how they approach each situation. But you will never be able to play through like a normal third-person shooter - because ammo is in short supply. There are definitely plenty of exciting action sequences though.
Q: Can you give us some more details about traps and luring enemies, how does this work?
Unless Violette is wearing a gas mask, she can whistle to attract guards. You'll often be in situations where you can whistle from a safe hiding place to make a guard suspicious so they come and investigate. This gives you the opportunity to potentially sneak past his previous location or get behind him to kill him.
Another neat trick is triggering a grenade on a soldier's belt. Some enemies carry grenades and Violette can sneak up on them and pull the pin from the grenade. This turns him into a walking time bomb. If the soldier was in a room full of guards, you could trigger the grenade and then whistle to make sure they're all huddled together when the bomb goes off.
Q: Will Violette be totally alone, or will there be some sort of mission support?
No, she is a complete lone fighter - this is always how we wanted her to be: the lonesome heroine.
Q: Can you give us more detail about the adjustable skills? How is this incorporated?
Violette has three upgradeable skills: morphine, stealth and strength (health). These can be balanced depending upon the player's preference. You gain experience points by collecting valuables that are hidden throughout the stages and for every 1,000 points, you can upgrade a skill. Then it's a case of deciding how you want to play, if you like to use morphine you may want to increase its duration or you could make yourself harder to spot by upgrading your stealth.
Q: Will subterfuge play a part in any of the levels?
There are about six words for "subterfuge" in German and they all mean something completely different-crazy. So, if subterfuge hopefully means disguise then I can say "Yes". In some levels Violette can wear an SS uniform, which means she can walk past German soldiers without being detected. But she still needs to make sure she doesn't get too close to enemies or behave in a suspicious manner; otherwise her secret identity will be discovered. Thankfully, you have an on-screen indicator that shows when your secret is about to be uncovered.
Q: How are the game's levels constructed? Will navigation be more linear or open ended?
Although progress through the levels is fairly linear, there are still plenty of ways to approach different situations. This means the player can experiment to find the best solution.
Q: How challenging will the achievements be?
The easier achievements will be finishing a level while the harder ones require that you don't get discovered by one of your enemies.
Q: Violette is based on the real character Violette Szabo, how much research did the team do on the character and WWII?
We were fascinated by the life story of Violette Szabo. She's a woman that lost her husband at age 21 just weeks after having their baby. She joined the SOE and took part in several missions in France before being captured. She died in a concentration camp in February 1945. To us Violette Szabo is an archetype of an unbreakable spirit. That's why our main character Violette is loosely inspired by her. But rather than doing documentation on Violette Szabo's life, we placed our character in other historical missions, which allows for greater gameplay experience and more dramatic settings.
Q: Why did you decide on a stealth game as opposed to plain action, and what was the appeal of WWII?
The game is not supposed to be another frontline action title, where you singlehandedly destroy the Nazi empire. It's a game that brings along its own unique feature set and atmosphere. We want to showcase some horrifying aspects of WWII like no one has done before.
Q: They say that women make the most deadly assassins, having worked on the game would you agree with this, and is this the basis of why you have opted for a female lead?
We did not want to have another standard shooter or stealth-game but wanted to do something creative and true to history. We found out about the existence of female secret agents during the time and liked the idea of having a female spy in the game because women act very differently in comparison to men. We felt this supported our genre and conception of the game a lot. So, in contrast to a male protagonist, Violette is more subtle and stealthly, more secret, mysterious and cautious - and that is perfect for us!
Q: With games like Splinter Cell being successful, what made you decide on a WWII game as opposed to being set in more modern times?
WWII has always been an interesting topic to us and we thought that it still has enough potential to bring up fantastic and intense concepts. Somehow it was also a challenge for us as a German developer to handle this topic in a way that has never existed before. So, I guess, it was the other way round: we wanted to do a WWII game and afterwards decided what might be the best opportunity to let this idea come true. And for us this was definitely the stealth-action genre.
Q: Will the game support downloadable content such as additional missions, costumes etc?
No.
Q: Do you plan on releasing a demo via the Live Marketplace?
No.
Q: What has been the most challenging part of development?
The hardest part is really getting all the ideas together. You have so many ideas: a great concept, things you want to do better than the competition? but then you also have a plan that is limited by time and budget, which makes fulfilling all of your great plans almost impossible. On Velvet Assassin we also worked with about 25 people, which created a challenge too. But we hope that gamers value our passion for making a great game.
Q: What feature of the game are you most proud of?
In my opinion the best and therefore unique feature is the variety of Silent Kills (there are 50 of them) that are really stunning and intense in combination with the whole atmosphere of the game: the dynamic lighting, the music and the dialogue of the German soldiers. But I also love the morphine mode because it contributes to the gameplay a lot; not just because Violette is wearing this cute and more than attractive nightdress.
Q: It has been reported that you don't plan any sequel for the game, which is understandable considering Violette was killed by firing squad. However, if the game is successful, would you create a new character for the task?
Never say never!
Q: If you were to sum up Velvet Assassin in a sentence, what would you say?
Lovely, lovely, lovely for all those who are stealth fans or those who want to experience a game with a creative concept and an artistic approach to design and atmosphere.
We'd like to thank you for answering our questions. Velvet Assassin is scheduled for a Spring 2009 release.
Posted By: Robert Cram
Date: 2009-03-03
|
