GGMania got a chance to talk with Pawel Miechowski, the PR manager at Metropolis Software, as he talks about Diabolique - License To Sin, the upcoming 3rd-person action game. The game is scheduled for a Q1/2006 release.

GGMania: Please start off by introducing yourself and giving us an idea of your involvement with Diabolique?

Pawel: Hello, my name is Pawel and mostly I work as PR manager at Metropolis Software :)

GGMania: Can you give us a brief overview of Diabolique, telling us what the game is all about?

Pawel: Diabolique - Licence To Sin is a total action single player game with classic TPP view. The game is being made in a comedy action movie style, so most of all it offers an action gameplay and a little bit of humor. Having fun is the most important thing that players can expect. Gameplay is also kept in that same style, thus there is fast tempo, car chases, shootouts. Main hero is Dark Eaville - the best agent of Hell agency, who fights Heaven agency on the surface of Earth.

GGMania: Why did you choose 3rd-person perspective?

Pawel: This perspective is the best for Diabolique gameplay. Our hero Dark Eaville can roll, jump, walk, sneak, stick to the wall (for cover fire), fight hand-to-hand with combos... Any other perspective is unable to offer so much player skills.

GGMania: What can you tell us about the storyline for the game?

Pawel: From the beginning of the civilization, there was a conflict between good and evil. Through centuries both rivals Heaven and Hell had their intelligence agencies to fight each other. Nowadays it comes to situation, that happens only once for a thousand years. A very rare planetary alignment makes Earth invisible to the Boss of the Bosses. Secret agencies of Heaven's and Hell's stop obeying any rules at all during that time. And even though Hell's agency traditionally does not obey rules, the balance between good and evil becomes gravely endangered when their opponents from Heaven also stop observing the rules! The Heaven agency eliminates all best Hell's agents, except Dark Eaville. The Boss of Hell knows that his rival is up to something big and sends his best agent to solve the problem. The unusual thing in Diabolique is to mix spy agencies theme with conflict between good and evil. And so we got an agent straight from hell!

GGMania: What kinds of locations and settings will Diabolique have?

Pawel: Gameworld is devilish, magical and as Dark is an agent - some surroundings are typical for a superagent: chicks, expensive cars, fancy places. Every level includes various locations and every one is unique. Diabolique takes place all around the world, so each level differs from one another. First level has few various stages: in a restaurant, then on a highway, then in an Alpine village and medieval castle. Second level begins in a refinery and then players will enter new locations. Every next stage is a new unrepeatable location.

GGMania: What kind of enemies can players expect to find in ?

Pawel: There are many different kinds of enemies in Diabolique and they got various abilities. Amongst them are Heaven agents - guys in suits and sunglasses :), smart but weak. Then you approach monks - well trained killers of secret convent (you can see them on screenshots - guys in frocks); some kind of S.W.A.T.-priests ;-) Then you will find enemies with some supernatural powers, but let me not to uncover too many facts. As game moves along enemies get smarter and stronger and got more powers. The one thing that is in common for all enemies that they are in service of Heaven.

GGMania: What kind of opposition AI can we expect? Will enemies interact with each other, hide, escape if hurt badly, etc?

Pawel: You can expect totally advanced AI. For our own purposes we call it "combat intelligence". I tell you why - by means of advanced scripting we created AI system that allows enemy units to use the shape of the area during the combat: enemies hide behind objects, find the best place to shoot, analyse the environment in order to be the most effective in combat. Enemies' behavior depends even on their number, which means that 2 enemies will behave otherwise than 5 of them. When group gets bigger, enemies „feel” they are stronger and they become braver!

GGMania: What kinds of weapons will there be and how many individual weapons will be available to the player?

Pawel: Dark's first weapon is his hand. He can fight hand-to-hand /and kick of course :)/. Basic gun is a pistol and grenades. Dark is also equipped with a rifle and devices: night vision binoculars, bombs and other spy gadgets. It is important that every gadget can be used in two ways: regular and devilish way. For example - when you use night vision in magic way, you will se who of your opponents is a human and who is an angel.

GGMania: How is combat handled in Diabolique?

Pawel: Combat system is designed for total action. As game is set on action, combat takes much of game's space and is mainly focused on open fight: shootouts, hand-to-hand fightings, combos, magic attacks and so on. As game is similar to action comedy movies, there are no to much stealth elements - high tempo, adrenaline, humor and ten times action!

GGMania: Graphically, what can gamers expect from Diabolique? What are some of the special effects you're proud of having in the game so far?

Pawel: Diabolique supports pixel shaders 3.0, normal-mapping and other latest technologies. We're really proud of having beautiful and very different locations: as Dark Eaville is a super agent - you will see fancy places and as he's a devil - you will see places full of mystery: cemetery, castles, Churches. On one hand you can expect shiny chromes, bright glows, expressive colors and on the other hand dark gloomy moments with omnipresent fire redness. There are some fine effects like alternative atmosphere or ilumination - for example it starts snowing, gets darker, wind blows stronger, bulbs blow up.

GGMania: Needless to say that kick-ass music make an action game even better. Can you tell us a little bit about music in Diabolique?

Pawel: Yup, true ;) Kick-ass music is necessary to underline game's world. All voices in Diabolique are made by professional voice actors. Sound effects and especially music are adapted to game style. Music has fast tempo and is dynamic, thought it is not a foreground element. Diabolique music is not "aggressive", ‘cause it wouldn't fit to a bit of humor which is one of Diabolique's features. All songs are composed and performed by Adam Skorupa - he's surely the best game music composer in Poland.

GGMania: What aspects of this game do you think are likely to leave the biggest impression with game players?

Pawel: Firstly - cool various gameplay: agent action and devilish magic. Secondly - tasty design of levels: high quality graphics brought together with fine locations.

GGMania: What's the current status of the project, and what remains to be done? When will it be released?

Pawel: I assume we are in half-way. AI and combat system are made, though we are still improving it. First levels are also done as some other things as well. Now we're working on next levels. Release date is planned to first quarter of 2006.

GGMania: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. Is there anything you want to add that we didn't cover?

Pawel: Thanks for the interview!