Relooted: Heist as Puzzle, Puzzle as Montage
More heist videogames are needed!
While games like Payday, The Swindle, and Grand Theft Auto V offer heist experiences, they often lean towards action similar to “Heat.” There is a demand for more sophisticated, non-violent titles that emphasize manipulating and hacking a building to execute a flawless plan.
The development of Relooted began with this objective. Numerous prototypes and approaches were attempted, but initial progress was limited.
Laying the Groundwork
A significant challenge involved hidden information. Top heist films, much like detective stories, reveal the full plan and execution only during the final montage. The difficulty was how to conceal a heist plan from a player who is both devising and carrying it out.
This issue persisted until the release of Teardown. While celebrated for its destructible environments, Teardown also features an ingenious core gameplay loop: grabbing a target triggers an alarm, initiating a 30-second countdown for escape, thus necessitating prior route planning.
This loop provided inspiration for Relooted, immediately proving effective. Players explore the environment, position crew members, manipulate guards, and execute their escape. Relooted expands on this concept by incorporating additional crew members, a distinct perspective, and classic heist elements. Each heist in Relooted unfolds in three phases: casing the joint, setting up the plan, and executing it.
Executing the Plan
During the casing phase, players gain an understanding of the area, identifying obstacles and strategically placing crew members for assistance. This process allows for familiarization with the building and the development of potential escape routes for when alarms are triggered.
The setup phase involves detailing the plan. Players decide specific actions for crew members, such as grappling assistance or window throws. Choices must also be made regarding environmental elements, like whether to block a closing security shutter or find an alternative path.
During the escape phase, the pre-determined plan unfolds. Crew members appear precisely as intended, and the character, Nomali, navigates obstacles with fluid parkour movements.
The objective for Relooted was to immerse players in a self-planned heist montage, akin to a movie scene.
Complications Arise
Designing the game to allow players to execute these heist montages presented an intriguing challenge. All plans, both in real life and in Relooted, consist of a sequence of steps. Given the human mind’s capacity to retain approximately 7 items concurrently, each individual step and puzzle must remain relatively simple.
Individual puzzles in Relooted typically require only a few steps to solve. However, each heist or level comprises 5-15 such puzzles that must be solved and executed consecutively during the escape. Once these puzzles are understood, the player’s plan is formed. Executing these pre-determined solutions as alarms sound transforms the escape into a personalized heist montage.
Relooted launches tomorrow on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, available with Game Pass Ultimate and PC plans. Players can anticipate the enjoyment of planning heists and experiencing the excitement of their own montage.
Unlike cinematic portrayals such as “Ocean’s 11,” players will have prior knowledge of the plan, acting as the mastermind rather than a passive observer.
