The game takes place in mid-80s Soviet Union . Matt Carter (the player's persona) is an American journalist in Moscow for a story about a supposedly secret meeting between the Russian President and several bureaucrats, including some KGB brass. The game's first mission is basically a tutorial taking place as Matt sneaks into Lenin's Mausoleum in order to hide himself and waits for the meeting to occur. Before you know it, though, something goes wrong and you're being set up for trying to assassinate the President. Third-person stealth-action hilarity thus ensues.

Welcome to behind the Iron Curtain.

We meet again, my old adversary, oh Laser Tripwire.

The X-ray camera is REALLY useful.

Let's cover the basic gameplay mechanics of Cold War . It uses a third-person, behind-the-shoulder view, although the camera can also be freely used to have Matt look around corners (so, it's not a locked-in camera like in Max Payne ). This being a stealth game, being able to control your walking/running/crouching speed is essential, and Cold War uses the mouse wheel to set this speed. There is a helpful “visibility meter” to show how well hidden you are. Overall, moving the character is a breeze and is perfectly suited to keyboard/mouse controls.

Matt is a journalist, so you might assume this is a fish-out-water story, but no. He may be a writer, but, even for his very first (supposedly innocuous) assignment, he comes well equipped with a pistol and a nifty X-ray camera, which allows him to see terrain, objects and people through walls. The camera is probably the biggest gameplay innovation that we saw in Cold War , as it helps eliminate save-and-reload-guard-spotting mechanics without resorting to a cheap device such as Metal Gear Solid 's too-helpful radar. As for weapons, you'll get to use a wide arsenal of guns, as well as other devices such as stun explosives. Not only that, but Matthew is, apparently, a skilled inventor who can combine random objects to make useful items. For example, he can make a makeshift three-shot silencer for his pistol using a plastic bottle and other materials. This is facilitated by blueprints in the game's environments, which provide Tech Points, consequently providing the ability to make new inventions. I can't say any of this feels very realistic, but it is pretty cool.

Other than shooting people, Matt interacts with the environment using a context-sensitive action menu that pops up in the corner of the screen, similar to the Hitman series. This allows Matt to hide in lockers and under furniture, crawl through tight spaces, and enable security terminals. In the few levels we have played almost each level's mission objectives involved getting from location A to location B (sometimes carrying a body or escorting a friendly or enemy character). This usually involves finding a key or accessing a room through some method other than through the door which is locked. There were also situations when the game's scripting throws out other challenges, such as AK-armed Spetsnaz commandos aggressively hunting Matt–a threat very difficult to evade without violent confrontation. It's also worth noting that--despite being a stealth game--Cold War allows the killing of enemy soldiers (but not civilians) in most levels, and doesn't really reward non-lethal solutions; at least in the few levels we've played.

On the other hand, the game's normal enemy sentries, who look sort of like Soviet police in their attire, are hardly a challenge. While they audibly react to noises made by the player, they're still generally pretty easy to dispatch either lethally (normal bullets) or non-lethally (rubber bullets, knockout punch from behind, etc.). The guard's AI doesn't seem very impressive while in sneak mode, but they do take cover behind obstacles once a battle is initiated. In general, many of Matt's fancy inventions--such as stun bombs--aren't really needed to dispatch most enemies. Hopefully, these aspects will be tweaked before the game's release.

Graphically, Cold War looks impressive. It ran on the test machine with no frame rate issues. While not featuring real-time lighting a-la Doom 3 or Deus: the Invisible War , the game still manages to give its environments a palpable atmosphere through other means. Building internals, such as inside the KGB Lubyanka prison (author's note: I grew up next to this place!), or the Chernobyl plant, definitely evoke a sense of the decaying Soviet empire. The place seems dusty and run-down, yet still overbearing in that 1984 way. The engine seems capable of rendering pretty complex geometry, though most of the game that has been seen takes place indoors. There is also extensive use of light bloom, almost enough to combat the King of Light Bloom, Prince of Persia: the Sand of Time . The game also features nice models and sets of motion-captured animation for its main character. The graphical aspects of this game are definitely looking good; only a few things (like missing animations and light sources sometimes shining through Matthew) look like they still need to be resolved.

The Security Office is not exactly well secured.

You want avoid seeing red.

You're 007 and Q rolled into one.

The orchestral music was pretty good, ratcheting the tension up and down depending on the situation. Guards say all the obvious stuff, such as “I think I heard something” and “must be the rats.” There's not too much to say about the sound, yet much of the in-game voiceover has not been completed (at least, in the preview build).

Speaking of voiceovers, the game has a detailed story. When I say detailed, I don't mean you'll be interrupted every five minutes by a cutscene or radio conversation (here's looking at you, Metal Gear Solid ), but I mean that much context will be provided from radio chatter and from between-level cutscenes. The cutscenes are presented as comic book stills featuring plenty of shady Iron Curtain schemes. While we only have a surface understanding of the game's plot (we only played those levels recommended by the developer as “ready” in the preview build), 2404 rests assured that it provides plenty of context for Matt Carter's actions. With multiple mainstays of the Soviet mythos – the KGB, the Chernobyl power plant, the Kremlin – Cold War is sure to attract plenty of attention for its setting and storyline alone. The game isn't aiming for realism, but more of a spy novel atmosphere.

While Cold War doesn't seem to offer much in the way of originality (the X-ray camera is an exception), Cold War looks like it might just succeed in combining the high-tech stealth action of Splinter Cell and a fascinating behind-the-Iron-Curtain setting. Look forward to our full review when the game is released in the near future.

You'll have allies in your quest.