Half-Life 2 Vet Guides Bold Look of Dishonored

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Half-Life 2 Vet Guides Bold Look of Dishonored


With the help of Half-Life 2 veteran Viktor Antonov, Arkane Studios is crafting a stark and striking "neo-Victorian" visual style for its upcoming game Dishonored [http://www.amazon.com/Dishonored-Pc/dp/B005C2D2H4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311199438&sr=8-2].

I was excited about Dishonored from the moment I heard about it, solely for the fact that it's being made by Arkane Studios, the team responsible for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic [http://www.amazon.com/Arx-Fatalis-Pc/dp/B0001GJBTY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311199470&sr=8-2]. Both games were outstanding efforts, particularly Arx, yet neither were rewarded with particularly noteworthy sales. But Arkane held together and now, under the auspices of its new owners at ZeniMax, it's hard at work on yet another new game.

Starting with a fictional Anglo-Saxon country in 1666, the game world was brought forward to the present and the future to become "pure science fiction," Antonov explains in a new Game Informer video [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/07/20/the-look-and-feel-of-dishonored.aspx]. Inspiration for the game's bold look came not from other videogames, which he stayed away from in order to avoid being influenced by sequels and known IPs, but from paintings, sculptures and photographs from different eras and illustrators.

Antonov said he tried to avoid injecting any Half-Life 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Half-Life-2-Pc/dp/B00006I02Z/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311199783&sr=8-1] into the game, despite Arkane's request that he do so, but he acknowledged that "maybe some of the machines go in that dark, industrial style that I usually do." I think it's fair to say, looking at the images in these videos, that there's no "maybe" about it. The vehicles and architecture give off a distinct Combine/City 17 vibe, but not a distracting one. I'd go so far as to say that at this early stage, things are looking pretty hot indeed.

Dishonored is currently in development for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and is scheduled for launch in mid-2012.


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Simriel

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Dec 22, 2008
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Well colour me interested, this seems to be just my sorta thing.
 

TheKruzdawg

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Apr 28, 2010
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I'm slightly interested, but what's the game about? Do we know anything about story or characters yet?
 

Geo Da Sponge

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May 14, 2008
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I had to read that title at least three times before I understood it. Let's be honest though, "neo-Victorian" means Steampunk.
 

subject_87

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Jul 2, 2010
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I loved the art direction for the Combine in Half-Life 2, and this seems to be every bit as dark and awesome without just stealing the style wholesale; I want to see more!
 

manythings

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Nov 7, 2009
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I'm about as interested as I can be in something that I'll forget about in the nex12 hours. Next March-April I might be interested again.
 

Blackout62

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Dec 24, 2008
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"but from paintings, sculptures and photographs from different eras and illustrators."

Ah yeah baby that's how Viktor Antonov gets shit done. Lets get some Balkan and Eastern European abstract/industrial influences up in this game.
 

TheKruzdawg

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Apr 28, 2010
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this isnt my name said:
TheKruzdawg said:
I'm slightly interested, but what's the game about? Do we know anything about story or characters yet?
Nope but its a stealth/shooter game I elve, has a guy who worked on one of the deus ex games I belive.
Well that bit of info definitely sounds interesting. You don't see too many of those nowadays.
 

maturin

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Jul 20, 2010
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Viktor Antonov is my hero.

Lets get some Balkan and Eastern European abstract/industrial influences up in this game.
And that's why.

But it looks like they're concentrating intently on making this game very English.

I do see some Half-Life in the designs, but the context is totally different. They're not imposed on the normalcy of the human world. It's more like beta Half-Life, where everything was strange.
 

Brian Hendershot

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Mar 3, 2010
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I got a tad bit excited about this article when I saw the words Half Life. BOOO!!! Oh well, I think Dishonored might be pretty cool based on what I know about it so far.
 

King Toasty

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Oct 2, 2010
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But... what is it? FPS? RPG? Racing? FPSRPGRacing?

I can't even tell the flavor of the game. Steampunk? Decopunk? Retropunk? I DON'T KNOW. D:
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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Oooh, I like the screenshot up there. Totally British landscape painting. :3
Though I feel like the water should be more murky and green-hued in the areas its not reflecting; unless you're in the tropics or under a vibrant blue sky, water usually adds a contracting earthtone to an image like that.
 

duchaked

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Dec 25, 2008
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how have I not heard about this game yet?? sounds pretty cool...be nice to hear more of the premise tho!