Dishonored (PC)

[Sassafrass]

Notes before I begin

Images taken from my own gameplay, using Steams' screen capture function.
Any TL;DR's will result in rabid ferrets being inserted into a random orifice.
Dishonored is an stealth action game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.
Light spoilers sprinkled throughout. Read at your own peril.

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The city of Dunwall is in dire need of help. With a terrible plague quickly working its way through the city, the Empress assassinated by a mysterious organization and Corvo Attano, the silent main protagonist of Dishonored and former Lord Protector of the Empress, has been made into the scapegoat for her murder and the abduction of her daughter, Emily. However, with some help from those who know what truly happened, you escape your incarceration and find refuge with the Loyalists and are forced to become an assassin to rescue Emily and to clear your name. It is here you can strike back at the corrupt regime now controlling Dunwall. How you do so is up to you.

The story of Dishonored is a fairly simple one, but one that works well. As detailed above, you play as Corvo and you are sent out by the Loyalists, who helped you escape your incarceration, to right the many wrongs the corrupt regime of Dunwall and save Emily, the heir to the throne of Dunwall. To do so, you must kill targets to weaken the regime so you can ultimately strike at the heart of this new regime. Of course, to say any more would head into spoiler territory and ruin a few of Dishnored's later plot twists as the story begins to pick up pace and become more sinister in nature. However, I will say the story always makes sense and you're never made to stop and read endless dialogue just to make sure you know exactly why you're doing at any given time. However, the strength of Dishonored isn't in the story but the way you can go about your missions.

[Img_Inline width="350" Caption="Even when dank, it looks pretty." align="right"]http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y533/SassafrassReviews/Review%20screens/oie_27203334jowMP4GV_zps402b0a43.jpg[/Img_Inline]

There is really no ?perfect? way to go about saving Emily and clearing your name in Dishonored If you wish to go stealthy and kill nobody, you can indeed do so. It's a lot more challenging but it can be done. However, if you want to go in, sword drawn and thirsting for the blood of your foes, you can do that. You can even mix the two up if you so desire.. Of course, there is a little penalty if you do go the blood thirsty route and that's more plague rats and more ?weepers?, people who have been infected by the Plague and who become violent if you get near them. The ?Weepers? tend to spawn in areas where you can skulk past the enemy guards without attracting any attention, which makes things a bit more challenging.


There are also a few different paths through every mission in Dishonored as well. Instead of forcing you down a linear path to your target or goal, it actively encourages you to find hidden areas, paths or side quests that will help you get closer to your target without alerting the enemies patrolling the area. It also helps you bypass many of the security systems too, like the Wall of Light which only certain people can pass through without getting burnt to ashes and Arc Pylons, which shoot bolts of electricity at you if you get too close. It's also by exploring the area that you find Runes and Bone Charms, which help you upgrade your powers and give you little perks along the way respectively.

But don't be fooled, Dishonored isn't a truly open world game. It allows you just enough freedom to find alternative paths around an obstacle or towards a target and that's about it, so you can't just jump across rooftops and get to your objective without ever touching the ground. They give you enough freedom so that you feel like you aren't on a linear path to your target. Plus the addition of small side-quests normally given at the start of a mission add to the exploration factor as well, as you're sent to do something which will impact either the mission you're currently doing or a mission you will be sent on in the future. Everything you do, or do not do, in Dishonored has a reaction, be it good or bad for Dunwall when you get to the end of the game.

Now to help you skulk or slaughter your way to your targets, Dishonored relies on either a stealth system or a combat system, depending on what style of play you are going for. Stealth is, I think, a little easier than combat, given that many of your abilities in Dishonored seem to be geared towards stealthy play. Dark Vision, for example, allows you to see enemies through walls so you can see their patrol pattern and Blink, a spell that allows you to teleport over short distances, was used mostly by me to zip from behind cover to either the next bit of cover or up to a ledge, keeping myself out of harms way. That's not to say you can't use these skills in open combat. In fact, Blink is very useful in open combat, allowing you to get away and regroup your thoughts before heading back in to the fight.

[Img_Inline width="350" Caption="Dishonored also allows the player to roleplay as a bird as well." align="left"]http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y533/SassafrassReviews/Review%20screens/oie_27203026KN1g5QrY_zps49e7fecb.jpg[/Img_Inline]

With all that praise though, combat in Dishonored feels a little clunky, at least at first. With the block key being bound to Left Ctrl, it can be a little awkward at first to get used to it if you're not experienced with a mouse and keyboard, such as myself. You can rebind it of course but I stuck with it and you do get used to it over time, mainly as it's also the knock out key for stealthy play too, so either way I was using it a lot. The leaning mechanic is also a little broken too. Corvo can have nearly his entire torso sticking out of cover when you use the lean keys, have a guard look straight at him and not bat an eyelid. That said though, the guards are totally blind and will see you out of the corner of their eyes on a few occasions if you're not careful enough. There is also the occasional trouble of trying to get out of water by climbing as well. Sometimes you'll climb out fine, other times you'll flop back underwater like a drunken fish and have to use Blink to get out onto dry land.

That said, the above issues mentioned aren't going to sully your playthrough of Dishonored too much. Sure, the leaning mechanic might make some stealthy parts a breeze but guards can and will spot you with ease if you make a mistake while sneaking around in the shadows. They never suddenly spot you in the shadows however, so you don't need to worry about your dark hiding spot being suddenly exposed by a guard who has eaten enough carrots to see in the dark like you were wearing a fluorescent pink jacket with bells attached. Although if you're making too much noise, they will come across to investigate that noise, so step carefully.

Overall, I'd say Dishonored is well worth your money. It's got a charming world to explore, it's incredibly pretty to look at and it has a cast of characters and support characters that feature some big names voicing them. Add to that some good stealth gameplay, multiple ways to play through the missions and various ways to eliminate your target and you have a game that can be replayed a few times, just to see how you can reach your target and take them out cleanly. Well worth your money and your time.

[small]For those interested, Dishonored was played on a AMD A8-5600K Quad Core @3.6Ghz, a Radeon HD7750 and 8Gigs of RAM.[/small]​

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[Irridium]

I quite enjoyed Dishonored, though I was actually let down by the characters. They all spoke in monotone voices and didn't seem to have much of any emotion. The Outsider is easily the worst. Who'd a thought that the trickster god would be the most boring character in the game.

Again, still a great game. And thankfully you spend more time going around levels doing fun stuff than talking to people.

 

[Sassafrass]

I quite enjoyed Dishonored, though I was actually let down by the characters. They all spoke in monotone voices and didn't seem to have much of any emotion. The Outsider is easily the worst. Who'd a thought that the trickster god would be the most boring character in the game.

Again, still a great game. And thankfully you spend more time going around levels doing fun stuff than talking to people.

Yeah, I liked that about Dishonored, it's a fun game just to look around and just investigate the world. I've been playing it again lately and I've found out different paths through missions I didn't know existed the first time out, as well as small side-quests and hidden goodies.