Zero Punctuation: Dishonored

[ThunderCavalier]

I'm a bit concerned now. I hadn't picked up Dishonored yet, but the fact that people are ALREADY complaining about the ending either shows people have no life, people play through games like these way too fast, or this game is not very long.

A shame, too, because Dishonored looked like a kickass game. I might still pick it up, since I'm a sucker for most Bethesda games, but I'm not so hyped about it now after hearing Yahtzee basically spoil the whole moral ending thing.

... I mean seriously, guys? You're an assassin with magical-uber powers. Do you expect us NOT to kill someone?

 

[JC123]

With the comments about "Bleep bloop" NPC voicing and "Hiring Patrick Stewart to read your homework" I have to wonder if Yahtzee is aware of the voice talent [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2322244/] in this game.

 

[Murmillos]

The morality of Dishonored .. is well, if you kill nearly every damn guard in the game, you are going to get an evil ending. If you kill only 1-4 guys a mission, including the target, you are still going to get the good ending.

Its not like, kill one guy and you get the "evil mass murder ending"... the morality expects and even allows you for a few kills; but if you go on a slaughter fest on every rank and file minion, what the hell did you expect. Rainbows and kittens?

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I think I'll try this game just for the art style. I don't know why I'm so willing to forgive a game for all it's faults if the art style is good. That's just how I roll I guess.

 

[dystopiaINC]

The morality thing did kind of irritate me. When the trailers first popped up on the internet, it shows all kind of stabby fun. Then the game came out and told me that it was "dark" for me to kill anyone. Fuck that, I understand that they were trying to point out the dangers of wrath and vengeance, but wasn't that what the game's premise is based on. Plus, by not having Corvo talk, we don't know if he actually wants revenge or is just some Jason Vorhees psychopath who lost his mind after his lover was killed in front of him. I did like this game, but it definitely needs some work. For now I guess I'll just have to stick with some good 'old fashioned Metal Gear Solid for my stealth needs.

Lol not only did his lover get murdered in front of him,

Spoiler

the worlds version of god gave him Her heart Magically animated with her soul trapped inside.

Wow just wow. still I loved the game probably because i had no prior expectations about it and i just rented it for a few days. went the stabby fun route and it wasn't even a terrible ending.

I Loved running straight through the level, only blinking around and hiding to recover when the heat got to bad. still nothing was more fun than having my cover blown and running for the target with several guards in hot pursuit only blinking when a guard showed up in front of me, i would blink to him and kill him real quick and keep running, hit my target fast and hard then turn around and slow time it up and kill my pursuers. brutal fast and fun. loved it.

 

[Vigormortis]

The environment gave me a Half-life 2 feel.

That's likely because much of the games environments and art-assets were done by Viktor Antonov. One of the key art-leads and visual designers on Half Life 2.

 

[Barciad]

Could we have a still of the 'Noam Chomsky' bit?
I would like to get that as my desktop wallpaper.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

It amazes me you all need Yahtzee to tell you this game sucks. Prior threads about Dishonored were unmitigated fawning admiration, and only now some criticism finally comes out.

 

[Nazulu]

I rather have a silent protagonist than someone who never shuts up, I always end up hating about 80% of voiced protagonists.

Damn, I didn't expect to be ninja'd. Most of the time I just find characters have poor dialogues, or average, but then it doesn't make that much of a difference.

I guess it depends on what type of game you put the silent protaginist in though. Yahzee made a good point that it works against them when they could solve issues faster by talking.

 

[Nazulu]

It amazes me you all need Yahtzee to tell you this game sucks. Prior threads about Dishonored were unmitigated fawning admiration, and only now some criticism finally comes out.

Get of your high horse. I always find criticism in all threads, and even then some people either ignore the game or attack Bethesda directly.

 

[Razorback0z]

Wow, relatively speaking that was a glowing endorsement. Im still waiting for the bargain bin.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

Play through DIshonored enough and you'll find it changes quite alot depending on the actions taken. I have finished it once and my bro has finished it twice. Each of us had a completely differant endgame confrontation. Seriously it was stupid how differant it was and I love it becsuse now I want to find out how he did that.

Not listing the changes unless requested.

 

[RockyMotion]

I liked the morality system in inFamous and Mass Effect but in Dishonored it's a complete buzzkill. It's like the game is saying: "Here, have this awesome arsenal of brutal gadgets and abilities, but don't you dare using them! If you want the best ending, just use these two boring non-lethal methods and let the awesome deadly weapons rust in your inventory!"

It doesn't make sense having a game with such an addictive variety of killing methods and then punishing the player for trying them out. It's like giving a kid a box of toys and only allowing him to play with the most boring one.

 

[Lykosia_v1legacy]

And unlike Yahtzee, I strived for the no-kill achievment from beginning to end, and almost thought I made it. I never killed anyone on the missions, I disposed of all my targets nonlethaly, and I even shot that duelist guy with a sleep dart in the noggin'. But when I finished, I didn't get the achievment.

And then it hit me. I had killed two individuals. In fact, it was the first two individuals I encountered in the whole game. It was in the tutorial, and the game basically said "waste their asses".

I felt pretty drained after that...

Those guys don't count. I got the clean hands achievement easily.

Spoiler

Key thing is not to help Granny nor Slackjaw in the sewers. Just steal the key and run. If you help either one, you end up killing the other.

You mean... it counts as a kill even if you choke her, and even if you get the "no enemies killed" award at the same time?

That is what I've been told. I didn't even try to help either one. I just took the key and ran.

 

[C117]

And unlike Yahtzee, I strived for the no-kill achievment from beginning to end, and almost thought I made it. I never killed anyone on the missions, I disposed of all my targets nonlethaly, and I even shot that duelist guy with a sleep dart in the noggin'. But when I finished, I didn't get the achievment.

And then it hit me. I had killed two individuals. In fact, it was the first two individuals I encountered in the whole game. It was in the tutorial, and the game basically said "waste their asses".

I felt pretty drained after that...

Those guys don't count. I got the clean hands achievement easily.

Spoiler

Key thing is not to help Granny nor Slackjaw in the sewers. Just steal the key and run. If you help either one, you end up killing the other.

You mean... it counts as a kill even if you choke her, and even if you get the "no enemies killed" award at the same time?

That is what I've been told. I didn't even try to help either one. I just took the key and ran.

I see. Thank you for the tip, I will have to try that out.

 

[Plate-Rogue812]

If you stop time, blink into a crowd of enemies, stick a springrazor to someone's back and blink out again before your time stop ends and you're detected it counts as a stealth kill and doesn't add to your chaos level. The gun and grenade/sticky grenade as well as incendiary bolts are the only weapons you're strictly prohibited from using to get the good ending because of the level of screaming and, or explosions that they create. Hacking security systems instead of turning them off is also not encouraged because guards will know someone's been touching their stuff. The "chaos" system is more of a reference to the STYLE of your kills rather than killing versus nonlethal.

 

[scorptatious]

Fallout 2 didn't have a binary moral choice system and it is the greatest RPG I've ever played... but perhaps I have a bias.
Either way I agree I hate the silent protagonist because creating a character that has zero personality of his own is only frustrating to me, (which isn't the same as a shitty personality such as Nathan Drake) because when a NPC tells me to go fetch/kill/rescue something or someone I want to be able to at least know that PC isn't just a bloody robot that functions only to please those that gives it orders. Silent protagonist crutch that developers use only seems like a excuse to me for developers to not have to invest into having to make sure that PC's personality is consistent and logical when compared to the crazy things they'll be doing for the sake of advancing the game.

LOL, I'm actually playing through Fallout 2 again at the moment.

OT: I don't mind playing as a silent protagonist myself. Although I can understand why most people wouldn't.

Also, to answer your question Yahtzee: why do you all insist on adding the letter "u" to honor?

 

[Jack Rascal]

One last thing. (sorry perhaps some minor spoilers) At the end the one NPC (he was so generic he was not really a character) told me how disappointed in what I became (a serial killer) and that I should go f*** myself. He then shot a flare so everyone knew where I was.

Ah, poor Sam. In my first playthrough I killed him. For giving away my position, he deserved death. Left him with a bolt in his head, floating in his little boat.

OT: I like the game. Sure, it was short, but I'm enjoying trying different approaches. If the game was long I don't think i would have the energy to try different methods or see all the endings. My first playthrough was 'chaos', I wanted to be enraged Corvo who only wished death on everyone. Now I'm trying ghost. Turns out it's not as easy as I thought, especially since I have almost an obsessive tendency to find, collect and loot everything. Also, damn you mice! I did not leave the guards there so you could have a feast.

In this game, I find the silent protagonist to be the best choice because the entire game is in first person perspective. Voice acting, I think, is more suited to third person. Ezio in AC for example, I feel like I'm following his story. I can see him on screen and interact in cutscenes all the time. But in Dishonored, it's more like I'm the main character and I make the choices on how to behave. I also don't see the point of having a voice when I have multiple answers to pick from. The character would only read the line I just read and chose myself. I think that would make Corvo feel more like robot who only repeats lines and doesn't have a personality.

And I would love if Arcane could make another game set in the same world. Doesn't have to be a sequel in any way, I just like the world and gameplay.