Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Rrp: £7.99 (Steam and Humblebundle)
Released: 12th October 2012
Available on: Steam and Humblebundle
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Approximate game length: 16 hours
Welcome to the city of Dunwall, capital of the isle of Gristol. This city was once the jewel of the Empire but recent events have brought it low. People are dying in the streets from a mysterious and currently incurable plague. Rats feast on the dead and at times the living. And most recently the Empress was assassinated, by her own bodyguard no less… at least that’s what the official story is, perhaps you could correct that error.
I’ll admit this review is something of a cheat for me as this is a game that I played before and know full well that I like. I used to own the game back when I still had an Xbox 360 and I managed to get all the achievements and bought the DLC on it’s day of release. I even cosplayed as Corvo at a con once (although it wasn’t very good). For me this has been more a reminder of which I left my 360 behind and moved over to PC, I do miss my old 360 sometimes though. This also has been a chance for me really understand why I like the game so much and what I would change if I was able to.
Anyway, in Dishonored you play as Corvo Attarno a man falsely accused and convicted of murdering the Empress. Depending on your playstyle this title is either a first person shooter or a first person infiltration game.
To me Dishonored is something of a spiritual successor to the original Thief franchise (that most recent abomination doesn’t count). This may be because my preferred way to play is to never be seen and only perform non-lethal takedowns, which may factor into why I think of it as a spiritual successor to the Thief series. However I know many people who prefer to leave a trail of bodies without a care in the world, and that’s part of why I really like this game. It allows you to dictate how you want to play (within a set framework admittedly) and the game doesn’t punish you for taking such overtly violent actions. Oh, there are repercussions to be sure but not always in the way you may expect.
The game is played through as a series of missions with each ending at The Hound Pits pub which is a hub area where you can speak to other characters, upgrade your equipment, resupply and receive your new orders.
Each mission is split into multiple areas the player can traverse through. Some of these areas are completely optional as they pertain to side quests, although some of these side quests have to completed if you intend to perform a low chaos run of this game (more on chaos later).
For example in the first true mission the mission comprises of six areas with three only three being required to complete the main mission.
How you go about completing the mission is up to you, there are multiple paths to take to the same destination and even several ways to… ‘take care’ of your targets. It all depends on how observant and creative you are. Whatever choice you make will, of course, have an impact on how long a mission lasts. Your playstyle will also affect this as you could go through it quickly slaughtering guards and generally be an angel of death. Alternatively you can be a ghost, taking your time watching the guards movements and taking the most opportune moment… which takes considerably longer. Or you could do something in between.
Through these missions you’ll find books and notes scattered that will provide some deeper context to the world and events surrounding you. Some of these will provide clues as to how to go about completing you mission in a way you may not have thought of. Thankfully the game doesn’t expect you to remember everything you’ve read and provides a journal screen where you can reread it at your leisure. This screen also keeps track of your missions (main and optional) as well as allowing you to swap out bone charms and upgrade the special powers you are given.
This is another part of the game that is very clearly influenced by the Thief series. Within each mission you’ll find items that you can grab which will immediately be converted into cash, it’s with this cash that allows you to upgrade and resupply your equipment at the Hound Pits. Also hidden within these missions are a number of collectibles, the most important ones being bone charms (mentioned earlier), runes and blueprints.Once equipped the bone charms you find provide passive bonuses, blueprints on the other hand allow you to buy new upgrades for your equipment once your back at the Hound Pits.
Once a mission is completed you’re shown a stat screen. Upon this screen you can see how you did, including how much of the overall money for the mission you found, any special items that were missed and optional missions that have or have not been completed. This screen also shows your ‘overall chaos’. The amount of chaos you gain is dependent on what you did during that mission. Killing people, raising alarms, etc increases the amount. This chaos level is what dictates which ending you would receive as well as having other effects in the next mission or so.
As was mentioned previously Corvo is given some special powers fairly early in the game by a being called ‘The Outsider’. At first it’s the ability to teleport to another nearby location, but you can unlock more by purchasing them using the runes you find within missions.
Something that I found interesting is that even though you are given these powers you don’t need them to complete the game. In fact there is even an achievement for it, it’s not easy but it is possible.
Each time you make use of a power a it consumes some of your Mana. In the case of blink this amount will regenerate after a short period (as long as you don’t use another power before it fills). However there may be times where you need to use multiple powers in quick succession in which case you can consume a potion that will replenish your Mana.
This game is full of nice little touches that show that the designers put real thought in. My favourite being the heart item, when equipped the heart will show you where bone charms and runes are. That, however isn’t the part I like. If you use the item, as if you were attacking, the heart will speak, it’ll talk about the world around you and if pointed at a person it will speak about secrets that person has. That feature doesn’t help you at all other than to expand the lore of the world.
If this game let’s me down in one way (and it’s a bit of a minor one) I wish Dishonored would allow you turn off lights. As I said it’s a minor thing but it just feels like a missed opportunity that would fit perfectly into this game.
If there is anything that may put people off this title it likely would be the art style, specifically of the character models. The bodies and faces have a very exaggerated style that almost looks a bit… caricature-ish. It’s especially noticeable with the dogs.
I mean do I need to say I recommend it?
I pretty much gave away that in my second paragraph. Oh and I didn’t
include a video because my playstyle doesn’t make for exciting viewing.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Styx: Master of Shadows
Thief 2: The Metal Age
Metro 2033 / Metro 2033 Redux
