I’m ashamed to admit that Dishonored completely slipped under my radar. Despite glowing recommendations based off of preview builds, I still wrote it off as just another stealth game and ignored it. Doing so was a gross injustice. Dishonored deserves all the praise it’s received and more and is an incredibly strong contender for my game of the year.
The game follows Corvo, a bodyguard turned assassin, attempting to avenge the Empress’ death and prevent a political coup led by the Empress’ spymaster. Assassination targets are all suitably corrupt/power-hungry or straight up nasty and taking them out is both satisfying and gives a good sense of progression. The story here is nothing ground-breaking but the characters carry it well, each as devious as the last and in general the plot serves as a good vehicle for the action.
What really stands out about Dishonored is how player driven it is. Want to go through the game without killing anyone? Kill everyone in sight? Or perhaps a healthy balance of the two? The option is there and each direction has its merits. Although stealth is encouraged, it is never forced and when opting for this route, there are a ton of different ways to do that too. You could climb along balconies to avoid sight or just freeze time and run through. The different options are surprisingly well balanced. Not once did I feel penned into a choice simply because it was clearly the easiest. Morality is handled well too with no arbitrary meter telling you how good of a person you are. Killing people adds to the plagued city’s troubles but you are never explicitly told by how much so killing civilians or even mission targets comes down to how you want to play your character. It’s rare to see choices in a game handled so well and feeling so meaningful and personal.
Although many aspects of gameplay are nothing new to the action/adventure genre, the execution is near flawless. In absolute basic terms it comes across as Bioshock’s first person view and powers crossed with Assassins Creed‘s stealth and acrobatics, but still manages to feel little like either. Powers and equipment are varied (although I would like to have seen a few more) and very few are overpowered. I found myself using most powers regularly which was incredibly refreshing compared to the usual tactic of other games; putting all points into the best skill and using it constantly. The use of these skills is only really limited by the player’s imagination. Not once did I find I was unable to try my newest idea due to the game’s mechanics not allowing it. My only complaint with the gameplay was that controls felt unresponsive at times. Climbing out of water and blinking on to ledges in particular were hit and miss; sometimes it took several tries to achieve what should be a simple task.
The graphics of Dishonored are heavily stylised but it fits the game incredibly well. Characters have cartoon-like quality to them which strikes an interesting contrast with the rather dark themes of the game. The locations in the city of Dunwall fit the mood too, from the lavish Golden Cat where the upper classes spend their time and money to the back streets where plague victims are left to die. Right from the start you get an amazing sense that you’re part of a fully realised world. Throughout the game you get to see the city’s problems first hand but there’s always more going on behind the scenes. The only thing that dragged me out of the world was an unfortunate case of what I’ve come to call ‘Bethesda face’. Despite being developed by Arkane Studios, the influence from Bethesda (who published the game) is clear. From Skyrim to Fallout and now Dishonored, they still haven’t quite mastered facial animation leaving conversations with NPCs more than a bit jarring.
Aside from these one or two minor issues, the game is a massive accomplishment. The game delivers all the promise shown in the build up to release and expands it into a well-rounded complete package. The scope and freedom of the game is staggering and the brilliant atmosphere keeps the player invested in the world from start to finish. In a climate of endless triple A sequels and reboots, Dishonored stands out as one of the best original titles in years.
It’s a shame, really, that so few games have “borrowed” Dishonored’s Blink – in the right hands, such a power could be game-changing.
There was a small game called Aragami that “borrowed” the blink, that was a good game.
Unfortunately I heard the sequel wasn’t good so I stayed away from trying it out.
The sequel changed some of the mechanics from the first game but it was still a very polished and enjoyable experience. You should definitely give it a shot sometime. The game's currently on sale on Steam
Okay thanks for the heads up, will look out for it being on sale one day.
I really did like the first and played it back to back as soon as I finished the first play through.
Dishonored's engaging lore, creative levels, and timeless gameplay are well worth revisiting for fans of the immersive sim and stealth genre.
The new-look Arkane could still learn from its own past.
I would say Prey and Dishonored both are their best work. Dishonored for the player movement and Prey for the world gameplay antics and freedom. Both for their amazing level design and player freedom and top shelf art direction. I would put them as equally deserving to continue.
On a side note. Please, if your going to continue PREY (you god damn well should), can you guys change the name to NEURO SHOCK? The Prey name did it no service whatsoever. Not only does it not really fit, but it created bad faith because of the original IP.
The best part is that the name Neuro Shock fits with the narrative of the game, the style of the game, it links it to System Shock and Bio Shock, and it also connects it to the novel Neuromancer. The book about hackers fighting a rogue AI that inspired System Shock's main conflict between the Hacker and Shodan...Seriously. WTF? It was right there...
Anyways, Dishonored and Neuro Shock...Now that's a couple of games worth investing on.
I love Dishonored
I was hoping for a third game which would take Corvo to a new location, possibly North and it would focus on the Outsider where we'd learn more about him. A game to wrap up both their stories in one last epic adventure.
However they basically rushed the Outsider storyline in the DLC for Dishonored 2 and wrap things up quickly which made no sense, it was a great basis for a third game. I really don't see the point wasting things in DLC, id software did the same thing with the Doom Eternal DLC.
They also said Corvo's story was done which again seems silly to me as the second one really fleshed him out as a character, why waste that. With the Outsider gone, how will anyone get the Outsiders mark for their powers now.
They shouldn’t dismiss what they have learned. I like that they change IPs like underwear. Hopefully a future game will be heavily influenced by dishonored and prey. They need a couple big hitters first though. Deathloop is arguably their worst game of the bunch but it sold the most.
It’s like Hollywood, you have to make that one blockbuster to fund all of the other political garbage nobody want to buy. Except dishonored and prey aren’t garbage, they are great games that nobody bought. Hopefully red fall is a success and we’ll see a return to the prey/dishonored formula even if it’s not a return to those specific IP. They will have enough money for multiple projects. I think stacking your IP is a great idea. It adds more value and it’s a fresh start pallet cleanser. I also think branding recognition is highly overrated when it comes to gaming IP.
dishonoured is simply awesome. takes a while to get used to the type of stealth it uses ie high medium low stealth but ends up being an awesome title love the visuals its unique
Good review :)