When you finish Dishonored, even if you get the best ending, one thought will turn all of your progress and achievements into bitter dust. The thought chafing at your cranium, the itching powder down your back will be "well, I could have done better than that."
You could have pulled off more spectacular and inventive kills. You could have slipped through the streets completely unseen. You could have explored that row of houses, and ransacked more valuable paintings. You could have used that whispering, clockwork heart to root out all of the power-enhancing runes. You could have been a translucent badass. There's only one solution to this problem, and it's an extremely appealing one. You play the whole damn fifteen hours again. And this time you do it properly.
Your escape is where you'll make your first decisions. Dishonored begins as a simple stealthy pattern-observer. Creep up behind the guards and strangle them, back-pedalling as you go to drag them out of sight before dumping their adorable, snoring bodies into a discreet corner.
You've also got a pistol and a brutal knife, but if you decide to use them, whole levels will unfold differently and you'll notice the speech changing. You'll overhear a bitter conversation about your escape: "He killed the Empress. What does he care about a few guards like us?" The haunting whirr and scrawk of the tannoy announcements (the sound design is brilliant throughout) make it clear that you're a ruthless killer.
Wicked ways
The message from the game is clear, but easily ignored. People think you're a monster. Prove them wrong, because the consequences of being evil are far-reaching. At first, you'll just be making the guards more enthusiastic about gaining their revenge. But as you kill more people, you'll give the plague rats more food, and they'll spread their disease to more humans, filling Dunwall's domestic residences with moaning, zombie-esque Weepers. Even the impressionable Empress' daughter begins to darkly notice that you come home smelling of blood. So we decide to restart, and repeat the mission without killing anyone. The guards' script changed to suit, but only moderately. We wanted them to say, "well, he's only choking us all unconscious and stacking us up in rude piles. Maybe he's nice after all." Perhaps we're too keen to be liked.
After your escape, your first night of sleep as a free man is invaded by The Outsider, an amoral observer who likes to amuse himself by giving people magical powers. Then Dishonored explodes, in extreme slow motion.
17 comments so far...
kronk10 on 8 Oct '12 said:
wow will be buying this as soon as the wallet allows me to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CunningSmile on 8 Oct '12 said:
I think one of the most telling things about this game is the range of opinions on different reviews; no one gives it less than 8/10 but the thinggs they complain about are all hilariously different. Example?
CVG: 9.5/10 review boils down to it being a brilliant stealth game but the combat is risky due to health problems.
GamesRadar: 4.5/5 review boils down to fantastic action game but the stealth doesn't work very well.
I think the only thing you can read into that is that regardless of how you like to play, this game will cater for it. So glad I preordered.
ridinglikesatan on 8 Oct '12 said:
Can't wait for this game, already pre-downloaded, Friday can't role around soon enough
OXM ETboy on 8 Oct '12 said:
THE PROMO COPIES WHERE ARE THE PROMO COPIES
golliwoza on 8 Oct '12 said:
Just preordered this. With this and Borderlands 2 I should be very busy untill Halo 4, looks like I am going to be having alot of fun.
OXM ETboy on 8 Oct '12 said:
SOMEBODY'S COME INTO THE OFFICE HOLDING A PARCEL IS IT DISHONORED TIME YET?
OXM Log on 8 Oct '12 said:
I did have a problem with the game's melee system - in the mag, I put it into a boxout, outside the main review, so it didn't make it into this. My bad.
So here it is: it's not as responsive as Arkane's previous games (my experience with them being the PC versions of Dark Messiah and Arx Fatalis). Your blade melee is based around block and counter-attack, but it's doesn't always feel... properly bitey. For example, when your enemy is pointing a gun at you, you think it's a perfect time to nip in for a quick stab. But for some reason, attacks don't seem to easily connect when they're aiming a gun at you. You're forced into your other attacks.
That's frequently a good thing - your other attacks are much better. And I understand they're trying to discourage stab maniacs, but this was a slightly jarring way to do it.
As for "health" problems, you're easy to kill when you're outnumbered. But it's a quick-restarting game that takes you back to the exact point of your last checkpoint or manual save, and gives you a chance to replay scenes very quickly, and at your own pace. Without that manual quicksave option, Dishonored might have been frustrating. With it, it's a challenge.
The stealth does work well enough, but if you're not using Dark Vision, you'll have a hell of a time. This lets you see through walls and shows up the guards' cones of vision. With this, and Blinking behind them, I didn't have any problems with stealth - at least, until those awful Tall Boys arrived. Those guys have the eagle eyes of a massive sod.
This game is bloody brilliant. I love it. I want to play it all the way through again, right now.
OXM Log on 8 Oct '12 said:
I have got all of the things you want in your head in my head
kronk10 on 8 Oct '12 said:
oooohhhh logs excited
CunningSmile on 8 Oct '12 said:
Cheers for the further insight Log, you're getting me more and more excited for the weekend
fracturedrich on 8 Oct '12 said:
its xcom for me but the more i read about this game the more ime playing resident evil as re is not a bad game its definatly not a great game i can feel a trade in coming on next week i work nights and play by day ime definatly going to have them bags under the eyes over the next few months what a great time for gaming
Zombie Trooper on 8 Oct '12 said:
So have to get this game
, but should I get Borderlands 2 first. I have always loved sneaky games, making a plan then carrying it out w/ as much brutally efficiency as I can manage (Splinter Blacklist is on my radar). While FPS's are dumb fun, with stealth games I get a bigger thrill, making me think to solve a problem. Will be popping down to my local Games this weekend to grab it.
Joe90_Remy700 on 8 Oct '12 said:
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
roll on friday
is it friday yet?
ChillieBonBon on 8 Oct '12 said:
Friday has never seemed more sexy!
thewrongtrousers on 8 Oct '12 said:
I read the same two and many others, and am getting seriously worried that this just going to be too stealthy for me - not my favourite genre. I have a few days left yet to cancel my preorder, I just can't decide!!!!
But what are up with the reviews, it seems they are playing different games, I've read two more this morning making 9 in total and there are several inconsistencies between reviews, the main three (although there were more) I noticed were:
1: Complaints about the plot feeling forced and stilted, while others say it is immersing and compelling.
2: The AI is said by one to be beautifully layered and complex but another said it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
3: Controls being called tough and very tricky by one reviewer yet several have said they feel natural and are easy to use.
Now I know game reviewing isn't an exact science and is subjective, but I can't think of another game that has had so many of these inconsistencies about major aspects of the gameplay and yet has still scored so highly. I've seen it before but only when the game scores a lot lower 5/6/7 and there will be certain, albeit different, things that people really liked about it but generally all disliked the same things.
Joe90_Remy700 on 9 Oct '12 said:
noooooooooooooooo
i reckon its just how the reviewers are playing it. i'll give this a minimum of 3 playhtroughs - 1) just doing anything i see fit, killing/f*cking sh*t up and generally being a badass with the powers, 2) no deaths by my hand as i wanna see how creepy the alternatives are, and 3) pure and utter stealth, being as one with the shadows
most games that allow it, i'll do stealthily but its satisfying to just go bikkies now and again. after all, ammo is there to be shot at something
thewrongtrousers on 9 Oct '12 said:
I hope so. I have read a lot more into it and am feeling a more positive that I will like it, my worry was that while I really liked the initial idea I found that several reviews compared it as similar to Bioshock and Deus Ex HR both of which I disliked for their repetetive nature - but thats a conversation for another day. I'm hoping that this will be more like Hitman, I didn't play the last one much, so while the latest one won't be a day one purchase it will make it onto my play list soon. Anyway until I actually get hold of Dishonoured I won't know.