The whales are the stars of The Knife of Dunwall, Dishonored's first story-led DLC. As Corvo we'd catch glimpses of them in the distance, strung up on huge ships; here, playing as master assassin Daud, we finally see the great beasts up close - and it's not a pretty sight.
The first mission sees Daud infiltrating the cavernous Rothwild Slaughterhouse. A live whale is hoisted from the ceiling of a vast chamber, guts spilling from its belly into a drain below - the same drain we used to sneak into the grim abattoir undetected.
As we slip through the shadows past blood-spattered butchers clutching menacing electric saws, the whale groans in agony. Daud is there to find and interrogate the owner, Bundry Rothwild, and as you might expect from Dishonored, how you do it is up to you.
Daud, played by gravel-voiced Hollywood veteran Michael Madsen, isn't that different from Corvo. Any play style that suited you in the main game will work here, although he does have a few new tricks, as well as enhanced versions of old powers.
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New to this DLC is the ability to summon assassins. They'll engage guards in combat, allowing you to slink past unnoticed while they're distracted. It's a useful power, but you won't be able to use it if you want to get through a mission without killing anyone.
Chokedust, a grenade that stuns enemies, is the best new gadget. A mission sees you rescuing assassins who are tied up and surrounded by guards. Rather than kill/sedate them, you can toss in some chokedust, free your buddy, then blink away before they recover.
Arc Mines vapourise enemies when they trigger them, like portable Walls of Light, and instead of a crossbow, Daud fires bolts from a device hidden away in his sleeve. There are a lot of new toys to play with in the sandbox, but nothing radically game-changing.
Experimentation is what defines Dishonored, and the DLC is no different. Figuring out interesting ways to combine these new powers and gadgets is where much of the fun lies, like sticking an Arc Mine to a rat's back and watching it zap an oblivious guard.
ZoomThere are three missions here. The first two are great - as good as anything in the main game, in fact - but the last one is disappointing. They took us roughly two hours each, so there's a decent amount of game here for your £8, even if the quality isn't totally consistent.
