The game is played in first-person, with an emphasis placed on stealth action and the utilization of gadgets as well as the environment to eliminate opposing forces. The game world is a series of self-contained, mission-focused sandboxes designed to allow for multiple avenues of exploration in terms of in-game movement and powers. Between missions the player is taken to a central hub in a pub. In the pub Corvo can meet with his allies, receive mission briefings, alternate objects, and convert recovered loot into new equipment and upgrades. In-game areas include loading docks, royal estates, poverty stricken streets, and a bathhouse. The game features the ability for the player to save anywhere and also includes a checkpoint save system, with both disabled during combat. There are four difficulty levels which affect the effectiveness of health and mana potions, and enemy perception, damage and responsiveness. The easy difficulty also enables health regeneration.
Dishonored also features role-playing game elements including a character upgrade system and moral choices with focus on non-linear consequences. The game is designed to allow the player to complete it without killing any NPC, including boss characters and mission targets. An example of a non-lethal situation given by co-creative designer Harvey Smith involved the player completing a side mission for a character which in turn was rewarded with the mission targets being kidnapped and enslaved in a mine. Each mission contains multiple avenues of exploration and reaching targets, with traversal and exploration of levels designed to support the array of abilities at the player's disposal, rather than having a specific "hacking path" and "sneaking path". Specific elements of missions are also randomised such as altering the color of a targets clothing and mask in one mission, requiring the player to explore the game area to locate the intended target each time the mission is played.
Actions committed by the player are not judged to be of a good or evil morality, but instead are tracked by a "chaos" system that records how much collateral damage, violent actions and deaths are caused by the player. The game world is modified by how little or much damage is caused, affecting story decisions with an emphasis on not punishing the player or forcing them to choose one style of play over another. For example, a non-player character (NPC) who disapproves of violent methods may not support the player and may even betray them. The game reacts to the chaos caused in both scripted ways, such as dialog, and dynamic ways, such as increasing rats, plagued citizens and adding new scenes, and can affect the current mission and future ones. The system also influences the two game endings obtainable, with variations based on which characters live or die. Playing violently can allow missions to be completed in less time than a stealth approach, but will consume more resources such as health and mana potions, which are required more often in direct combat.
Dishonored takes place in the industrial city of Dunwall, modeled after late 1800s-early 1900s London and Edinburgh, that is ruled over by an oppressive regime. In the city, technology and otherworldly forces coexist. Dunwall is a center for fishing and whaling, with whale oil a valuable resource necessary for powering the city. Following philosopher Esmond Roseburrow's discovery of whale oil's use as a fuel—known in the city as trans—the government used it to develop powerful weaponry which in turn bred government corruption. The city is stricken with a plague spread by rats and dogs that is killing the poor and isolating the rich. The infected, known as "Weepers", cry blood and can become violent against others. The government uses the plague as an excuse to take or purge citizens as they wish.[17][30] Order is maintained by the Tallboys, heavily armored officers on tall, mechanical legs, and districts are separated by Walls of Light, barriers made of energy that disintegrate those that attempt to cross them.
After being framed for the murder of the Empress, bodyguard Corvo Attano is offered the chance to exact vengeance against the Lord Regent and others responsible by The Outsider. The Outsider grants Corvo its mark, imbuing the disgraced bodyguard with magical abilities.
Dishonored is almost certainly the finest stealth game I’ve played since the dawn of The Metal Age.
Bunch of usual generic praise spewing reviews coming out today.
But when RPS sezQuoteDishonored is almost certainly the finest stealth game I’ve played since the dawn of The Metal Age.
it's hard not to be excited
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/08/wot-i-think-dishonored/
An excellent game, and one worthy of your attention. Dishonored's greatest contribution to the genre games like Deus Ex helped establish will be best appreciated by those who've been with it from the start, but Arkane has made a game rooted in manipulating artificial intelligence that plays just as well to the guy or gal who wants to shoot stuff. That's impressive.
This is a muscular and confident game, one with the utmost faith in its own fiction and a dedication to gameplay satisfaction at a microscopic level, paid off in dozens of situations that feel completely random and organic, even when they've clearly been planted there for you to find. Tighter control and a more generous approach to replay value would elevate Dishonored to true classic status, but it stands as one of the year's best all the same.
Though I was frustrated by the chaos system and how it steers your actions, the heart of Dishonored is about being inventive, adaptable, and ruthless. The team at Arkane Studios has injected an array of cool possibilities into the simulated city of Dunwall, and discovering them all is a blast.
It's the big intellectual property that comes to retail and shows up the competition by being bold, original, and -- more importantly -- brilliant. Easily deserving of its place among the BioShocks and the Borderlandses, Arkane's aggressive, non-aggressive, unsubtle, sneaky, thoroughly versatile tale of intrigue makes for the kind of game that reminds us this generation isn't all straightforward shooters and "me too" trend-seekers.
What makes Dishonored great are the mechanics made possible by the universe in which it exists. There is a level of replayability and creativity available here that isn't seen in most stealth action games. You aren't just figuring out how you need to get from point A to point B, but how you want to get there.
Dishonored gives you a beautiful, fascinating, new world to explore, and then makes it your playground for grand misdeeds. Its story of political intrigue and betrayal is told at exactly the right pace, balancing information with action in a way that keeps you interested, but not overloaded.
Bunch of usual generic praise spewing reviews coming out today.
But when RPS sezQuoteDishonored is almost certainly the finest stealth game I’ve played since the dawn of The Metal Age.
it's hard not to be excited
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/08/wot-i-think-dishonored/
There are no bosses
The fact that someone’s still putting real effort into the PC version of their multi-platform game is one good reason to buy it. But with Dishonored, there are quite a few. The fact that it doesn’t have any unskippable boss fights. That it’s one of the few major new games that isn’t a sequel or a remake. That a developer went to huge lengths to allow players this much freedom, and a publisher gave them the time and money to make it this slick.
It’s a big, shiny example of so much we keep asking for in games, but rarely get. Luckily, the best way to vindicate it is to buy and then play an amazing game.
games fun but it looks like shite and controls like shite on pc
game is p awesome, a hint tho if you're playing no kills and you do the 1st assassination, when youre up to the boss make sure you don't let the 2nd boss npc drink too muchw hiskey or you will get accounted for a kill.
What evidence was that it'd be a turd?
Is this game on rails like Bioshock?
Is this game on rails like Bioshock?
There are also a couple of light gun/ Kinect bits that felt unnecessary. But I quite enjoyed, just because everything with Kinect is just so damn immersive.Is this game on rails like Bioshock?
Each mission in Dishonored sends you to a hub area with various zones connected to it, some of which are only related to sidequests.
Is there a kick button?
watched my friend quietID play this for a couple of hours, game looks great and I'm really looking forward to trying it myself. (he's playing on Steam so I can't borrow a disc or anything) Will rent it at some point. I'm assuming the game isn't too long?
Emily is voiced by Chloe Moretz (http://www.the-coli.com/images/smilies/QbadP.png)
just beat itk, great game. the outsider goes no weres they never explain him :piss
Boo this game! I beat the entire game without killing anyone and I didn't get the Clean Hands achievement. Got the "Didn't Kill Anyone" checkmark on each level and everything. I'd be mad if this were on a console where that actually meant something.
But other than that, awesome game. :bow2
That...doesn't really make sense, unfortunately.
Do weepers count in your kill tally?
just finished the game.
The latter portions are a bit better than the rest in that they focus on stealthing through a level and not just trying to take out a target.
the game has that problem where you can subvert a lot of the games systems with the leveled abilities. like the super jump which pretty much let me get anywhere I wanted to go and allowed me to skip large chunks of the levels. i have trouble faulting the game for being too easy when I spec'd my character in a way that made it that way.
however I do think the design in a lot of the assassination missions was just too simple to be interesting.
overall i feel this is good game with great mechanics and disappointing level design.
I would like a sequel that has more complex levels that require more challenge regardless of the options you go with.
i have trouble faulting the game for being too easy when I spec'd my character in a way that made it that way.