Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Overrated"

Graphics: Can't say that I was too impressed here. Some of the background scenery had a unique artistic vibe that served as interesting eye candy, but any immersion experienced is, at times, hindered by underdeveloped textures and weak amounts of detail. Given that this is not an open world game, I was expecting the visuals to be a bit more polished than they were. The level designs themselves, however, were unique and compelling. The mission "Lady Boyle's Last Party" was indicative of a more flashy level design from my perspective. But, it is the constant assortment of little things – the detail in the wood on the floor, wallpaper, doors, character models, blood, animations, etc. – that are detrimental to the quality of this game. The water colored style of Dishonored gives it an odd "painting" aesthetic, where things faraway look nice because of their distance, but sloppy and low res at even a "medium" range.


Audio: Again, nothing impressive here. Not expecting an out of place mission impossible theme song, but it feels as though the game could use more quiet background music if it wants to manifest a better eerie sprinkled experience. The slow-mo of dialogue after using blink can at times give a chuckle, as can the dialogue of characters themselves. The sound effects fit well, though. Footsteps sound like footsteps, gunshots sound like gunshots, and the gargled aspirations of strangling are nicely mimicked. Still, additional creepy music would have gone a long way. And with abilities such as Dark Eye, silence is not always necessary. Except for the song that occurs at the ending, the weaksauce sounds and absent soundtrack makes this game appear incomplete.


Game play: The game mechanics, though frustratingly uncooperative at times, are mostly fluid. Parkouring and blinking flows nicely, though given that this is more of a strategic game fast paced acrobatics are nearly nonexistent. Instead, patience and careful planning withholds the key to success. The AI is hilariously ridiculous, however. Illogical patrol patterns and obliviousness to the player's whereabouts – even when they are standing in the open right in front of them – is quite laughable. Several times I have found myself starring in the face of a guard only to have him stare right back at me then walk away. This is not to say that the game is easy, but that the patrol mechanics are awkward at times. The "Play Your Way" feature is nice, and it adds the opportunity for replay, but with a discouraging ending for those who actually like to play as an assassin, there is a seeming way that people "should" play – namely, to be non lethal and forgiving to all. This is confusing because many of the abilities promote the killing of AI or causing high chaos, but if it results in a pessimistic and bleak ending, the player must choose to not care about the ending – which seems a bit disappointing – if they desire to play using those methods. Still, the abilities are interesting and make for several unique play through's.


Story: Awful. It starts off interesting, but some of the major questions – "Who is the outsider?" "Why did the empress get killed?" etc., are never answered. There are tad bits of lore scattered throughout the missions, but piecing together the puzzle should not be a chore. Side stories are also not as flushed out as they could be – the spy master could have a much more elaborate background then the one he was given. Sadly, as far as story goes, Dishonored is completely lacking.


Overall: The terrible lack of story, mediocre graphics, and bland audio leaves most of the games value on its game play which is better than decent, but still wanting. The game definitely does not justifiably deserve a score of 9 – the same rating as Skyrim – when it feels very much like an extended Dark Brotherhood quest, with all the fun of assassination replaced with careless forgiving (I say careless, because the story never bothers to try and fully justify the level of forgiveness the antagonists deserve). With over 80 hours of gameplay – I can honestly say that I have experienced much that this game has to offer (unless I'm missing something major), and remain inclined to think that this game is HIGHLY overrated. Watch some LP's if unsure about buying (or rent, if people still do that xD).