Publisher announces Arkane Studios' new first-person action game set for release next year; lead designers of Deus Ex, Arx Fatalis heading up the project.
Last year, Bethesda Softworks announced the acquisition of Arkane Studios, saying the developer was at work on its next project, with details like genre, platforms, and release date to be revealed at a later day. That day was today, as the publisher confirmed those details--but little else--for its upcoming game Dishonored.
Set for a 2012 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, Dishonored is a first-person action game. That sums up the information direct from Bethesda, but gamers can look forward to more details being revealed in the August issue of Game Informer, which features Dishonored on the cover.
According to a teaser for the issue, Dishonored is, "a game about assassination where you don't have to kill anyone. It's a game about infiltration where you can set up traps and slaughter the entire garrison of an aristocrat's mansion rather than sneak in. It's a game about brutal violence where you can slip in and out of a fortified barracks with nobody ever knowing you were there. It's a game about morality and player choice where the world you create is based on your actions, not navigating conversation trees."
Dishonored development is being guided by studio co-creative directors Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith. Colantonio was lead designer and director on Arkane's first title, the critically acclaimed 2002 role-playing game Arx Fatalis, while Smith made his name as lead designer for Ion Storm's influential first-person action game Deus Ex and went on to serve as creative director for Midway Austin on Blacksite: Area 51.
Beyond Arx Fatalis, Arkane also handled the original PC version of Ubisoft's Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, which debuted to a tepid reception in 2006. More recently, Arkane assisted 2K Marin with the single-player campaign for last year's well-regarded BioShock 2.
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
This seems like a refreshing new spin on nonlinear gameplay, akin to DX. especially since the weapons are mainly swords or sharp objects rather than guns (or at least that's what it looks like, judging by the screenshots). I'll keep my eye on this title.
This reminds me of HL2 meets Deus Ex. I got the issue so from what I can tell, you can be whoever you want to be in this game. From savior to terrorist. How you play is how it will develop, which sounds very cool and innovative if they can actually pull it off like they make it sound. I will defiantly be following this.
@nyran125 Bethesda Softworks isn't even making this. It's the same people as Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah. Along with the level designers of Deus Ex and Bioshock 2, and the two most involved senior designers for Thief.
Ive never heard of this game but its bethesda so i think im gonna track it down till it comes out
@parrot_of_adun Rage will put up a good fight but no way will it ever be better than Skyrim haha, or well it depends what the player is into more fantasy rpg,or post-apocalyptic rpg/fps
iv enever ever played a BEstheda game thats not an RPG thats any good. I think call of Cthulu was supposed to be pretty good. that was Bestheda's publish attempt at a horror game. They should actually have another go at an FPS-RPG. I hope they have nailed a better story and the way you interact with people in Skyrim too. Rather than Oblivion where im a walking councillor/psychiatrist roaming a free world land listening to loads of problems from people that DONT EVEN KNOW ME gameplay mechanic. As far as interacting with characters in a gaem world RPG, i think Bioware's Mass Effect and Dragon age and The Witcher are exploring much more interesting ways to do it and feel like your just part of the world not a walking councillor.
Sounds interesting. We'll see. And apparently some of you geniuses never learned that proper names are capitalized...if you know that, there's no reason for the title to even be remotely misleading.
I like the sound of it, but I can't trust Bethesda for publishing. They are my favorite game developer by far. Easily. But they publish garbage games. I need to see some more of this game first.
Sounds like garbage. Bethesda needs to get it together and support the IP's they already have like BRINK!!!! can i get an AMEN?
first the headline made me confused, then for a brief second i thought the picture was of HL2E3.. but then my hopes were crushed
Anyone getting excited over this is a joke. It is a new IP. Unless you have played a prior version from a already existing series, you should NEVER get excited until you actually play the game for yourself. It is all these new gamers that hype any new game that comes out.
@Jon71992 Oh, I understood that part, and you're probably right to think so, I just didn't think you would have brought up Fallout 3 if you knew Bethesda wasn't developing Dishonored. Anyway, I'd actually say they're doing better as a publisher now, what with this, rage, brink, hunted and prey 2. But I suppose Rage is the only one there that might beat Skyrim.
"Bethesda gets Dishonored on 360, PS3, PC" Was it really necessary to write it like that =V Sounds good though, nothing extraordinary I haven't heard before though. We'll see once some gameplay comes out whether its something special or not.
Sounds like Thief, the teaser image looks like Half Life. Two winning ingredients. But the spice is originality, of which I don't see any...yet.
Sounds like they want to do a Fable knockoff with a Dungeon Siege slant not that it couldn't work it's going to be hard to pull off.
hmmm sounds like Kagero Deceptions but more brutal, look forwards to trps hehehe. sounds like D1P to me Day 1 purchase :P
This could go either way..... Arx Fatalis and Deus Ex were awesome games but Dark Messiah Of Might & Magic sucked and to be honest Bioshock 2 could have been better across the board.
the pitch sounds a bit like Alpha Protocol, IMO. Let's see how they're gonna pull this off.
@parrot_of_adun--- I never said they made fall out, thats what u assumed... all i meant was i didn't like the "could be" dis towards Mass Effect and Bioware.... And, also, there hasn't been a lot of good games coming out from them as a publisher, designer or anything else..... BUT I am excided for Skyrim!! haha
@Jon71992 These guys didn't make Fallout 3 (Bethesda made that, not Arkane studios), but if you read the article, you'd know that. I for one, am glad these guys know not to go down that road. The Mass Effect games are good, but those conversation trees certainly aren't why.
Hold the phone. Colantonio was lead designer and director of Deus Ex, who... went on to creative direction for BLACKSITE: AREA 51?! What a HUGE dip in quality! Wow. I never knew that. Anyway, on topic, I'll keep my eyes on this one, but I'm not expecting anything considering the hit-and-miss credentials of the development heads.
@Jon71992 May vault boy smite you, how dare you speak smack about fallout! No that seems like they were talking about rpg's in general because all the modern rpgs (at least the ones I've played) use that conversation tree system. Although hopefully they will still keep conversation trees because its nice to control what the character says.
@Syafiqjabar ........ that makes no sence @Ronnie_Rim --- Im glad you agree. 9 dislikes either means they didn't take it in the context i wanted them to or they dont have good taste in games loll
@Jon71992 Oh, like a lawnmower is nowhere near as good as a the Rocky mountains? Or that the quality of a neutron star is far from that of the war of 1812?
Yea this is gonna be another game taht will be 20$ new after a month just look at the past game Wet and alot of others ppl have listed here already.
@jon71992 Damn right. Mass Effect was a beautiful game. Anyone who denies that is either stupid or has not played it.
My only worry is that Bethesda's track record for games not developed at Bethesda Games Studio has been pretty not-so-great so far (Brink, Rogue Warrior, Hunted). Here's hoping this will break that streak.
"It's a game about morality and player choice where the world you create is based on your actions, not navigating conversation trees"- I hope tha's not a stab at Bioware and the Mass Effect games cause they'll b better then Fallout 3 will ever be
Arkane Studios Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was great EPIC game,i hope this new FPS be great
Sounds interesting. Im getting the idea that its like deus ex where you can do anything you want, but in this if you kill everyone the game reacts. We'll see, Bethesda hasnt had very good luck with the games they produce
ugh, more FPS -_- but then I read it had staff from Deus Ex AND Arx Fatalis. I'm hoping it won't be the typical kind =\
@Burnettaj SUCH a great game! If Dishonored is anything like Thief I'll be pleased! They have a great team heading this project, looks like. Arx Fatalis and the Deus Ex franchise have been a great gaming experience :D
Dishonored's engrossing world and intoxicating interplay of supernatural powers make it a game you'll want to play more than once.
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