In an industry filled with narrow, scripted games with an emphasis on spectacle to drive the experience, many gamers like myself are looking for something new. BioShock and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are two great games of this generation to emphasize my point – player choice. In spite of that, we've been experienced – or forced to experience – game after game of pre-determined set-pieces and linear storytelling. That's why Dishonored – courtesy of debut studio Arkane Studios, and publisher Bethesda – is such a refreshing example of a near-extinct sub-genre. It's hard to balance stealth and action, but Dishonored does it so well and with excellent combat, staggering visuals and a compelling, immersive world with many sights to experience, Dishonored is a phenomenal experience.
Dishonored is set in the fictional world of Dunwall. Ravaged by a rat plague and driven by whale oil, Dunwall is home to the sick, the dead and the politically corrupt. You take the role of Corvo Attano, bodyguard and assassin to the Empress. Following her death, Corvo is accused of being a traitor and brandished responsible for her death, and must subsequently find the perpetrators who killed her. Dishonored's story is full of political ambitions and shady characters, all of whom have a certain level of distrust and motivational ambiguity. It's this reason that the narrative can be intriguing, especially when hunting the ones responsible. Dunwall is a staggeringly beautiful world, with astounding lighting and stunning environments. The colour palette and art direction are seamless and awe-inspiring, mixing a decidedly Victorian style with contemporary science fiction to stunning effect. The character models are also mostly great. Though screen-tearing and occasional framerate drops slightly hamper the game technically, the artistic and overall visual accomplishment is nothing short of incredible. The places you visit have a distinct visual presence too, even though the artistic merits stay the same. Textures are light but solid and visual effects are nice. It looks dilapidated, and you definitely get a sense of history to this place, and that's great.
The world is compelling and immersive thanks to the brilliant atmosphere. Each environment has a great sense of tension and violence. Bodies lining street corners and abandoned apartment buildings, rats inhabiting sewers and grounded areas and security strewn around quarantined zones and guards attending to every entrance, Dishonored has an immersive quality to it that feels great. The fantastic environments make it all the more so because of the bleak setting, and the corrupt nature of the world makes for an often unsettling location. There is also no HUD or any form of display except from your ammo count, and this works tremendously in Dishonored.
Enemy artificial intelligence is vital in a stealth-oriented game like Dishonored, so it's such a great feat that the AI behaves so well here. During the game, guards will talk to one another and wander the perimeter. In the game, your stealth meter is noted by a visual four-meter bar above the enemy. If the meter fills to the top, they will spot you. It's a great meter that you can easily follow, and it works really well. Enemies will become tougher as the game progresses, opening up to dogs and large, stilt walkers known as Tallboys, which make stealth more complicated. It's a good challenge, though, and is never frustrating and is always satisfying. Adding to the great AI are the security devices around Dunwall. Technology has been consistently advanced due to specific individuals that I won't name, and this technology has greatly aided restriction to areas of the city. These devices are a nuisance and can prevent you from accessing certain paths, and must be shut down by removing their oil tank source or rewiring their circuit to conflict with enemies instead of you.
Dishonored's combat is phenomenal. Thanks to great controls, Corvo's regular sword can be used for some tense, open fights. Corvo can and will frequently face multiple enemies and dispatch of them using a block/attack combination, resulting in some bloody finishers like decapitations and stabs through enemies chest's. Corvo can also perform drop assassinations which are vertical finishers on enemies below you, which is fantastic. Combat is enhanced by using one of many weapons or by hiding on rooftops or on lower ground. The game has dozens of combat opportunities, with a pistol that Corvo can use in addition to his sword. The pistol is a great and effective weapon, resulting in some awesome shootouts and chases. The crossbow provides satisfying tactical opportunities from cover and higher ground, with three main arrows – normal, sleep and explosive – that will be used depending on your play style. In addition to grenades, there are also Springrazors which, when placed on the ground, shoot out multiple wires, cutting your enemies apart in seconds. It's an extremely violent and gratifying way to kill enemies. You also have powers at your disposal. Your mana bar depletes upon using particular powers, draining more on others, but is relatively solid. Your first power, Blink, enables Corvo to wander through the environment quickly. It's reminiscent of a teleport, where you aim at where you want to travel using L1 (held) and then releasing the button to get to that particular spot. Later stages provide ways to make better use of Blink, as well as combat opportunities (blinking and takedown combination is awesome) and it's a significant part of the game, as the game can be really difficult without sufficient use of the power. There is also a power called Dark Vision. Slightly similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum's Detective mode, Dark Vision enables the player to see enemies through solid objects and buildings, in order to observe the environment and follow patrol patterns. It's a great power but, like that game before it, may often be at risk of being overused in relation to the over-reliance on Detective mode. In spite of that, it's another important power for stealthing through the levels undetected. There are many more powers too, one being a rat swarm that devours enemies and others that I don't want to ruin, but suffice it to say there are a lot of cool powers to purchase and use in the game. However, purchasing them is important and you must collect items in order to do so. These are called Runes that are acquired throughout areas in the game. Hidden in each level, runes are currency for buying powers and their respective upgrades and are required in order to become more powerful. To find them, Corvo must use a heart. An actual heart that diverts you to the nearest Rune. It beats whenever you are facing the right way in line of the rune and beats faster and faster as you gradually progress to it's location. The heart can also be used to located the second part of collectibles, called Bone Charms. These are abilities that are activated in the menu and provide gameplay enhancements such as a larger mana bar, more sword damage and even choking enemies faster, which is cool. These can be upgraded so that you can activate more and more Bone Charms as the game goes on. Accessing and ultimately using these weapons and powers is done by utilising a radial menu. It works really well and can be toggled using both left and right sticks. It's responsive and well-designed.
In terms of the assassinations, the game is rife with possibilities. You can approach each assassination with different combat options. For example, you can wander through a target's bedroom and kill him straight up. However, you could travel underground, choke his courtesan unconscious and headshot him with a crossbow bolt from behind. Or, you could fire him through an open door and over a ledge fifty feet to his death. I'll give you another example. Another target, surrounded by vast security and guard patrols, could be infiltrated by wandering through the window atop a pathway, sneaking into his dining room and poisoning his drink. Alternatively, you could tranquilize his accomplice and drop assassinate him from above. Thirdly, you could even plant a springrazor near the objective and watch him and his ally split apart at the seams. Amazingly, there are even more possibilities than this, which is incredible. The flexibility of the combat and the way you take out targets is really awe-inspiring, as you are encouraged to make use of not only your gadgetry but your environment – like the whale oil-powered Wall of Light, which blocks plague contractors from advancing through the city. Of course, this makes for more gameplay opportunity, and makes for one of the most exciting open-ended action games since BioShock.
The level design in the game is absolutely outstanding. Dishonored has a large world at your disposal with many different pathways and structures to utilise. Dishonored isn't open-world, though. Instead, it's a perfect balance of non-linearity while being slightly restrictive to the size of each map. There are many rooftops, adjacent walkways above apartments and many areas underground that give a great sense of freedom in how you approach each area and fight, along with a great amount of loot, ammunition and diary and book fiction for note entries. Guards are placed well in the game and provide exciting opportunities to advance. The level variety is equally brilliant. During your relatively short stay, you will traverse a prison, attend a dress party, stalk enemies in a dark, murky town, fight in a debris-ridden sewer and many more. The variety is great and the locations are fun to utilise and traverse. Because of the fantastic combat, you may often find yourself wanting to start fights just to experiment with the awesome weapons and powers, and to test out the fighting system.
These weapons and powers are good for violent combat but, like mentioned at the start of the review, player choice is a big factor in Dishonored. Stealth play is an alternative to the killing and it's a system that works wonders. Crouching will enable Corvo to access areas unnoticed and the AI contributes to the great stealth system. Climbing around the environment stalking enemies feels and looks great and is huge fun. Eavesdropping can provide the player with information regarding a mission, and this quiet observation is rewarding. It is up to the player whether they decide to do a playthrough of stealth, killing no one but assassinating the key targets or maybe someone playing quietly but dispatching some foes. There are more choices than this, and that flexibility in the gameplay is something fans of the genre are going to love. Dishonored is an adept action game that doesn't force you on to traditional action gaming tropes but instead allows you to carve your own gameplay experience, whether it be the great stealth play or general mayhem with the outstanding combat. The choice is yours.
Sound design is superb in Dishonored. The sound effects are fantastic, with the slashing of a sword in an enemy during a takedown or the squeaking of rats and the cries of weepers (plague-ridden citizens). The voice acting is great and the music score is light and understated but impactful during fights.
Some missions require some backtracking, but it's never repetitive. We all know the "collect this and bring it back here" design of some objectives, but the traversal of the environment is what the makes the game so enjoyable, and so this form of re-visiting areas is more good than bad. Almost anything you want to do in combat and stealth is possible. You can choke out enemies and throw them off ledges (however doing so may alert guards below ground – an awesome touch), you can read note entries to gain access to safe combinations and hidden collectibles or you can undergo side missions for two opposing individuals with different missions and rewards. During the game, you may be given choices as to who lives and dies (there is no notification, just natural choice). Therefore, whichever choice you make will affect the outcome of the story, and will also change the dialogue of characters, as they will react differently depending on your particular play style and chaos level. There are statistics at the end of each level giving you information regarding the number of enemies you killed, if any bodies were found and your overall chaos level. This level effects the ending, but not drastically. This ultimately brings me to a criticism of Dishonored. Though the story is well-written and the political ambitions of the title interesting, the ending lacks impact. There is a certain abrupt nature of the story with no real explanation of particular characters. The opposite endings provide more character closure, but the endings are rather inconsistent with one another. I would have preferred a much more focused ending, as it feels like a quick wrap up rather than informative conclusion.
There is no multiplayer, and rightly so, but Dishonored is unfortunately short. It can be completed in just over six or seven hours depending on your play style. Stealth players who explore every inch of this compelling world for its collectibles, loot and secrets may get another two or three hours out of it, but I wish the game lasted longer. However, this game demands multiple playthroughs. In addition to the multiple endings and side missions, the variety of the combat and assassinations make for great experimentation of the game mechanics. Thus, you will definitely want to play through again and again, trying out the game's harder difficulty levels with more advanced AI and more complicated combat design such as longer alerts and more damage received, which truly tests your skills. I recently finished a second playthrough and already have the desire to begin a third time, and I doubt it will be the last. Dishonored has so many cool secrets, collectibles and items to find that explorers will be often rewarded. Plus, replaying missions to improve your stats and Ghost and Shadow ratings (no detections and no kills) is part of the fun.
No matter which way you play – how you kill a target, how you access your route towards an objective or if you plan violent mayhem or quiet assassin – Dishonored is a remarkable experience. It tells an intriguing yet ultimately imperfect story, looks incredible and has great sound design and phenomenal combat, and has a compelling, rewarding and violent world, and is one of the generation's finest action games. It simply cannot be missed. Arkane has achieved a magnificent feat, by delivering one of the most exciting, rewarding games around, encouraging and relying on the one ultimately defining aspect – player choice.
SUMMARY
Presentation 8.5 - The world is great, and the overall presentation is slick and immersive. The story is disappointing, however.
Graphics 9.0 - Stunning lighting, animations and a terrific art style. One of the most visually appealing games around.
Audio 9.0 - Good voice acting, great sound effects and a cool score.
Gameplay 9.0 - Phenomenal combat, rewarding exploration and hugely satisfying stealth play. Player choice is the definition of the experience.
Replayability 8.5 - The campaign is disappointingly short, at 6 hours, but the open level design and choice encourages at least another playthrough.
Overall - 9/10