Seemingly every modern game released promises to be different, to pose multiple choices with diverse ramifications and to be artistically unique. Dishonored is one of those games, but can it deliver upon it’s foretelling, or will it quietly recede into the background, falling victim to it’s own hype?
There are two main characters at work here in Dishonored, the protagonist Corvo Attano, and the beautifully realised city of Dunwall. Both are mute, yet pivotal to the story, atmosphere and engagement of the player. Enjoying it’s industrial boom with whale oil at the helm, Dunwall is home to a lovely sea view, corruption of power and a diminishing population due to a slight rat-plague infestation. That’s not to spoil the return of Corvo, the Empress’s legendary bodyguard, fresh from his voyage however. Being framed for her murder merely 10 minutes after arriving and slung into prison may put a slant on your day though.
Here begin the many gameplay choices presented to you, after getting used to the controls, and choking a few hapless guards out of course, I came across my first dilemma. I wished to explore the area, yet many guards stood before me, I contemplated clambering up the nearby pipe and sneakily stealth-ing my way past them, but I figured I’d have to get used to the combat mechanics at some point. My imagination reeled at the dance of macabre I would perform, inflicting death and destruction to all nearby; with the memories of the game’s trailers still fresh in mind, I jumped in sword-a-swinging. Instead, I was treated to a sound beating. Only after some grimaces, a marginally altered gameplan and a refreshing tin of brined hagfish was I ready to proceed.
Skipping forward a couple of hours and I’m set. I’ve got new friends that don’t want to kill me in a sewer, some upgrades, the power of teleportation and a hideous beating heart I can point at people to learn of their dark secrets. From now on, the game opens up, tasking you with assassinating targets. Each mission takes place in a sandbox style area with many routes, guards and secrets along the way. This is also where the choice of gameplay variety opens up, either ‘blink’ (teleport) your war across rooftops and into shadow leaving your presence a mystery and an afterthought, or swathe in, crossbow twanging and sword duly coated in your enemies regrets. Or alternatively, a profound measure of the two, when one goes bad, switch it up on the fly to regain the advantage.
A meter in the menus indicates which style of play you generally have affinity for and an end of level report clarifies this on a per mission basis. Either killing like a man possessed or leaving things be will alter the ending, and in fact, the later missions. Spill too much blood and you’ll find extra security as well as a more rampant plague to hinder your progress. The main assassinations can also be dealt with in a myriad of ways, perhaps a point blank gunshot is your thing, or perhaps an environmental kill would ease the burden? Fatality can be avoided altogether if you wish a clean conscience, but don’t expect to please everyone with your actions. Occasionally, side missions present themselves via the wish of an NPC; completing these often directly conflict with the orders you’re given, so planning can be essential.
With the environments catering to all powers, secrets are great fun to find; with some requiring more thought than others. The game encourages creativity in progression, the ‘light walls’ being a succinct example. Either destroy them, attempt to find a way around and bypass them completely, or even reverse the targeting so that they will grant only you passage, leaving a nasty surprise for any patrolling/pursuing guards. Being limited to first person view has advantages and disadvantages in a game such as this of course. For the most part, it’s immersive, tense and it makes combat more visceral. On the other hand, it can make ‘platforming’ a little tricky. Not knowing exactly when you can jump leads to some inevitably frustrating deaths, the checkpointing system more often than not ensures you won’t have to replay a ton of content, yet there are also manual saves which can be performed at any point whilst not in combat, letting you plan an action, implement it poorly, screw it up and try again with minimal fuss.
Graphically divisive, Dishonored combines a unique blend of style over substance, textures are never that sharp, instead opting for a smoother pallet and relying upon artistic direction to create an overall look of distinction. Character modelling assumes an almost soft composition, whilst still remaining potentially gruesome should the situation dictate. Voice work is also exemplary, employing big hitters such as Carrie Fisher and Lena Headey is just another reminder that gaming has become a much larger medium of late and can/will appeal to a wider audience given chance.
Owing to the fact that there are two radically different endings, and that you cannot possibly acquire all of the upgrades in one playthrough, Dishonored demands multiple attempts at completion. It’s range of difficulties and challenges to suit all players will hopefully negate the slightly short completion time, yet with all the differing avenues, collectibles and lore available in game, it would do it injustice to leave it at one anyway. With certain assassin style games resorting to melee combat with a super-pope, it’s invigorating to play a game that has the style of Bioshock, the execution of Hitman and more importantly, delivery of it’s promises.
Reviewed on PS3, also available on Xbox 360 and PC.
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