You have me convinced to put it back on my Gamefly list. What would you rate the difficulty?
Rat Assassin- Kat's Dishonored Review
Game Review | October 29, 2012 12:41 pm
By Moo Lissa
DISHONORED
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
Release Date: October 9, 2012
If I had to describe the game Dishonored in one word, it would have to be ambitious. The game attempts to do many things that other games have tried before, but all together in a large, genre bending melting pot of a game.
The story couldn’t be called complex, or even revolutionary. It’s a run of the mill story of a good guy who tries to redeem himself after being accused of a crime that he didn’t commit, but who is himself just a pawn in the big picture. You play Corvo, the protector of the Empress Jessamine (which sounds like a weird Pokemon reference) and her daughter Emily (whose relationship with Corvo gave off a weird maybe-too-intimate vibe, IMO) in a heavily industrial city called Dunwall. Dunwall is reminiscent of London in the 1800s, but with a steampunk flair to it.
The cursed city of Dunwall... How big it is, I cannot say.
The game gives you choices along Corvo’s path, allowing you to choose just how far he’s willing to go to achieve his goals. Whether he is completely ruthless, willing to slaughter everyone in his path, friends and enemies alike, or he stays true to his good guy roots and slips through the game like a shadow, is a choice left to the player. Most of the characters who ally themselves with Corvo are one dimensional, and never get truly fleshed out with back stories or even a real answer to the big question of why they do what they do. Corvo himself is a silent protagonist, like Gordon Freeman, Jack, etc… as such he never truly develops as a character or becomes relatable. The plot twist towards the end isn’t one that players won’t see coming a mile away, but still the whole thing comes off as charming and engrosses you as you play through the world.
Loveable thugs... What rapscallions!
The gameplay offers you two different ways to play. Either use your assassin blade, crossbow and pistol to leave a bloody trail of bodies after you as you move through the world, destroying the already destroyed cities even further, or slink around in the shadows, not being seen, and not killing. Of course players can also choose a path in between the two, but in the end, you have to choose whether your world is a world of chaos or not.
Honestly, the option to go through this game without killing anyone is robbing players of the fantastic weapons and powers and grisly death scenes that make the game one of the most fun action games released for the Xbox 360. Your sword is a bringer of death and destruction, as you take enemies heads off in one stroke. Crossbows can also decapitate and dismember, and it’s not uncommon to find a body part bolted to the wall behind the corpse- allowing you to retrieve your bolt, of course. Pistols have incredible destructive power, nearly exploding into enemies, knocking them back, and often killing them in one hit. Among other things, powers allow you to possess animals and enemies, slow time, knock people back, see through walls and are easy to switch between on the fly. The controls are responsive and offer a very fluid combat experience even for beginners. A play through where you murderously rampage through the game will be 8-10 of the most fun hours you’ll experience.
Trust me... He asked for it.
The stealth parts of the game are less polished, althought still among the better stealth games up to this point. I guess most of my issues come because of the first person view. There's not a solid cover system, just fling yourself behind and under stuff, and you’re never quite sure if you’re visible. The game gives you the ability to lean from behind cover and remain unseen to check if enemies are coming, however the view means there will often be enemies you didn’t know about coming up behind you while you’re peering around a corner. Enemies have a limited field of vision, and there is a power that makes it visible for you, but they are thorough in checking every nook and cranny when they’re alerted to an intruder. Sounds can also draw their attention, which can help you or hurt you- and it's usually hurt. It’s possible to use non-lethal stealth takedowns and sleep bolts on your enemies, but the game occasionally didn’t register them correctly for me, and I kept finishing levels with kills, even when I was positive I hadn’t killed anyone. Relying on sleep bolts doesn’t get you very far, either, as you can only carry 10 of them with you at any time and they aren’t found in many places as you go through levels. Going through the game without killing anyone is a painstaking process requiring many saves, mostly trial and error, and a lot of patience. I don’t have patience. I salute anyone who does, but it’s just not my thing.
You thought you were sneaking, huh?
It's not that the stealth parts aren’t extremely fun and rewarding when done right- but it is frustrating to keep restarting, or to get to the end of a level and have it say someone saw you or you killed someone when you don't have a clue when that happened. So for people who aren’t great at stealth games and lack the patience to crawl through every level, stealth may be a part of the game that they skip.
That is a shame, because without the stealth run through, this is a game that will take you less than 10 hours and net you under 600 points. Since every action you do is supposed to affect the game world, there’s supposed to be a lot of incentive to go back through the game and play it the opposite way… but it won’t change the story largely or give you any more quests. It certainly wasn't enough to make me go back through the game again, although I did try several times.
Dishonored isn’t particularly attractive, quite honestly there are times that the graphics look like last gen graphics, and the mouth movements during discussions are laughable. That seems to be 90% the style of the game, though, and 10% lack of skill or effort. The graphics, characters and scenery all fit in with the steampunk theme. The characters are atrociously ugly, the cities are dingy and disgusting, and the overwhelming imagery of the game is depressing and disease ridden. That makes sense, since the city is suffering from a plague and rat infestation, and people are dying all around you.
The fact that someone would pay for this shows the desperation in Dunwall.
In fact, the run down appearance of the city really gives Dunwall the same feeling that Rapture had. Deserted, messages spray painted throughout, bodies strewn about, and the only clues to the inhabitants of some places are audio recordings you collect. Unlike Rapture, the city wasn’t actually abandoned, but between the police that are ordered to kill anyone out after curfew and the thugs that control the streets, people mostly keep hidden. The result of this is a mostly lonely experience that feels a bit post-apocalyptic in between quest givers. It does help with immersion, and pulls you into the game a little more than if you were walking through bustling streets.
Another whore house pic... Because I can.
A weird thing about the game is that even though the game really feels like you’re walking through the streets of London, most of the voice actors are American. While confusing, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, because when I hear English accents in games, I have a hard time taking them seriously. I don’t know if it’s Monty Python or Fable, but I think American accents just work better for serious games. Not like just any Americans are in this game, it's a showcase of big names and big talents! Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, John Slattery, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Lena Headey to name a few. Bethesda didn’t spare any expense to flesh out their cast, and the actors are all excellent. My personal favorite is Al Rodrigo as the gravelly thug leader Slackjaw. So the cast may seem a bit discordant compared with the setting, they’re fantastic actors and do a wonderful job. Combined with the excellent music and sounds in the game, the sound is just about perfect.
TL;DR? Then just look at the scores!
Plot: 7
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Replay Value: 8
Audio: 10
TOTAL SCORE (not an average): 8.5
While the story isn’t the freshest (or most stale) that will come out this year, the game seems about 10 hours too short for a single play through, and the stealth additions to this game may not appeal to everyone, Dishonored takes the best parts from really good games (Deus Ex, Bioshock, Fable, Assassins Creed) and mixes them together into something truly enjoyable for most gamers. This is- so far- one of the best games that I have played this year.
Rating: 8.5 of 10
Reviewed: Dishonored
Keywords: None
Then again, I've paid full price for worse games, lol.
