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Dishonored
Welcome to the highly anticipated
open-world first person adventure game from Bethesda called
Dishonored that places players in a pseudo Steampunk universe
in a chaotic Victorian city. Set in an alternate reality that has some
parallels with games such as Assassin’s Creed, Deus Ex, Bioshock and
even a touch of the supernatural, Dishonored is easily one of the most
ambitious first person adventure games to date that thankfully doesn’t
box the player into a carefully scripted chain of events. Rather,
additional control is given to the player as they embark on a political
story of murder, intrigue, revenge and redemption. Unfortunately this
land is cursed and the rats of the city carrier this dangerous plague
which has seen many citizens of the Dunwall fall victim to this disease.
Co-designed by Harvey Smith of Warren
Spector’s Ion Storm Studio, Dishonored transforms players into
the Protector, one of the most trusted bodyguards of the Empress called
Corvo. However upon his early return to the kingdom, he is framed for
the murder of the empress and the kidnapping of her daughter which
places him in custody. With a new regime put in place, led by the newly
appointed Lord Reagent, not all the citizens of this kingdom are pleased
with the outcome with a small group of individuals setting themselves up
as freedom fighters. By freeing Corvo from prison, he agrees to bring
justice to the murderers and hopefully return the rightful heir to the
kingdom by becoming an assassin.
Armed with a strange mask to install horror
amongst his victims and a variety of strange new technologies, Corvo
embarks on a mission of revenge that even takes him down the path of the
supernatural. Mysterious forces have also chosen Corvo and have given
him the tools to use ancient magicks to support him with his cause.
Conversely, the creators of Dishonored have given the player their own
moral compass to follow. This means that your decisions will influence
the way the story plays out and whether you want to use cold blooded
murder or take the role of something nobler, it is entirely up to the
player. However depending on whether you employ order or chaos into the
world of Dunhall is a two edged sword because the more chaos you cause
(e.g. bloody murders), the higher the chaos becomes in the city.
The game starts with the player returning
from a mission for his Empress early. During this time, you are given a
small tutorial on the control system of the game that has been mapped
flawlessly onto the PS3 controller. Here you interact with characters
such as playing hide and seek with the Empress’ daughter, talk to other
nobles and then attempt to defend the empress from mysterious assassins
who seem to come out of the shadows. Defeated, broken and battered, you
are imprisoned for a crime that you did not commit, however your
salvation to freedom is just around the corner.
Although the game starts as something of a
renaissance/Steampunk game, a strange dream takes you to a place of
magic where you meet this strange individual who bestows supernatural
powers on your character. These powers are the twist to Dishonored and
create this interesting premise behind magic and technology. My
favourite “magic” in the game is possession which allows you to possess
animals and even humans. At first, you can only possess animals which is
quite fun but as your skills increase in witchcraft, so do your powers.
Another interesting spell in the game is the ability to freeze time
which allows you to get into all sorts of mischief such as placing traps
around your enemies or conveniently placing grenades next to them. As
you un-pause time, you can see your mischief unfold.
Combat is a key aspect of Dishonored and
the game gives the player a plethora of ways to dispose of your enemies,
whether through melee, ranged or magic attacks. Weapons range from
traditional swords to more whacky Steampunk inspired weapons and even
guns and grenades. You can also use magic to enhance your combat
abilities. As the moral compass is entirely up to the player, it is up
to you how you want to take down your opponents, whether you want to
slice their throats, shoot them or just knock them out, it is entirely
up to the player. If you want to keep with the stealth aspect of the
game, you do need to hide the bodies because if a guard sees an
unconscious or dead person, this will raise the alarm. Just be warned
that stealth can sometimes be quite frustrating as the guards have a
knack of catching you at the most inappropriate times. Missions are
quite diverse in the game and range from simple assassinations to
something more complex like searching for a particular item for one of
the NPC’s. You also have this “Q” like creator at your disposal as well
who helps Corvo create a variety of gadgets and weapons for his
missions.
Needless to say, there is quite a large
amount of diversity when it comes to missions and how to complete
missions. For example, early on in the game, one of freedom fighters
asks you not to hurt her uncle who is in the city guard and when you do
come across his character, it is up to you on whether you want to the
noble approach or something more sinister. Even getting to your intended
mission destinations can be achieved in a variety of ways such as hiding
in the shadows, using the rooftops or even going in with guns and
grenades blazing. NPC’s interact with your character quite differently
and when you have the mask, guards will immediately attack, whereas
citizens will flee. There is even a masked ball area in the game where
the guests actually comment on close your character looks like the
assassin Corvo. It's these subtle touches that makes Dishonored such an
impressive game.
As you interact with the gaming
environments, your powers are quite basic at the start as they allow you
to teleport or even see through walls. There is however a cost to use
these powers and in order to inherit more powerful spells, runes must be
found though the city of Dunwall. Runes are an interesting premise in
the game as they are not seen by normal people. Rather, you have been
given a magical heart that helps point you in the right direction to
where the runes are scattered. The heart has its own personality and
divulges secrets of the various areas where you visit. Combining spells
with items and weapons is quite reminiscent of a traditional RPG's as
opposed to a first person shooter which Dishonored borders on. Apart
from runes, you also have bone charms that are littered through the
gaming environment and serve as temporary boosts for your abilities.
From deep level design, great customisation for your character and a
variety of choices on how to solve the game, Dishonored is easily the
most original action game of the year.
Graphics/Audio
Graphically, Dishonored is quite a
cinematic experience and from the very first level, you immediately know
that you are in for an amazing adventure. Using the Unreal engine,
Dishonored carefully creates this engaging interactive world that melds
well with story and gameplay. The city of Dunwall looks like this
amazing Victorian city with twisted Steampunk technology. Characters are
well animated and costume designs create this authentic world of
diversity and exploration. Just be warned that the game can become quite
bloody. The only downside to the characters is the zombie-like
appearance of their faces which verge on creepiness, especially their
dead eyes. The lighting is gorgeous in the world of Dishonored as are
the water and magic effects which work hand-in-hand with the gameplay.
To complement the graphics, the voice acting is quite professional,
sound effects enhance the gameplay and the musical score suits the title
from the humble drama of the streets to the high action on the rooftops.
Final Thoughts
Dishonored is the thinking man's first
person shooter but throw those guns away as there are so many more
interesting ways to take on your enemies. With a great protagonist,
interesting characters and well-written story, it's games like
Dishonored that really make you sit up and take notice. It's original
and gives almost total control to the player on how the story and game
will play out. With elements of RPG meets first person shooter,
Dishonored is the game to all fans of both these genres and beyond.
Highly Recommended! |
