There is still good in the world. You are the bodyguard to the empress. Your one task, above all else, is to ensure her safety. You fail and are blamed for her assassination. Now it is time that you took your revenge on those who killed her.
1. Gameplay
In a recent interview, one of the developers of Dishonored said that more games should give players nonlethal choices. Dishonored is an odd game in that it is technically a first-person shooter that tasks the player with assassinating a set of targets, but can be completed without killing anyone. That’s not a typo, you are an assassin able to eliminate targets without killing a single person. It’s a bit confusing, but basically the player can choose to approach the game in one of two ways. He can kill all of his targets using a variety of bloody, violent methods or he can sneakily eliminate targets and “obstacles” (aka people) through other nonlethal means. There is always a nonlethal way to eliminate a target, but it’s up to the player to figure out what that method is and perform it without getting caught. When I originally started this game I expected something good but was disappointed at the prospect of stealth. I’ve played stealth-based games like Splinter Cell and was thoroughly bored. Most of the time those games involve waiting for the opportune moment to sneak past an enemy and move on to the next section. Dishonored isn’t like that. The player has to be fast, quickly moving from one location to another, taking out targets and then moving their unconscious bodies to a location where they will not be discovered. There is some waiting and a ton of planning, but the actual execution is great. And the best part is that the game gives the player plenty of choices. There are plenty of paths to take and different methods to use. While I chose to usually stick to rooftops and other high heights to evade enemies, other players may not choose that path. They may choose to possess fish and rats in order to infiltrate bases or to create a distraction in one area and sneak through the front door. It allows each player to go through the game in the way that they consider to be best, not the way that the developers consider to be best. Dishonored was an awesome game. The only disappointing part was that it was so short. I wanted the story to keep going so that I could learn about new characters and try to figure out how to approach new scenarios. This is definitely a game worth playing.
The exact length of Dishonored will change significantly depending on how the player approaches each scenario. Given the right powers, the right items, and the right circumstances, a player can accomplish each assassination in under 30 minutes. A speed run of the game could result in its completion in under 6 hours. However, players who choose to take the stealthier approach will spend a significantly longer time preparing and executing their plans. It took me a little over 15 hours to complete the entire campaign. I was extremely cautious and worked tirelessly to get the best ending possible within a reasonable amount of time. I loaded from a previous save whenever I made a mistake, so sometimes 30 minutes of time would be spent trying to clear a single area. Unfortunately, once a player gets the best ending possible, there’s little replayability. There are two different possible endings, but the differences between them are overall fairly subtle and would require a complete replay of the game in order to see. Until some sort of expansion pack or DLC comes out, I don’t see myself going back and replaying this game.
This game is extremely well designed and very smooth overall, which prevents almost all potential frustration from the mechanics of the game. There will be plenty of health vials and “spirit elixirs” to keep the player going. Enemies can be difficult to beat but aren’t impossible. As long as the player learns to incorporate the use of powers within his play-style, there won’t be much of an issue. That is, unless the player decides to take the stealthier, less violent route, which will make the game significantly more challenging. As I mentioned before, the player can go through the entire game without killing a single person (I succeeded in this, so I know it’s possible). However, it will not be easy to accomplish. There will be plenty of times when one wrong move will alert the enemy to the player’s presence, which will either result in a battle or in the player reloading from a previous save. Either way, a significant portion of my playthrough was devoted to repeating the same sections over and over again in order to get them as close to perfect as possible. It was not easy, and at times I got annoyed. But, as I said, it is possible to accomplish this game perfectly. 2. Parental Factors
The amount of violence in this game will depend directly on the player’s chosen style. I chose to complete the game “nonlethally”, so I completed the game without killing anyone. That doesn’t mean my playthrough was completely devoid of violence, however. It just meant that I would choke enemies to unconsciousness. They would always survive, but it is still a bit violent. The result of my stealthiness would be evident in the small rooms and “safe places” where I could stash my unconscious targets so that they wouldn’t be found by people I had yet to neutralize. Some rooms would have small piles of up to six unconscious bodies. Players who choose the more violent path will attack enemies with a small arsenal of weapons. Hits will result in some blood, but most of it is lost in the overall chaos of battle. This is especially true if the player uses the pistol, which results in a huge bang and lots of smoke. Violence levels spike if the player uses certain powers. For example, the player can summon a horde of rats to eat his enemies. When this happens, the rats kill and consume the enemy’s entire body (bones and all) within a matter of seconds. I also found that if the player used the whirlwind power to send an enemy into a wall or object at high speed, that the enemy would be dismembered. For example, one time I threw an enemy into a spool of heavy chain. His entire body seemed to fall apart and left a huge red streak of blood on the chains. Each assassination target has a specific “execution” that the player can perform. However, in order to see this, the player has to be facing the target and kill said target with a sword. It is extremely difficult to pull off, especially considering that all targets will either be fighting back (meaning getting a finishing blow in with the sword is difficult) or running away (meaning that they’ll be turning away from you the entire time). However, if the player manages to kill an enemy with a sword while facing him, the results can be pretty gruesome. Keep in mind that the levels of violence will depend on the player’s style. I expect that most players will take the stealthier, nonlethal route since it leads to the “good” ending. Graphic violence like that shown above will be non-existent to those players.
Sexuality makes its appearance in subtle ways. The most obvious is within “The Golden Cat”, a building that is described by the locals as either a bathhouse or a brothel. Either way, the purpose of The Golden Cat isn’t for bathing, it’s for men to spend time with women. The brothel isn’t the house of debauchery one would expect to see, though. It actually seems like more of a place where men pay to spend time with beautiful women. I checked the brothel fairly extensively, and sex is never taking place in any room. The only weird thing is an artist who happens to have a fetish for electrocution. The player can turn up his voltage in order to get information from him. It ends up being a bit unpleasant for the artist. There is one instance where the player can walk in on another character peeping through a keyhole at a woman taking a bath. After the player dismisses the man, the player can walk into the bath on the woman, who is very surprised but not as angry as she should be. After a brief conversation, the player can ask her "Want some company?" She replies and says that under other circumstances maybe, but the plague has a way of turning a woman off. That's all that transpires. Sexuality is implied in a number of texts that the player can pick up and read. Of course, this requires the player to find such texts and read them despite the fact that the numerous books found in the game give no vital information to the story or its future outcome. They’re just interesting pieces of lore that the player can discover. Even the texts in which sexuality is included don’t have any graphic language.
The player will be consuming items somewhat regularly. There are lots of food items that can be found around the world. Eating these items will give the player a small amount of health. There are health vials that the player can consume for a greater amount of health. These are small, red potions that can be found or bought in many places. I made regular use of these in my playthroughs. There are also similar blue potions that give the player a large amount of mana. The player will also have the ability to use “sleep darts”, which have some sort of fast-acting sleep agent that can render a target unconscious in a matter of seconds. It is considered to be a nonlethal action, however, since it cannot kill a target. There are other, less noticeable potions and substances (such as hemlock essence) that can be found in the game, but the player cannot consume any of these items. Instead, they are picked up and instantly exchanged for money. Some characters can, on rare occasions, be seen smoking or drinking. The player takes a drink as a toast later in the game as well. This is used as a means for the player's allies to poison the player in order to get rid of him permanently. There are some rare instances when substances are used in a specific way. For example, there is a brewery in one of the areas in the city. Within the brewery, a gang is making watered down health potions and selling them on the black market. The player can choose to infect these health potions with the plague, which will cause more people to be infected in the next chapter.
The player can see two random characters talking about gambling at one point in the game but it’s very brief and so easy to miss that its likely most players wouldn’t even notice it. As a result, gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
There are two “religions” that will be present within Dishonored. The first is the state-approved church known as the “Abbey of the Everyman”. The Abbey is mentioned a few times, especially early in the game, but that is mostly because the player is charged with eliminating the High Overseer (the man in charge of the Abbey). The Abbey draws parallels to the Catholic Church and the Church of England, which have influenced government decisions and policies on macro and micro levels. Similarly, the Abbey is said to have considerable political influence on the city of Dunwall. The second religion is a sort of underground cult spread by the masses. The believers worship “The Outsider”, some sort of god that influences the events within the world. His motives are difficult to decipher, but he directly intervenes in the player’s fate and gives the player the magical abilities that he will make use of for the entirety of the game. He seems to take a morbid curiosity in how the player will punish those who assassinated the empress. The player will find a number of shrines to The Outsider, all of which have a special bone rune at the center. The player can use this rune to gain new powers.
The local law enforcement within the city of Dunwall is presented as overall good men ruled by corrupt and power-hungry superiors. Unfortunately, the player’s actions are in direct violation to local laws. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the player is a fugitive accused of murdering the Empress. This means that any law enforcement agent is ordered to kill the player on sight, which can make things rather tricky. The way that the player deals with these law enforcement agents will depend on how the player chooses to approach the game. If a player chooses to be nonlethal, he will choke many officers into unconsciousness, but otherwise leave them unharmed. If the player chooses to be violent, he will undoubtedly kill numerous law enforcement agents over the course of the campaign.
There are no multiplayer modes for this game.
Extreme sports are a minor factor in this game. If the player takes a sneakier approach, he will be constantly moving along roofs, piping, and air conditioning units. Heights will be meaningless as long as they provide a bit of cover so that the player can move around undetected. The player cannot run particularly quickly or jump unnaturally high, but he can use one of his powers to travel across distances without ever touching the ground. It’s a pretty awesome effect that can be used to reach impossible locations in the blink of an eye. It’s not much of a sport since it’s completely impossible to perform in real life, but it’s close enough that it deserves mention.
Magic will play a significant role in this game. The player will go through the game constantly using different magic-based powers to sneak around, get from one location to another, and combat his foes. Some of the powers are fairly benign. For example, the teleportation power simply allows the player to cross far distances instantly. There is also a sort of x-ray vision that allows the player to see people and objects through walls. Both of these are vital for players that prefer the nonlethal stealth options. Other powers can slow time, possess enemies, or send them flying back with a gust of wind. There is even a power that will summon a horde of rats to quickly eat enemies and bodies. My stealth-based playthrough absolutely required the use of teleport and x-ray vision. They were invaluable in reaching high places, quickly moving into and out of a position, and piecing together a strategy of attack. Consequently, I used those two spells constantly. Even if a player decides to choose a more open, run-and-gun style of play, spells will be valuable in taking on foes. Considering the player is constantly outnumbered and the foes are not exactly easy to deal with, the use of spells will always be required when completing missions. The player can also find magically infused runes and bone charms. The runes can be used to purchase and upgrade magical abilities. The bone charms will give bonuses to the player when they are equipped. On rare occasions, the player will have to enter a magical dream world where The Outsider resides. However, since this is a dream, it is not a significant factor on the overall magic rating.
Torture There are only two times when torture is a factor in Dishonored. First, after the empress is executed and the player is captured, there is a scene where he is interrogated and tortured with the hopes of forcing him to confess to the crime. It’s a very brief scene, though. Secondly, if the player chooses the nonlethal option, there is an artist that has a fetish for electrocution-based interrogation. The player has the opportunity to take advantage of his fetish and torture the artist into giving up the code for a safe. The electrocution hurts the artist but cannot kill him. Prostitution
While prostitution is implied within The Golden Cat (after all, it is a brothel), it is never explicitly stated.
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