So, I recently played through Bethesda’s great new video game, Dishonored. Bethesda has a tradition of some really amazing games, and this one is no exception to the legacy at all. In fact, some of the things that I really disliked about Skyrim, Bethesda’s current breadwinner, were fixed and even improved upon. The engine used for the animations and the motions that are used throughout the game are so much more fluid than in ES5, and the gameplay play much tighter because of it.
This game pits Corvo, the Empress’ Lord Protector, against a mad plot to rain chaos down upon this alternate steampunk-inspired world. The Empress is killed, and the murder is blamed on Corvo. As the Ex-Lord Protector, you must break out of the most secure jail in the country, find people who sympathize with you and realize that you weren’t the killer. From that point, the game is up to you. You can quite easily try and kill everybody who sticks out their head far enought for a bullet. For those who feel so inclined, you can also choose to protect all human life, innocent or not. Your choices as a killer or redeemer will effect the whole outcome of the game.
Each and every mission can be completed in multiple ways. There is always one primary goal, neutralize the target, but there is always a way of eliminating the target without killing them. This leads to a bunch of different ways to enter, exit, and traverse the world’s maps. You can walk in the front door, shooting your heavily modified pistol in every single person’s face, you could adopt a stealthier, I-will-never-be-detected kind of approach, or even blend them together for a tactic that stresses lethality, and also silence. This was my tactic. You can rely solely on your technologies, or you can invest time and runes into powers granted to you by the Outsider. He is kind of catalyst for change that compels others to walk the lines between good and evil to maintain balance in the world. These powers can be used to teleport across short distances, take over someone’s body, create plague rats, or even see through walls and equipment to look for people and traps! Creepy, isn’t it?
Dishonored features an array of really well established characters, from admirals, to tinkers, to chemists, to Emily, potentially the best video game NPC I have ever had the honor of playing alongside. You can watch the people on the island become darker or brighter based on the way that you handle major and even minor events.For example, Piero, the tinker, can be found at multiple instances over the course of the game spying through peepholes into rooms where ladies are bathing. How you handle your conversations about it with him make or break the way you interact with him over the course of the game.
This beautifully, non linearly built, and delightfully quirky release has made me really appreciate stealth gaming so much more, and I know that you would be able to appreciate it too. Happy hunting, and remember, the Outsider walks with us.
Demand Freedom 