Big thank you to Scott Barklam for writing this review:
Dishonored...Not spelt correctly as far as I’m concerned but I’ll let it go, because it’s bloody awesome. How shall I go about reaching my current target? A question many of us will have asked ourselves playing many titles across many platforms in recent times what with the Assassins Creed series for example, the answer to that question is often sadly rather straight forward. Dishonored however is different. The standard approaches that have been with us since the days of the original Thief for example are still there, sneak about and stab a few people to open routes or butcher them all for the hell of it, whichever takes your fancy you’re well catered for here. Aha! I hear you say, there's plenty of other content out there, so why would I play Dishonored? I can do all that in other games. My response to this is simple and forms the basis of what makes Dishonored one of the greatest stab'em ups of the last decade.
In those other titles can you possess a fish and use a drain to sneak right into the heart of the enemy undetected? Nope. Can you wait for a troublesome opponent to draw his pistol, fire sure in the knowledge he's about to get some serious man points for f**king up the master assassin only to then find himself chewing on his own bullet? Nope! A cunning use of Dishonored’s mystical power system and a personal favourite I’ll cover in more detail in due course, its moments like these that will make you fall in love with the game.
We'll begin this short rundown proper with the setting and story, graphically a very pleasing 19th century steam punk inspired recreation of London gripped in the clutches of plague. Technologies, vaunted to save the people from this disaster are, much like was the case in our London back in the day, the cause of it owing to the overcrowding and slum like conditions industrialisation brings. This is further reinforced as the architect of this technological revolution claims to get much of his inspiration directly or not from a shadowy figure known simply as The Outsider. Seemingly a deity at times oddly warm towards the fate of men and at others predictably demonic, cold and uncaring. Either way he's not adverse to a bit of claret being splashed on the walls, if you as Corvo Attano, the games protagonist, deem it necessary.
It’s this chap who, after being accused and sent to prison for murdering the Empress, gives you the opportunity to restore your name, or kill everyone who is of the mind your a no good psychopath. Corvo a dedicated servant of the Empress, Lord Protector of the royal house, feared and respected is an excellent character concept from the offset. You’re neither a super soldier (at least to begin with) nor an unstoppable force. It’s how you play him that makes you the shadow of death or justice, if you choose to subdue those who are unfortunate to be in your sights but have no direct involvement with the plot that sees you in irons. The game will actually reflect the choices you make as you go. Bludgeon your way through early levels as I did on my first play through and the end game will be considerably harder and darker. More guards, officers, dogs, great big honking gun towers will all appear in a somewhat forlorn attempt to stop the understandably p**sed off Corvo.
You see the majority of 'enemies' in the game, guards for example are just doing their job, much as you were. And as far as they are concerned you murdered their Empress. It’s their duty to stop you, so technically speaking they aren’t your enemies at all and the game plays on this wonderfully by letting you spare them all. You literally don’t have to kill anyone is this game, but where’s the fun in that?
This brings us onto the weapons and 'powers' not all of them are meant to kill but pretty much all of them can if used properly. Your enemies will follow fairly bog standard patrol routines, interspaced with some chin waggling concerning your latest exploits, be them good or bad. The guards will work together to hunt you, searching under tables etc if you've been spotted in an area. Get yourself cornered and they'll call for backup and you can quickly find yourself in a bit of bother. Fortunately you have some nifty tools at your disposal, and occasionally a firearm equipped guard will blow away one of his buddies whilst trying to slip one between your eyes which is always helpful. Firstly you have the sword, a butterfly sword to be exact, this deploys in a pleasing blur of metal similar to a butterfly knife. Anyone who's messed with one of those probably has a good understanding of how it works or has a few holes in themselves from trying. Other than this it’s a standard put pointy end in someone you don’t like and they shut up affair. Bolstering this you have a crossbow, which fires standard bolts, incendiary fire and perhaps the most useful sleep bolt, which as the name would suggest, puts targets to sleep. Grenades are always fun, a pistol for the standard shooting enemies in the face and a 'spring razor' - basically a nail bomb. So apart from a few interesting variations it’s a fairly standard loadout. But wait you have 'Powers' as well and this is where Dishonored sets itself apart from the rest.
As was previously hinted there are some truly devious combinations possible, you could simply use Whirlwind to blast enemies into objects or each other. Blink allows you to teleport yourself around the map but can also be used offensively to close distance on a foe. Or combine a few powers for some genuinely entertaining death dealing. Why not wait for that officer to pull his pistol, stop time as he shoots and whilst time is still paused possess your primary target, position him in front of the bullet then revert back into your own body. You may even have just enough time (it’s still at a standstill remember) to hop out of the nearest window. Time resumes and the scene in the room is very different to what you would expect in any other game of this genre. The target is dead, shot by the guard who will swear blindly he was aiming at Corvo, who no one else still living has any memory of being there. It’s safe to say the guard is off to the loony bin or worse, whilst you can make your merry way off to safety. It’s how you choose to take on missions that will ultimately determine what powers you choose to unlock. Rage filled killing machine? Then you'll want level 2 Whirlwind which is something akin to force push. Stealthy ninja type? Dark vision may be what you need, allowing you to see enemies through walls and showing you what they can see in the form of vision cones, very useful if you wish to remain totally undetected. The controls are well mapped and are easy to get to grips with. Your selected power is always on the left trigger and this can be changed with a handy pop up wheel o'death selection screen as can your weapons. Your sword is always in your right hand, as it should be, so don’t worry about fiddling for a weapon in the middle of a scrap.
It’s this variation in how you approach missions that gives the game the vast majority of its replayability. There are usually at least 2 methods for removal of a target in a mission, be it lethal or non lethal and that’s without mentioning which weapon or power you would use to achieve your goal. You could use none for example and let an AI character do the dirty work for you. So however you choose to approach Dishonored, it's a game that asks you to think, plan and be smart. It's a wonderfully empowering game because of this, as you lurk in the shadows knowing the powers you possess and the options you have. It's elegantly designed to make the most of those tools, but isn't afraid of changing the rules in order to keep its (admittedly quite predictable) story bubbling along. It ends rather abruptly, and it is a curious oversight that you cannot take the powers you have earned into a new game. Neither can you revisit missions with your full arsenal, the game resetting your powers to those you had during your original playthrough. It's odd because Dishonored is a game that begs for this kind of replay.
In all Dishonored is a welcome departure from the usual go here kill this formula, bringing enough fresh material and ideas to rejuvenate a somewhat stale genre. Minor issues with the mission replay options aside it comes highly recommended. 9/10