A civilization and a nation left to fall into ruin.
The scene is set, a grimy, ruined, crumbling down port city. A civilization and a nation left to fall into ruin. A horde of rats infesting and overrunning everything in sight. Killing all their victims slowly through a plague. A town whose riches were built by mining whale oil which powers the cities circuits. A city filled with evil power-hungry seeking individuals.
It all starts taking shape when the Empress gets assassinated and when Emily (the empress’s daughter) is taken. Corvo, the man framed for the murder, now needs to prove his innocence and undertakes the mission to save the young (now new) empress and while trying to stay alive throughout all the mess.
Revenge can be a dangerous weapon once placed in the wrong hands, however throughout Dishonored you can choose how to use this weapon. Take the path of slaughtering everyone who sides with the people that wronged you, leaving a dark cold ending, or play the game without killing a single soul. NOW you’re probably wondering how you could beat a game without killing all the bosses, but Dishonored gives you the options to go in completely neutral. Yes, even the bosses can be “removed” without killing, which will result in a “lighter” ending for the player.Since it affects the outcome of the game’s story it’s important to choose when (and possibly more importantly) when not to kill your enemies. For example, killing more guards or thugs results in more bodies lying around and with more bodies around the more hungry, blood thirsty, plague-spreading rats you’ll find.
However, not everyone’s first playthrough can be perfect! I had to learn the hard way not to go in and kill everything I see.Throughout the game we see a lot of brutality and many different kinds of enemy. From rats, the infected, thugs, guards and many more. It kinda reminds me of cat and mouse chase, except you’re the mouse and everyone else is a pack of deadly cats. Be very careful what you do as it’s your survival on the line!
After the Empress was murdered, and with her killer on the loose, the unfairness and inequality of everyone’s environment soon turns into the perfect storm as violence quickly overruns the city. We see the higher ups of society enjoying the wealthy lifestyle they have while the poor suffer and are the first to be affected by the plague.
One mission I really enjoyed was Lady Boyle’s Last Party. Three sisters throwing a wealthy affair decide to play a game with the guests. The rules are simple, find the “correct Boyle sister” to win the game! And by finding I mean eliminate (at least for you). However, you will get a request from Lord Brisby who will ask you to bring the right sister to him. This changes with each playthrough, so you have the option to either kill or kidnap. Lord Brisby promises that nobody will ever hear from Lady Boyle again if you do agree to his terms and bring her to him. Or if you’re not feeling like she deserves to survive just storm in and massacre everyone!!
We all go through life with the choices we make and we all have to deal with the consequences of them. We don’t always consider how they affect others as long as we are the one who is happy. With my first playthrough I ran in completed the job and that was it. Until I saw the ending and how it affected everything, it left me wondering that a killer can’t be a savior and a hero. Sure my Corvo got the job done but how would that have affected the next game? If I was able to carry over my story? How would it have affected Emily? Although you don’t have the choices we see from other games like Mass Effect e.g we still get to shape the story through the tone we set. For example the end of the game’s atmosphere shows it best, and if you’ve played the game already you’ll know what I mean, but have you ever noticed that if you have a low chaos count Samuel is nice to you and he drops you off in daytime but if you have a higher chaos count he is SUPER mean and drops you off at night. Everything looking grim and dark?
Dishonored gives so many options to enter a location to take out a target but it also gives you so many ways to explore the environment. By customizing Corvo’s moves and abilities to your liking you can climb on top of rooftops and look for a way in, transform into a rat and move through small holes for e.g. or if you are the kind of player that enjoys storming in then go ahead. This is the kind of customization and interaction we need from more games in my opinion!
The game has a lot to offer when it comes to skills and unlocking upgrades. Skills like Blink (Which allows Corvo to move forward abnormally fast), Domino (which allows Corvo to link targets in order for them to be knocked unconscious or killed simultaneously), Stop Time (as the name suggests it allows Corvo to stop time for a short time) and a lot more skills which are all upgradable to make them stronger, allowing you to do some pretty awesome things! You’ll know best when it comes to your playstyle and previous experience with other games as to what kind of playthrough you want. For me and my first playthrough I wanted to shapeshift, be super fast and deadly since I did not know what to expect when I first saw the game. I found myself only focusing on upgrading abilities that helped me murder everyone in my path to get revenge for the Empress and that helped me progress quickly throughout the story.
Seeing Corvo’s powers might be super cool and all but the game also gives the player the visceral and incredibly satisfying feel of using a pistol, crossbow, knife, grenades and many more weapons to slaughter and incapacitate your enemies with. Which again can all be upgraded and improved to better your playstyle. The player can also enjoy a playthrough of only using the man made weapons and decline the offer of getting enhanced, inhuman skills. Though in my opinion it’s so much more fun to have the abilities!!
Whether you enjoy a calm playthrough and hiding in the shadows, or blazing through buildings in a destructive whirlwind is your kind of thing, the story this game delivers really deserves more than a single playthrough! Not only does the game allow you to relive previous playthroughs but allows you to replay it in different ways. With a story that jumps right into the action from start to finish to discovering hidden treasures, all while taking you on a colorful yet brutal adventure. Not only is the story and gameplay incredibly well thought out and paced to perfection but the game also offers visually stunning and well designed surroundings. The mashup between the feel of an industrial superpower with forbidden magics and unknown forces sprinkled in isn’t something I thought could work so well, but it really is a beautiful combination!! All of the characters and NPC’s we meet are designed to really breathe life into the world the developers have created for us.
Dishonored had me googling a lot of its voice actors as I found myself pausing the game often once I recognised a voice. I thought it was incredibly cool that the gaming industry and community has grown to such a big scale that Hollywood actors also take part in playing and voicing the characters in these games! And let me tell you, this game has some big Hollywood stars bringing characters to life!!
“I challenge you to give Dishonored a playthrough and see how many voices you recognize.
Overall it’s a fun game that challenges the player on different levels. It’s a game like many others that I enjoy and will continue to replay and try and improve my stealth skills. Although the graphics perhaps don’t stand up to today’s impossibly high standards, I still can’t find other faults with the game. The game is well beyond its time for a game that was released back in 2012. And considering it has a fascinating story which keeps the player engaged and on edge looking for the best route to complete each mission, it really did redefine what the stealth/action genre could be.
The video below will show you one of the best High Chaos Stealth mode players I have ever seen 0_0)
When was the last time you played the 2012 hit Dishonored? Are you a High Chaos (adrenaline junky) or Low Chaos (stealth mode) player?
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