Dishonored

How would seek your revenge, would you kill anyone in your path or make them suffer using nonlethal methods? Dishonored gives you these choices and more as you transverse the wonderfully crafted world of Dunwall as you seek retribution for those who orchestrated your downfall and took someone dear to you. The immense routes and ways you can use to murder or evade your enemies and complete your missions makes Dishonored an incredibly flexible and engaging title. 

You play as Corvo Attano, the former head bodyguard of the empress and her daughter Emily who ruled the port city of Dunwall. The disease infested port has suffered severe death tolls due to the rat-born plague and now the industrial city, grown wealthy through whale oil, faces another threat with the death of an empress and disappearance of it’s heir. Corvo is framed for the death of the empress and blamed for the disappearance of her daughter, solidifying his fate at the hands of the executioner. Now he seeks revenge on the hive of corrupted and power grabbing culprits responsible. However it’s up to you whether to walk the path of violence or take the high road and rise above the violence that has saturated the city.

Exploring Dunwall is one of Dishonored’s greatest feats. The fishing city has grown through an industrial revolution and the whaling trade, but now suffers due to the influx of rats carrying a deadly plague. Cobblestone streets and rain soaked buildings carry numerous amounts of rats in the lower income areas, while those living in wealthier neighborhoods appear unaffected. However some texture details and occasional graphic hiccups happen at certain periods, but it doesn’t make Dunwall any less but beautiful.

Exploring also benefits you with more than just visual candy. Hidden pathways within apartments, sewers, alleys, and within walls contain potions, blueprints, and unearthly items. The large areas that you travel through to get to your targets have an array of hidden areas, away from your targeted path. Venturing outside that path can lead you to unexpected possessions and sometimes and unexpected passage. 

A select few of conspirators assist in your escape and begin plotting to destroy the people who framed you. As you begin your journey more characters will aid you but at a price. Each of these people are wonderfully voiced, written, and animated. Listening to characters speak, converse, read out loud, and eavesdrop you’ll remain silent and wait for every word to be spoken to either gather information or simply the joy of listening. Some of the best dialogue comes from a supernatural heart that aids you in the search of other arcane items.  You’ll always be eager to listen to the next piece of dialogue whether it is dark and hopeless or desperate and drunk. 

You won’t defeat your enemies using the skills and abilities of ordinary men. Instead you are granted supernatural abilities by a mysterious figure called The Outsider. Probably the most used ability is going to be blink; this allows you to silently teleport a short distance. This ability is consistent enough that you can easily travel throughout Dishonored’s multiple passageways but can lead to certain difficulties when trying to go to a restricted area. This quick jolt from one location to another, showing that despite the industrial feel of the game magic still exist.

Beside blink you will have an array of mythical abilities such as summoning hordes of rats or seeing through walls. To upgrade these powers you have to obtain special items called runes, but you cannot unlock everything so choose wisely. You can also equip a limited amount of bones charms that are littered throughout Dishonored’s campaign and each grant you perks that can be changed, unlike runes which are permanent. Clearly certain choices tailor to different styles such as using the summoning rat ability to quickly eliminate targets or stopping time to avoid the carnage. 

Don’t expect to be duel-wielding powers or weapons. Your left hand is reserved for everything except your sword, which always appears on the right hand. The radical menu contains all the weapons and powers available such as a crossbow and pistol, each with special types of munitions. Unfortunately for those seeking to complete the game without killing anyone they must rely on the only nonlethal ammunition available, sleep darts. Unlike your arcane abilities you must spend coin in order to purchase other upgrades such as stronger armor, ammunition storage, and other things from Piero, the loyalist you constructed your mask. Everything else from exploding rounds to razor exploding proximity mines are those seeking to paint the wall with the blood of their enemies.     

In order to truly test these armaments and powers you will need some challenging opponents. Enemies are generally alert and formidable opponents, but sometimes do some moronic things. However once you are fluent with your equipment Dishonored’s flexibility begins to show. You can take control of a guard to walk past a wall of light or slow time when a guard spots you then shoot him and then hide before the spell wears off. If your mana is depleted you can depend on blocking and counterattacks to defend yourself.

As you complete objectives and decide the fate of your targets the environment changes. When you complete a mission you’re given a statistic chart of your actions and those result in changes in the environment. For example if you kill a large amount of enemies you can cause an increase in weepers, which are people who suffer from the plague and attack on sight. Other times you can choose to save an ally’s uncle which can lead to her trust and a reward. In the end your choices with be noted and determine what ending you will be get.

Dishonored entices you to replay the 15 hour adventure from beginning to end. Although you can choose to replay missions from the menu the consequences of your actions make it even more delightful. Finding new routes and methods for tackling each mission is an exciting. While I did notice some graphic issues in the cutscenes these were rare and never detracted from the overall experience. Unlocking different powers and using them to be a lethal solider or political assassin offers appealing incentives to replay missions in multiple ways. It’s a rare game that combines such as great story within this amount of freedom but Dishonored succeeds and is worthy of every award it received and will get. 

Adam Siddiqui
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