Dishonored Review

Dishonored takes ingredients from other games to create a fun formula that allows for true player freedom. A poorly presented story and dated graphics are the only things holding back this otherwise eminently playable game. Dishonored entrusts itself entirely on the player, however you choose to handle any given situation the game throws at you will determine how characters will react and eventually how the story will end. Dishonored takes place in the wonderfully designed city of Dunwall suffering from a plague being spread by rats. The world is incredibly well thought out and one of the great joys is taking your time with the game, reading journals and over hearing conversations which make this world come to life. But unfortunately the fiction of the world is the only thing that's narratively interesting, because the story itself is shallow and never quite captures the potential that the world itself seems to point towards.

Dishonored revels in player choice, there are hundreds (no exaggeration) of ways to tackle any given situation. The game even opens up all the available powers from the get go from teleporting to possessing animals and enemies to do your bidding, allowing you to specialize based on your preferred play style. While I primarily played the game as a stealth experience one of the great joys of playing this game is that any option is viable. Unlike most stealth games Dishonored's combat is pretty damn fun, so if you get caught and have to fight your way out, its actually an enjoyable experience and it's that flexibility that makes Dishonored truly shine. The missions in the game are broken up into large fully traversable areas where you can take on side missions, explore an abandoned home, or book it straight to your assassination target. These large levels provide much of the freedom allowing you to access buildings from any available doors and windows or sneak in through the rooftops or sewers. Once inside, avoid being spotted or go in guns blazing and see how far you can make it (not very). There is even an adventure-esque mission that takes place at a masquerade ball where you have to piece together clues to discover which mask your target is hiding behind.

Dishonored takes inspiration from games like Bioshock and Deus Ex and creates a unique world of its own with tons of options for how any given player wants to play it. Stealth is the ideal, but I fought my out of a bind on a few occasions and the game maintained the same level of enjoyment. I only wish they had come up with a better story to wrap around the great gameplay. The graphics are also a bit of a letdown, with character faces in particular looking especially horrendous. But don't let those two gripes stop you from playing Dishonored which is undoubtedly one of the most gratifying games to play with cool powers, fun combat, tons of options and stealth mechanics that aren't frustrating but in fact incredibly fun.

(4 out of 5)