Genre: Action-Adventure, Stealth
Year: 2012
Developed by: Arkane Studios
Published by: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: PS3, PS4, PC, XBOX 360, XBOX One
#111
Feeling Like: Honorable pursuit
I keep saying I don’t like stealth games, but then there’s Mark of the Ninja. And Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain. Let’s not forget Assassin’s Creed 2, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Asylum also had superb stealth sections.
And now, Dishonored.
Maybe it’s time to admit that it’s not stealth I hate, it’s instant fail portions of areas where if an enemy spots you, you’re treated to a mini-game over. Try again. Another thing that I can’t stand is when I don’t get a good sense of when enemy units can or can’t see me. Most games try to introduce you to the mechanics gradually, including variables like how lighting can be your foe (or friend), line of sight, how noise can alert a patrol, or if stashing a dead body is a good idea. Games like Splinter Cell drove me to drink because I felt like I was fighting the code itself. Hey, I was in the shadows! How did that guy see me?
Dishonored side-steps every issue I have with stealth games. It’s seen as an advantage, not a requirement. There’s an abundance of powers to enhance your abilities, which in turn can be used at nearly every opportunity. I always felt like I was in control of my character and I knew exactly when I could cheat out and when I had to scurry back to avoid being detected. Because the powers and level design and enemy AI are created in sync with each other, the game feels unique and alive.
Although, I’m not convinced I would feel the same way without the “Blink” power.
This ability is so valuable and fun to use, I feel it should be mandatory in every stealth game going forward. It’s not a revolutionary ability, you simply teleport a short or mid-sized distance. The brilliant hook is that you can see exactly where you’re going to teleport, represented by a white-ish circle. This instantly ramped up my enjoyment, I reveled in testing out where and when I could Blink. Smartly, the levels are frequently constructed knowing I would want to teleport anywhere I could, so it would often put balconies just out of reach, or force you to slink through some obstacles before finally giving you space to use it. I wouldn’t call the game open world by any means, but the freedom to play lethally or choosing a more pacifist style is truly intriguing. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. I was surprised at my choice to play non-lethally, I normally never go that way, but Dishonored‘s characters and abilities all but made my choice for me.
The city of Dunwall is a terrific interpretation of 1800s London. It’s got some Steampunk elements, there’s a plague threatening the city, a rise of crime and whale oil is one of the most valuable resources there are. Arkane took a mish-mash of various historical conflicts and blended them up in a stunning world. You play Corvo, the silent protagonist, who was framed for the Empress’ murder. Hang on, I can only handle so much amazing in one game – falsely accused person trying to clear their name is one of my favorite tropes, I don’t care how often it’s been done.
I don’t think there’s a single thing Arkane Studios did wrong. One of the risks of playing games from years ago is facial animations succumbing to the uncanny valley. Thankfully the world of Dishonored is stylized and so while faces look deranged and slightly grotesque, they still feel like an organic part of Dunwall. The developers know the faces don’t look ultra realistic, they were never trying to be – and the game has aged gracefully because of it.
To be honest, I almost forgot that Dishonored is technically shooter Since I rarely fired a shot, it sure didn’t feel like it. The standard tropes of moving, shooting, reloading, going for headshots didn’t exist here. Dishonored may feel like Bioshock in terms of world building, characters and story, but I never really connected the two because they play so differently.
I learned later that if you do end up going the violence route, enemies become way harder and the ending isn’t quite as good. Maybe I learned that prior to my playthrough, hence why I shifted to a sneaky wimp instead of a Godless killing machine. This seems like the kind of game that lends itself so well to multiple playthroughs, if you’re the kind of fella or lady that repeats adventures. Sadly, I’m not – I’ve only replayed a few single player games in my entire life (most of them will be in the Top 10, unsurprisingly) but rediscovering why I loved Dishonored in the first place has me tempted.
It’s a superb game. You can knock down the front door in missions, sure, but why would you? There are multiple ways to address every problem, but the game doesn’t have big red arrows pointing them out. That’s part of the fun, figuring out your playstyle and going from there. Blink is just one of the terrific abilities in Dishonored, the one where you can see through walls seems borderline overpowered, but I’ll take every bit of help I can take. When I’m used to being a lumbering, murdering brute it was a nice change of pace to actually embrace stealth in a game like this.
I don’t know why I never tried Dishonored 2. Maybe it snuck past me.
The 500 