I wasn’t sure what to expect when first sitting down to see the preview to Dishonored. I knew absolutely nothing about the game, other than it was the latest product from the minds at Bethesda. I’m happy to say that I went from no expectations to high expectations in no time flat.
Dishonored is a stealth game in the vein of Deus Ex or Thief played from a first person perspective with the added bonus of having a number of supernatural powers at your disposal. In fact, you actually don’t have to play from a stealth angle at all. Two different playthroughs were showcased using two different approaches and it was interesting to see how many variants there were in the game in just that one mission.
In the stealth demo, the main character, Corvo, could warp around, interrupt the flow of time, and take possession of people and creatures. In one example, it was shown that you could possess a fish, which could then carry you through a tunnel and into the building where your target was located. In this instance, there were two targets called the Pendletons. Both were inside a brothel doing… well, what people do in brothels. The first target was disposed of by being possessed, forced to walk near a balcony, and then as the player ejects from their body, gets shoved over the edge. The second brother was located in what appeared to be some sort of maintenance room. He gets locked in and then gassed to death as Corvo looks on through the glass. Very cold methods of disposal, but very creative.
And then there was the “kill everything that moves” method of tackling the mission. To say that this segment was gory is an understatement. The player bursts through the door, slicing off heads and picking off distant enemies with a crossbow. There were a few instances where some of the prostitutes get tossed into the mix and were used as a delivery method for bombs. Needless to say, this method of assassination went much quicker than the former and certainly spoke to my play style.
The world of Dishonored was just as fascinating. It appeared to take place in some sort of steam punk universe with Industrial Revolution-era type of weaponry mixed with mechanized technology like giant walkers called Tall Boys that patrol the city and fire rockets at intruders. Hopefully, all missions in the game will offer the sort of variety presented by the demo. Dishonored releases on October 9 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
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