I was lucky enough to pre-order Dishonored and get an early crack at it instead of waiting for the price to drop, and I'm happy to take the opportunity to give everyone a faster review than usual. Dishonored definitely lives up to the hype it has gathered over the last few months. Its graphics are beautiful, its story interesting, and its only flaw is that it is a relatively short game.
Story:
Dishonored takes place in a steam-punk world where everything is run by whale oil, a relatively new technology which is still being developed. The city is the beacon and head of a larger empire, and home to the Empress. You, the main character, are the Empress' Lord Protector, bodyguard, trusted confidante, and very close friend. You have held the position for a number of years, and at the start of the game, you have just returned from a journey across the Empire to solicit aid from the neighboring countries. A plague has befallen the city, spread by rats and previously unseen in the kingdom. You, as her most trusted adviser, were the only person the Empress trusted with this mission. Upon your return, circumstances place you at her side even as she dies in your arms, murdered and assassinated by persons unknown. The assassins vanish and you are left to take the fall for her death, immediately captured and sentenced to death.
Not a bad start to a story at all. Though being sentenced or jailed at the beginning of a hero's journey seems to be a favorite for Bethesda Software, like in the last two Elder Scrolls, they always manage to keep the story fresh and interesting, never letting the scenario become stale.
Graphics:
The game has a beautiful overall look, comic-book style characters in a detailed environment. The city around you as you explore, and all it's seedy recesses are rendered in the 'you're inside the comic-book' style wonderfully. The effects for the powers you come to possess throughout the game are both simple and stylish, and I can't think of a more elegant way to execute them as they did. The only thing that would make the graphics better would be to go for realistic instead of comic-book style, but then the style served them so well that the only reason I even mentioned it is a curiosity over how stunning the world would look if they did.
Game-play:
Through the game, you not only discover different weapons to be used and upgrades, you also learn supernatural powers. The powers system and learning curve is easy to use, easy to learn, and devastating to your enemies once mastered. The weapons, while few, can be upgraded in different ways to suit a player's style, or not at all if one prefers to focus on stealth.
Like most, if not all, power systems, you are given a Mana bar to help you to see how much magic power you have left. Different powers consume different amounts, as per usual, and the powers themselves are quite interesting. You can teleport short distances, possess animals and people, see enemies through walls, call a swarm of rats to attack your enemies or dispose of bodies, and create a whirlwind to knock your enemies back. Under the same powers menu, you can also increase your health bar, improve your health regeneration, as well as add other upgrades such as an increase in agility and the ability to make your fallen enemies crumble to dust so you needn't worry about disposing of the bodies.
The game play is mission based, but with plenty of leeway to explore, find and finish side quests, and learn more about the city around you. Books are also scattered everywhere, helping to fill the gaps with excerpts from literature, history lessons of the world you're thrust in, and notes to you or other characters can also be found, giving you clues and insights into others' motivations.
Music:
The music during game play was spectacular at immersing you into the necessary mood, subtly swaying the mood between suspense, eeriness, or the ever-impending fight or flight. The ending credits had a song, the style of which goes incredibly well with the game as well, though I'm not sure it would've been my choice style-wise.
Replay-ability:
As soon as the ending credits finished, I found myself wanting to go back and try to finish the game a different way. Though I have a preference and a penchant for stealth when possible, I was disappointed at the sheer number of alarms raised throughout my game, so stealthy old me is itching to try to do it without raising any alarms. There is also the possibility of abandoning stealth altogether, or changing key moments when I showed mercy or a lack thereof. Definitely a game to keep to play a second time, or third, or twenty-third.
Cons:
Honestly, to find cons I had to nitpick in my mind. There were very minor things that annoyed me a little, but didn't impede me from enjoying the game inmensely. The ability to blink, for instance, is used so often (at least by me) that I wish that particular power didn't require mana since its a means of transportation. I also think that the game was fairly short, since I was able to finish it in two very busy days' worth of game play time, which would probably translate to less than 8 hours of full game time from beginning to end.
Lastly, in a game with as much fighting as there is stealth, while the First Person view served well, it would've been a nice touch if you could switch from First person to Third Person so you could not only sneak a bit easier, but also see what your character looks like with and without the mask, as well as being able to track those around you less conspicuously. Of course, this may be the Assassin's Creed Addict in me talking, so those who love First Person Views don't hold it against me too badly.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly:
The good is definitely the replay factor and the storyline. The bad is the lack of more, longer story. The ugly? ... I want to say: "The bad guy's face." He wasn't pretty, I'll tell you that.
Overall Scores:
Graphics: 9/10
Story: 9/10
Replay: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Total Score: 9 / 10
So for the TL;DR crowd:
Dishonored is an awesome game, and a keeper for those who love a good fight as well as a good covert mission.
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