Dishonored Devs' Gag Video is Genuinely Funny
This April Fools’ post is worth your time.
Dishonored
Players: 1 Player Offline
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genres: Action, Adventure, First-person Shooter, RPG
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genres: Action, Adventure, First-person Shooter, RPG
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Developer: Arkane Studios
MSRP: $59.99
Developer: Arkane Studios
MSRP: $59.99
You are the once-trusted bodyguard of the beloved Empress. Framed for her murder, you become an infamous assassin, known only by the disturbing mask that has become your calling card. In a time of uncertainty, when the city is being besieged by plague and ruled by an oppressive government armed with neo-industrial technologies, dark forces conspire to bestow upon you, abilities beyond those of any common man – but at what cost? The truth behind your betrayal is as murky as the waters surrounding the city, and the life you once had is gone forever.
Interactive Dishonored Trailer Lets You ‘Play’ Through a Part of the Game
Posted By Shaun K. about 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Interactive Dishonored Trailer Lets You ‘Play’ Through a Part of the Game ,
Yeah… They never really stood a chance.
Now this I like. The latest in what has turned into quite the epic set of trailers and various other videos dedicated to Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ upcoming stealth-action steampunk-fantasy epic Dishonored takes a fun approach. Namely, it presents viewers with a choose-your-own-adventure style series of interactive videos that simulate playing through a particular section of the game. So viewers can chose to sneak into a location via a sewer, use teleportation and climbing skills, or just take the direct approach and strike down everyone in their way. The video even lets players choose between killing and stunning foes in a particularly nice touch that reflects the developers statements about how the game can be completed without killing a single NPC. Check out the opening video below and get ready for a fun ride. Oh and word of advice: watch it in full screen. Trust me on this one, it works much better that way.
Very nice. I still remember when people where calling Dishonored a BioShock rip-off and while there are a few overlapping gameplay elements, a set of videos like this really gets across just how different the games really are. Dishonored seems to be embracing the idea of a sandbox game in a way that few other similar tiles with strong narratives have really managed to achieve. Players choice is clearly a big part of this game and the way the mechanics side of this appears to interact with the story side is very intriguing. The fact that you can chose whether or not to kill the main target of this mission opens some tantalizing possibilities in terms of the overall progression of the game, especially since said target appears to be a fairly vital player in the world of Dishonored.
I have said it before and I will say it again: Dishonored is a game that brims with potential and if Arkane Studios can truly live up to the full reach of that potential… Well we could be looking at a game that heralds the arrival of a new major developer along the lines of a RockStar or BioWare. After cutting their teeth on smaller work and/or acting as part of a larger conglomerate of developers for BioShock 2, Arkane Studios seems on the verge of truly coming into their own. We will find out one way or the other shortly; Dishonored is set to arrive on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on October 9 in the US and October 12 in Europe and the UK. Stay tuned to Blistered Thumbs for continuing coverage of the game and be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Sage Reviews: Dishonored
If you could play Bioshock as Nightcrawler, then you'd have Dishonored.
Dishonored Review
Dishonored is far from the revelation many paint it to be, and it certainly will not cater to everyone’s tastes. Make no mistake though, this is that rare kind of game that has the potential of catching lightning in a bottle through its own merits, generating an amazing experience through a jolt of inspiration.
Dishonored Review - ZGR
After watching the amazing trailer for Dishonored in April, Daniel was clearly excited to test out the game upon launch. But did it live up to the awesomeness?
Dishonored Review - ZGR
After watching the amazing trailer for Dishonored in April, Daniel was clearly excited to test out the game upon launch. But did it live up to the awesomeness?
Dishonored Review
Dishonored is far from the revelation many paint it to be, and it certainly will not cater to everyone’s tastes. Make no mistake though, this is that rare kind of game that has the potential of catching lightning in a bottle through its own merits, generating an amazing experience through a jolt of inspiration.
Interactive Dishonored Trailer Lets You 'Play' Through a Part of the Game
Get a feel for the options at your disposal in Dishonored.
Interactive Dishonored Trailer Lets You 'Play' Through a Part of the Game
Get a feel for the options at your disposal in Dishonored.
2nd Dishonored "The Tales from Dunwall" Episode is Equal Parts Tragic & Creepy
Another twisted yet gorgeous tale from the world of Dishonored awaits.
New "The Tales from Dunwall" Webseries Explores the Lore of Dishonored's World
Dark tales from a dark world.
Final Dishonored Developer Diary Takes Some Time for Reflection
Always good to indulge in a moment of taking stock.
2nd Dishonored Developer Diary Goes Even Deeper Into Game's World
Welcome to Dunwall. Hope you survive the experience.
Behind the Scenes of Dishonored with 1st Developer Diary
Take a closer look at the world of Dishonored.
Dishonored and the Subtleties of Stealth
The new Hitman not stealthy enough for you? Try Dishonored.
Dishonored Review
Posted By Robert G. about 7 months ago
Dishonored Review
Interactive Dishonored Trailer Lets You ‘Play’ Through a Part of the Game , 
There is always a moment when we stop to praise the new in the gaming world. We naturally rage against the constant influx of sequels, craving something different from what we see in the market day by day. Players are always on the lookout for something to inspire them, to give accolades to without question. The reality though is that such instances of originality are often deified without critical analysis. We lose a certain sense of honesty when we are blinded by our passion.
I bring this up because I see that happening with Dishonored, the latest effort from Arkane Studios, the team behind the PC cult classic Arx Fatalis. Dishonored is unique type of game, not just in terms of visuals or gameplay, but due to the mystique behind it being branded as something “new.” So while Dishonored is a breath of fresh air in the current gaming market, it is far from the perfect presentation many may make it out to be.
| PROS | Amazing presentation, Vast amount of choices |
| CONS | Major gameplay imbalance issues, Graphical hiccups on consoles |
| WTF?! | Plague rats are an assassin’s best friend. |
Dishonored has you star as Corvo Attano, the silent bodyguard of the current empress of the island of Gristol. The capital whaling city of Dunwall is stricken with a mysterious plague, paralyzing the population with fear and uncertainty. Sadly, Corvo is framed for the death of the empress and the kidnapping of her only daughter, and is subsequently dishonored in a conspiracy plot to overthrow the city, only to be rescued from prison by another group of conspirators trying to save it.
With a velvet cloak and a diamond-encrusted dagger, Dishonored tries to play a game of thrones with its background of wanton murder. Conspiracies, backstabbing, and mad power grabs abound, as Dishonored does very little in terms of narrative that is innovative. This is possibly due to design, since Corvo is tasked as the instrument of the revolution, he has little stake other than protecting the empress’ daughter from harm.
Arkane Studios also has a habit of not really explaining much about the game world. Like Bioshock, most of the context is found through books and recording machines, as we learn tidbits about Gristol, the neighboring isles, the magical properties of the Outsider–an ethereal being believed to be a god–and the whale oil-based technology that surrounds you. But in the end, most of this information is world-building filler that makes a cool extra to the task at hand. Since Corvo is the only man who can eliminate the conspirators populating Dunwall, his actions become the primary focus.
It was Miss. Scarlet in the dining room with the plague rats!
“Eliminate” is the key word here. Corvo can go through the game violently, stabbing and shooting any watchman, citizen, and target as he wishes, or he can stick to the shadows and use subterfuge to achieve the same effect. He can sell targets into slavery or brand them a traitor by literally branding their face. The game offers a number of choices in how to deal with targets, each level giving you options to play.
That is the crux of Dishonored‘s charm. Each of the nine levels offers various options in how to approach a solution. Do you go through sewers to sneak into the basement or climb ledges to an open window? Do you put guards to sleep, stab them in the back, or avoid them entirely? Do you poison your target, shoot your target, or throw them in jail? The amount of choices is staggering and Arkane Studios was not lying when they claimed you can play your way.
It really does thrust Dishonored into some forgotten territory. Nothing is really “new” in terms of Dishonored’s game design, as Arkane borrows elements from many sources, namely Thief and Hitman, to make lavish set-pieces you can explore in non-linear ways. It is a throwback to old-school PC game design; where the world is the Rubik’s Cube and the game will hold your hand minimally throughout, leaving you to tread along with your wits and reflexes. Arkane Studios is also banking on the fact that you, the player, will replay Dishonored multiple times to try out different tactics. So at its core, Dishonored is a stealth-based puzzle game that relies on the player changing their style each time to keep it refreshing, all the while finding the best routes to solve your problems.
7/10
Sage Reviews: Dishonored
If you could play Bioshock as Nightcrawler, then you'd have Dishonored. Dishonored Review
Dishonored is far from the revelation many paint it to be, and it certainly will not cater to everyone’s tastes. Make no mistake though, this is that rare kind of game that has the potential of catching lightning in a bottle through its own merits, generating an amazing experience through a jolt of inspiration. Dishonored Review - ZGR
After watching the amazing trailer for Dishonored in April, Daniel was clearly excited to test out the game upon launch. But did it live up to the awesomeness?-
October 28, 2012 at 02:13pm
A decent game worthy of 7/10
Think Assassin’s Creed-esque era of gameplay (weapons and tactics), mixed with steampunk, and finally the non-linear nature of Deus Ex and you get Dishonored. Good mix, but mish-mashing known elements does not making it new.
The first 10 minutes of the game are actually the most dangerous. The art style is interesting, even though texture detail is somewhat sacrificed. But the story was so predictable I nearly stopped watching. The tutorial phase of the game is quite long, and does not go in-depth, making this borefest even longer.
But once you look past that phase, that’s when the game really shines. Whatever path you take influences the ending, but even then in your current mission going stealthy makes life a whole lot easier than murdering a bunch of people. On top of that the first few missions are done in HUB’s, so there are some sidequests that pad out the game nicely.
Somewhat akin to Hitman, taking out targets can be done in many ways, lethal or non-lethal. Make it an accident, or simply stab him, it’s up to you.
However compared with Deus Ex 3, this game is the loser. Story is simply not up to par. The world doesn’t flesh out enough. I don’t know what the heck are those rats, who the Outsider is, the nature of the plague in detail, the seas beyond Dunwall, how the steampunk and magic works. Maybe its in the little notes but that’s not a good way of telling gamers, especially if they are lazy to explore. The plot as well is too simplistic, just about returning a girl to her throne. I don’t even know who Corvo is in depth.
Arkane Studios definitely has the same work ethic as Bethesda, or maybe Bethesda was doing their Quality Control. Saw quite a bit of texture pop-ins here and there, way more than a glitch. Saw Blink not reacting properly with the environments in a good way more than 5 times.
Overall decent game but not GOTY as some may contend, there are better candidates for that. Unless the deplorable Spike VGA decides to vote it as one.
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October 17, 2012 at 10:00am
In your opinion as a PS3 gamer which should I spring for NOW, dishonored or AC3. Considering the technical flaws in this game do you think that I should wait until a later date after they may have been ironed out or stick with it?
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October 17, 2012 at 10:29am
I am not much of a PS3 gamer to be honest. It is the console I use the least at home (recently its been for reviews only) so I can’t say if it’s better to wait or not.
That said, considering Bethesda is the publisher of Dishonored, I would probably wait and see if there is a patch or something down the road. They were kind of slow with Skyrim and I believe Hunted: The Demon’s Forge had issues as well on the system. In all honesty, if you can run Dishonored on the PC, I would go that route in the end.
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October 17, 2012 at 01:33am
Graaaah! All I have to play it is a PS3! Is there ANY chance of this being fixed? I intend to wait a year anyway to get it at a lower price.
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October 17, 2012 at 01:27am
Well, all I can say is that when I started getting into the game (after the intro/tutorial part(s)), it brought back memories of Thief … So if you like Thief (Liked) Thief you will probably like that game too. Its fun cuz I haven’t played a game like Thief in a while .. They should make more of those game what happened to that Serie anyway ?!
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October 16, 2012 at 07:10pm
Western people sure like their games in first person, with all the blood and the explosions. Maybe add a few crazy super powers in there from other games that were popular and we got a game that’s bound to be a hoot!
Seriously though, the game looks good but I am so afraid to play it because I just don’t believe the hype that it’s THAT good. Don’t make me hate the game people! Keep my expectations low!
Thank you for the tidbit about the PS3 version. That’s all I’m playing on now (unless dishonered randomly comes out for the wii) so that saved me some money.
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October 16, 2012 at 06:32pm
“The runes act as a separate currency to purchase and upgrade your magical abilities, which are never explained”.
Uh… The Outsider gave them to you. It’s… I mean, am I wrong in thinking that’s pretty well explained multiple times? Are you asking for it to explain each individual ability or what? Are you asking how the runes give you more? Because that’s explained, too.
Anyway, I applaud you bringing in logic over passion and not giving in to the hype over this game, but I think you may have fought it a little more than you should have and gained a slight case of hype-backlash. “One of the best games of the year” at a 7/10 is a bit odd.
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October 16, 2012 at 07:54pm
I believe that phraseology was mine. I apologize if my edit made the text unclear. It should be fixed now.
Thank you!
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October 17, 2012 at 12:05am
I had to look up hype backlash because I never heard the term before, but I also want to say that I actually avoided reviews of the game (something I do for almost every game I review) because I wanted to keep my own opinion fresh. After I finished and ironically told Austin what my intendend judgement was he replied “you will have the lowest score on the internet then.”
To be honest, that is where most of the review came from, the call for not giving into hype which seemed like a good place to be. After reading other reviews I felt it was appropriate to mention it, because it did feel like some reviewers gave into the hype, very much so like they did with Mass Effect 3 back in March in some cases.
As to the runes…i’ll be honest the outsider bugged me a lot because it felt like a diety who had so much control over the player it was scary. They don’t really explain who or what he is, how he gives out his powers, and why he even shows himself to you. The original intent of that sentence (before Austin changed it
) was that the magical powers always felt out of place and they never explain why you suddenly have them short of getting a mark on your hand by a god. It just didn’t really make sense to me but I went with it and abused the powers heavily. -
October 17, 2012 at 12:53pm
Arkane did kinda explain the intent for the powers and the Outsider (in supplementary material unfortunately, so still no excuse).
The devs said they going for an apathetic Lovecraftian thing who would put “some of” himself into his victim- er, chosen recipient. He only does it see if the person does something “interesting” with them. (apparently a non-lethal playthrough…)
Despite the fact I liked the Outsider, they fell into a pitfall when making a character like him, not explaining enough about him. Although those that learn to much tend to end up slashing families and carving bones…
Dishonored Review - ZGR
After watching the amazing trailer for Dishonored in April, Daniel was clearly excited to test out the game upon launch. But did it live up to the awesomeness?
Platform32: Dishonored - EXCLUSIVE Gamescom Interview
Ian interviews the co-creator of Arkane’s supernatural assassin.
Platform32: The Art of Dishonored
EXCLUSIVE interview with Sebastien Mitton about one of the most visually stunning games to be released in a long time.
Platform32: Dishonored - EXCLUSIVE Gamescom Interview
Ian interviews the co-creator of Arkane’s supernatural assassin.
Platform32: The Art of Dishonored
EXCLUSIVE interview with Sebastien Mitton about one of the most visually stunning games to be released in a long time.
Dishonored Co-Creative Director Interview
Co-creative Director on Arkane Studios’ upcoming assassination tale, Dishonored, Raphael Colantonio speaks out on some gameplay details of their upcoming sandbox, steampunk hitman tale. Tesla coils inside!
Apparently the only thing the main character CAN’T do is fight dogs. That’s his kryptonite.
Also I waited on a ledge for what seemed like hours. Video loops are fun!
Oh it looks awesome, and really its easy to call any game with a noir feeling and supernatural powers a Bioshock rip-off. Ignore it because that’s stupid.
What? This game doesn’t have a noir feel. NEITHER DOES BIOSHOCK.
STOP THIS PEOPLE! Stop calling everything Noir! Blarg!