Choice.

It’s the mainstay in most games published by Bethesda, and is one of the biggest, most defining elements of Dishonored. A product of French developer Arcane Studios, Dishonored gives players a deep suite of powers to wreak as much or as little havoc as they like in their quest to restore honour to their name.

The hour-long demo I played at Bethesda’s booth assigned me with infiltrating a party and assassinating one Lady Boyle, a member of the upper crust and financier for my enemies. The representative from Arkane Studios told me that it’s possible to finish the entire game without killing a single person, save for a handful of crucial encounters, and that all of my assassination targets can be dealt with non-lethally. I decided to take him at his word, having heard similar claims about the original Deus Ex, and chose a pacifist approach for the length of the demo.

I began my mission outside the Boyle estate, noting the regular patrols of guards and tripedal robots reminiscent of Half-Life 2’s Striders—no coincidence as both games share Viktor Antonov, art director on Half-Life 2 and design director on Dishonored. Rather than cutting a wide swath through the Boyle manor’s security detail, I possessed the body of a fish in the surrounding moat and swam through a gap in its drainage system, gaining entry via the mansion’s sewer access.

Dishonored allows for multiple approaches to its gameplay challenges.

Once inside, I discovered that the party was a masquerade ball, and that Lady Boyle’s two sisters were also in attendance and wearing similar costumes to my target. Needing more information about which Lady Boyle was my actual target, I chatted up the party attendees, hoping to learn all I could about my hostess and what she might be wearing.

In talking with Lady Boyle's party guests, I started to learn about Dishonored's setting, a sort of alternate universe Europe where the industrial revolution was sparked not by coal, but whale oil. The Arkane rep explained that the non-lethal approach requires players to scour their environment for information related to their target, often revealing more of Dishonored’s extensive world-building. For lore-nuts like me who love learning about a game's world in a natural way, playing Dishonored non-lethally might be the most rewarding way to go.

I eventually came across a gentleman who claimed he knew of my mission to end Lady Boyle's life and pleaded with me to let her live, saying he loved her and would whisk her away to a faraway island and she would be safe and sound. His earnest speech sounded creepy, given that Lady Boyle likely didn’t know of his existence, but it was a bloodless way to dispose of my future victim and I took the unrequited Casanova up on his offer, agreeing to bring Lady Boyle to the basement where he would meet me.

The art in Dishonored is grotesque, exaggerated, and compelling.

From there, I fetched a flirty party-goer a drink and she described the true Lady Boyle’s costume to me. I talked with the Lady and tried to get her to follow me, but she didn’t trust me and shoved me off. Not giving up, I waited until she was near the entrance and tapped into a few of my powers. First, I possessed her the way I had done with the fish earlier, then I froze time for a short period to move even closer, and finally I used an ability called Blink to teleport past security before I ran out of possession time. When I finally had her out of sight, I knocked her out and brought her down to where the would-be lover was supposed to meet me. Unfortunately, by that point I had run out of time, leaving me unable to see what the rest of the demo held.

The grand level of choice offered by games like Skyrim or Fallout 3 often leaves me paralyzed with indecision; when I’m given the ability to do everything, I often shut down and don’t want to do anything. Dishonored is different; it gives me one specific thing to do—get rid of this particular person—and a hundred different ways to do it. Dishonored’s focus on macro-level decisions rather than big ones results in a game that feels manageable while still offering variability of play style that all but guarantees repeated attempts and playthroughs. Dishonored sneaks onto European shelves on 11 October and North America on 9 October.

Labels: Arkane Studios, Bethesda, Dishonored, PAX Prime 2012

Sometimes, just before you witness something grand, you get that indescribable feeling that what you're about to experience is going to be incredible.

That's what I felt when we were ushered into the Bethesda theater to watch the showcase on Dishonored, Arkane Studios' supernatural stealth-action adventure title. Easily stealing our game of the show award, Dishonored not only draws some of its strength from the magical titles of old, but it manages to be seminal in world plagued by derivative and hackneyed titles.

Dishonored interview

You are Corvo Atano, a legendary supernatural assassin who is blamed for the murder of the empress of Dunwall. Your job is to find out who framed you, why they did it and then enact revenge upon them. A simple premise, for sure, but what makes Dishonored different than any other game out there is... well, basically everything.

The city of Dunwall can best be described as a steampunk city in the midst of a semi industrial revolution. The entire game will take place within the walls of the city so expect it to be enormous and writhing with life for you to pass judgment on. Each mission will drop you into a certain part of the city where you make the path to the objective. Sometimes side-quests appear that may or may not help you reach your goal, but there are always multiple pathways to reach the mission end. Whether you lay a path of destruction or take a more mild approach to your enemies is another choice and each way opens up new scenarios you'll encounter. How's that for being different?

He was a Dallas Cowboys fan. What?

Still not satisfied? Much as it alludes to, Dishonored is not an open-world game. As a matter of fact, each mission is hand-crafted and tailored to the situation. While that might put some people off, I remind you that old-school games like Thief worked much in the same way. Ostensibly the game may seem linear, but within each mission structure are a multitude of options and, as I previously stated, multiple pathways to get to the main objective. You can complete entire missions without killing anyone. Better? You're a supernatural assassin. There, how's that sound?

It doesn't matter how badass the protagonist or setting sounds if the combat is shabby and thankfully Dishonored delivers. Being supernatural and such, Corvo will have a ton of options of how to deal with each situation and yes, there will be upgrades to sate that RPG fanatic within. For instance, let's say a patrol man makes his way over to a secluded area but killing him there still might get you seen eventually. Well, use Corvo's blink to teleport right behind the target, stab him in the neck, pick the body up, blink back onto the roof. Done, and all within a good five seconds.

It might not look like much, but what you aren't seeing is something magical or in this case... supernatural. Sorry.

Combat is just as satisfying as it sounds. Players who relish timing-based mechanics can make Corvo parry and counterattack with ease. At one point in the showcase, Corvo wielded both a one-handed crossbow and a sword to fend off an assault of guardsmen. We also saw Corvo control the wind to throw back a missile at one of the enemies called a Tall Boy. He even called a swarm of rats to rip a man into tiny bits. Excessive, but oh so necessary.

You never see games explore areas like this and, being a stealth game fanatic, this is something I've been waiting to see for some time now. Lethal or non-lethal methods of play, your actions changing the missions dynamically, supernatural moves, a steampunk environment, a seemingly solid story, it's all gold for someone like me. If the game plays as fluid as it did on the showroom floor and delivers on what we've seen so far, it'll be hard not to consider it a game of the year contender. Get ready, because Dishonored drops October 9th on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Labels: Andrew Whipple III, Arkane Studios, Bethesda, Dishonored, E3 2012, Interview, PC, PS3, Xbox 360