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Forums - Gaming Discussion - "An Unbiased Review" Dishonored - A JayWood2010 Review

Platform:  X360/PS3/PC Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Arkane Studios
Reviewer: JayWood2010 Genre: Action/Adventure/Stealth Rating: Mature


When you talk about some of the more supreme developers and publishers it seems that Bethesda makes the list almost every time and because of this Bethesda’s new game Dishonored from 2012 immediately hit many gamers radar.  But does it hit that prestigious mark that we have seen from Bethesda this generation like Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim?



Dishonored is about a man name Corvo Attono who has been framed of an assassination of the empress. After the assassination of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin Corvo is sentenced to death to finding himself escape prison with a little help by The Outsider who is a supernatural being.   The outsider gives Corvo supernatural powers to help him assassinate many leaders who has tried to overturn the kingdom.  The game is set in a futuristic world of what “The Plague” in London would be like.  And to jouney through different mansions and buildings to assassinate each and every character was an absolute thrill.  However the story it’s self was very lacking.  The story never really got me interested in any of the characters.  At one point in the game there was a bit of a twist which at least made the story somewhat interesting but in the end I could really care less about the characters or the story.  The story is interesting as we can take this alternate setting of “The Plague” and while the intro set the game up very nicely, after that the story was almost absent. Now while the story was not necessarily superb it is far from the reason on why this game is good.



The gameplay is where this game truly shines.  The freedom you have in this FPS stealth espionage is truly remarkable.  There is many ways you can decide to kill or spare a humans life.  That is right, you can go through the entire game without killing people.  You also don’t even have to assassinate your targets but find another way to neutralize the problem.  I found myself poisoning some victims with drinks, luring a woman to a cellar so I could kill her in cold blood, and completely sabotaging another by stealing an audio tape from his safe.  And the supernatural powers only pushes this even further.  You can slow time down, instantly transmit to one location to the next, possess rats and fish, or even shoot wind out of your hand.   Using these powers is beyond rewarding as there is no one way to do a mission.  There is countless ways.  If you want to go in guns blazing then you can.  If you want to be completely silent, maybe instant transmit to high locations.  What if guards are in the way?  Well posess a fish and swim through the drains to enter the mansion.  There is so many ways of killing or fleeing your enemies. There is also numerous different enemies including guards, dogs, people with the plague, rats, and walking mech like soldiers.  This will add many elements to the enemy sides and allows your cunning self to feel even more rewarded as you outsmart them.  With all that said I did find myself getting annoyed at times with the instant transmission (Blink) power.  It was a little annoying that sometimes you would not end up where you wanted to be and it would cause you an unnecessary death. This game fun, refreshing, and rewarding.



The graphics to Dishonored is a steampunk world that is unique but not necessarily satisfying to everybody who looks at it.  I know some people really like these stylized games but in the end I found it to be rather ugly.  I think the art style is good but at the same time kind of ugly.  This is also not mentioning the bad shading effects and low resolution textures in some places.  This does not mean that is is a bad game with art style or graphics though.  It just means that I don’t believe everybody will be drawn to this art style

Overall the game has it’s ups and downs.  While the story is rather mediocre at best with no real main draw the gameplay saves it in every aspect.  The artstyle is nothing that I would brag about but in the end it is also something that is unique and sets it apart from the rest just like the gameplay.  If you are into Stealth Espionage games I would highly recommend this game from the phenominal Bethesda Softworks.


Story 7
Gameplay 9
Artstyle 8
Action/Adventure/Stealth 9
Overall 8.3




       

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Good game and i really did find the story lacking, 7.5 is too high for its story IMO.



 

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I found the story very lacking and combat and platforming very clunky. I platinumed this game so I really gave it a chance and while the stealth elements were done well and the maps very nice, when you promote your game as being able to beaten in a bunch of different ways and half those ways are clunky or unnatural feeling I have to dock you some serious points. 6/10 because I only give full numbers (makes it easier to differentiate between games' quality than a .1 difference being looked at as "better").




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platformmaster918 said:
I found the story very lacking and combat and platforming very clunky. I platinumed this game so I really gave it a chance and while the stealth elements were done well and the maps very nice, when you promote your game as being able to beaten in a bunch of different ways and half those ways are clunky or unnatural feeling I have to dock you some serious points. 6/10 because I only give full numbers (makes it easier to differentiate between games' quality than a .1 difference being looked at as "better").


Yeah the story was a little blah.  I didnt find it horrednous, and it is cerainly better than some games i played but it certainily wasnt good either.  The gameplay in my opinion is what saves this game




       

Woah. I certainly expected better, considering how well-received was this game by critics.

I still gotta pick it up sometime, but it is still too expensive!



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Wright said:
Woah. I certainly expected better, considering how well-received was this game by critics.

I still gotta pick it up sometime, but it is still too expensive!


Well it depends on how you look at it.  If you look at it from a gameplay standpoint it is really good.  It just lacks in the story department is all so don't expect an elloborate story lol




       

Maybe one day I will give it another shot, but I found this game so dull and it bored me to tears and I had no choice but to sell it.



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That's a good and just score, the game is incredibly satisfying in gameplay but is lacking in some fields. The story is pathetic in my opinion, the AI is incredibly backwards and game is really short. There is also very little variation in enemies and events and it's way too easy to become overpowered early on with the magic abilities you get.

It's a really good game but no where near perfect. As for the visual style, I love it, it's designed by (among others) one of the lead designers on Half-Life 2's gloomy and damp style and I think it looks fantastic.



You under rated it.

Dishonored was a much needed breathe of fresh air in a gen full of hand holding shooters and mindless ''set piece'' events that do not add jack to the overall immersion of a game.

Dishonored bucked the trend with its looking glass - esque gameplay and design.

With a meta average of around 89.5%, Dishonored with one of the best game of last year and one of the best new IP's this gen. 



foodfather said:

You under rated it.

Dishonored was a much needed breathe of fresh air in a gen full of hand holding shooters and mindless ''set piece'' events that do not add jack to the overall immersion of a game.

Dishonored bucked the trend with its looking glass - esque gameplay and design.

With a meta average of around 89.5%, Dishonored with one of the best game of last year and one of the best new IP's this gen. 


The most reviewed copy of Dishonored is for X360 and has an 88 metacritic.  I did say that it is a refreshing game and if you look at the gameplay I rated it a 9.  As an entire package it could have been better though.