Winning combination of stealth, open level design, ability customization, and player choice!
I've historically always been a fan of the "stealth genre" of games; absolutely loving games like the Thief, Hitman, and Deus Ex series.
I had become somewhat cynical and jaded to the stealth genre in recent years, due to so many games losing their way. Splinter Cell 1 & 2 were excellent, and then that franchise went downhill fast...likewise games like Assassins Creed tout themselves as stealth, but fall flat when compared to true stealth games.
However, Dishonored proclaimed that it had all of the elements that I craved; and the official reviews seemed to back up the developer's claims, so I decided to give the game a shot! I'm very glad that I did.
Dishonored combines stealth with several other factors that make playing it an enjoyable experience.
The ability to advance/improve special abilities, as you desire, was a welcome addition to the genre!
The open-level design made it truly enjoyable to play...I didn't feel like like my game play experience was "on rails" at all. In fact many times I found myself wandering throughout the level to check out all of my options, for avenues of approach, before I committed to one; and I loved that aspect of exploration.
The game isn't "perfect" (but then again, really, what game ever truly is?)...and there were some areas that could be improved as a result.
I wasn't a tremendous fan of the Chaos system's implementation. While the developers stated that it's not meant to be a barometer for "morality", or scale of "good vs. evil"...but, when you get right down to it, it really is that. If you want the "good ending" then you have to go for Low Chaos, and minimize the amount of killing you do.
The other aspect that I didn't particularly care for was the fact that if you are going for a stealth/non-lethal play-through; you miss out on the opportunity to use several abilities and most of the gear (wall mines, grenades, crossbows, pistols, etc.) in the game!
While I was pretty satisfied with my selection of abilities, I do wish there had been more non-lethal gear at least. I felt somewhat cheated by the fact that most of the "fun gadgets" were lethal.
All in all, I thought this was an excellent game; and definitely one that I would recommend to fans of stealth-oriented games. The amount, and quality, of content was good; and was an enjoyable experience.
It was a pleasure to find a game that was actually innovating; instead of the dried-out cookie cutter sequels that are all too prevalent, and flooding the market, these days!