Dunwall is a dreary place, and not one anyone would want to visit, but is an excellent and rich world for the story of Dishonored to occur.
Dishonored finds you in the shoes of Corvo, the Royal Protector, bodyguard to the ruling monarch, but as the game quickly unravels, you find yourself in the role of usurper as well as guardian. You have to sneak, tumble, fight – and potentially kill – in order to restore the plague-ridden Dunwall back to some level of stability.
The narrative of Dishonored unravels in a rather predictable manner. The central characters who assign missions and the inter-mission exposition are neither the most fascinating nor the most entertaining. You will not become attached by any means and the plotline, by all accounts, is predictable and unsurprising.
The strength of the narrative comes through the mysteries, strange encounters, and the interaction in missions. From meeting the “Outsider”, to Slackjaw, Granny, a curious assassin, and most importantly, Samuel – the quality writing of Dishonored comes from the supplements to the story rather than the story itself. It is these infrequent yet memorable moments that will remain with you after the 10 hour or so campaign comes to a close.
But those are 10 fun-filled hours.
Dishonored remains a great game because it is absolutely ridiculously fun. You, as Corvo, quickly gain thrilling capabilities of animal possession, teleportation, dark vision, and others. Alongside proximity mines, grenades and much more, the encounters in the games, dispatching enemies, avoiding them, and disposing of key targets is a well-paced, well-planned and immaculately executed.
Perhaps the most fun of all is trying to use as few gadgets or powers as possible.
And perhaps that’s where Dishonored really shines – in its approach to player choice. Killing targets, guards, pesky assassins, is a decadent practice in the city of Dunwall, and the more you, as a player, dispatch enemies in a lethal manner, the greater the chance the city will fall to ruin. The ability to play through the narrative without killing a single soul is an exciting challenge, and the choice between cold steel and sleep darts makes every mission weigh with significance.
With varied locations, curious subplots, lore abound and new gameplay mechanics that will constantly tempt you, Dishonored is a game you want to play, and Dunwall is a city with a few memorable moments that you will not forget anytime soon.