It’s the end of the week, you have around £40 burning a hole in your pocket and to all gamers in the UK that can only mean one thing… a new release game. This Friday saw the release of, among other titles, Dishonored (spelt incorrectly if you are from the UK); a first person assassin style game by Bethesda and Arkane Studios. Though Bethesda are well renowned for the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises they are not so well renowned for leaving their comfort zone and branching out into other games, but this is one time where the risk of trying something different has, in my opinion, paid off dividends.
So sit back, lace up your running boots and hone your best Dick Van Dyke cockney impersonation as I tell you why you need to take a trip into this Steam-Punk Victorian styled little gem.
1. The Studios
As previously stated, Bethesda are not the most successful franchise when trying something different from the First Person RPG, however when you look at the credentials of Arkane you realise that there are a few games in their back catalogue that are worth a pop at in the least; i.e. they had a hand in Bioshock 2’s art direction, which comes across in Dishonored for those who look close enough, as well as being responsible for Dark Messiah (of Might and Magic) which has its own little cult following.
Deviating away to look at the sister studios of Arkane, you have ID Software; the guys responsible for Doom, Wolfstein and Rage, all games in my opinion that you can easily lose a day to playing. So even though it may not be an Infinity Ward or DICE production, the developers and producers have the credentials to pull off this kind of game.
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23 Comments
Sorry but none of these reasons convinced me I should play it immediately. I think I can wait on it to get a used copy or something.
Well in contradiction I think these reasons are brilliant.
It reminds me a lot of a first person Assassins Creed, but with more tactics built in. You need to look at how to progress through the area before running in or going in thinking you can do it all stealthy.
Theres a part in the game, where you have to kill two twins, i must have spent an hour on the level, for two reasons.
1. I planned it and had a look around to see how to do it properly.
2. I had fun plotting and silently taking out every guard i saw.
The gameplay is brilliant but apparently the game isnt huge, but makes up for it in replay value. Very good game, one of the best for a while this year.
I agree it looks like it will be an amazing game without a doubt. But I am a bit picky when it comes to day 1 purchases. They have to excite me by showing me something I’ve never seen before and make it out so that I really don’t want to be late to the party or come into work and everyone else is talking about it. Games like skyrim or GTA or even Battlefield 3 for me (Huge battlefield fan and lots of friends who play). With dishonored it seems to be a mash-up of Bioshock-Deusex-Assasins creed. Which still looks very cool but for me it doesn’t warrant a Day 1 purchase, however neither was Assasins creed or bioshock for me when they first came out so I can’t say it isn’t going to be game of the year either.
technically in the game you can still shoot, I’ve seen some videos where people are using guns.
in canada this game is $60 and assassin creed 3 is $60 too, no brainer which one i’ll choose!
“Yes there have been other franchises which have used the first person camera angle in games that ultimately didn’t need it, such as Mirror’s Edge.”
Oh my gawwwd, shut up already. It wouldn’t have been Mirror’s Edge without that. I’m tired of people criticizing it simply because they’re bad at it.
I actually beat the game on Normal in nine hours and forty mins at least according to the time steam said after I finished playing the game
“Well apparently the quickest time you can complete the game in is somewhere between 15 and 20 hours”
That is a huge lie… I completed the game in 6 hours or so…
I loved it though.
Regarding Mirrors Edge I never said it was a bad game nor that it was worse off for being first person, in fact I loved Mirrors Edge saved feel at times I have to justify the game to sceptics.
As for the quickest time to complete it in being a lie, I never said you can’t complete it in under 15 hours, I’d simply heard 15, if you completed quicker? Congratulations :)
In the UK I’ve found it at 38 quid, which I think is worth it, if it is a choice between Assassins and Dishonored though then by all means I understand if you want to wait.
Thanks for the comments and reading though people.
I missed this off, I will actually be talking about Mirrors Edge in a later article about how I think it’s been overlooked by so many gamers over the years
Mirror’s Edge isn’t that overlooked at all. Lots of people know about it. If you want to bring up a game that’s overlooked try Breakdown. It inspired lots of stuff in Mirror’s Edge but no one knows about it.
It took me about 9 hours to beat and that was rushing it, mixed with dien haha. I played more stealth and got 11hrs and my 3rd play through which im still working on and im taking the kill everything approach, im about 3hrs deep. I got my 60 dollars worth. theres two different endings depending on your paths. plus side missions etc. what else would you want from a game? a cut copy shooter with over powered perks? and a season pass to enojy content that should have came with the game to start with? hmmmmmmm
Personally i agree with the author in that there are far too many games out there at the moment which try to use the multiplayer as a reason to play. The “old school” games which only had the main storyline used great writing, settings and themes (usually) to keep the player going for the 50+ hours that they payed for. rather than a disapointingly short storyline and then trying to make up for this by using a few different scenarios to be constantly repeted online
pre-ordered months ago and already beat :D definitely one of the best games of the year
This is one of the best games of the year. There is no doubt about it. These 10 reasons don’t even scratch the surface. The world in which dishonored takes place is vivid and rich, but this game only scratches the surface of it. They talk about the 4 island nations and only ever show Dunwall. I pray to the gamer gods that a sequel will be making its way to us soon.
I just recently purchased this game and absolutely love it. The graphics are superb and it plays extremely smooth. I enjoyed the hell out of Bethesdas line of games (i.e Oblivion,Skyrim,Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas) as well as the Assassins Creed series and Prince of Persia. My focus when given those options is the more stealthy kill roll and I absolutely despise spending my money on a game that Im going to finish in one short sitting. Options are your friend and personally this game brought all those aspects of enjoyment into 1 title. Props to the author for great references on very good games in retrospect and I feel he made many valid points of why people should give this game a chance immediately. I will still be purchasing the upcoming Assassins Creed 3 though this game wasn’t one to tie me over until it’s release and I’ve actually been waiting on it’s release since news of it coming out quite some time ago. I enjoyed your article btw Mark so keep em coming bro.
During an event to show off its third-party 2009 lineup, Bethesda also announced that a new Fallout title, Fallout: New Vegas (note the lack of a number, we’ll get to that later), will be released next year for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Following the surprise announcement of a new title so soon, the second surprise is that Bethesda is not developing the title. Instead, Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights II (and its expansions), will be working on New Vegas.
£38? £29.99 on Steam.
Took a chance on this game and loved it.
Didn’t take long to complete, but I was a bit sword and gun happy on my first run through. Appreciated the stealth approach more as I got in to it, so I’m starting over again with a less agressive style.
This is a game I know I will keep coming back to.
Game of the year. Seriously. Borderlands 2 close behind.
The fact that Arkane Studios developed Arx Fatalis was more of a reason, for me, to look further into Dishonored than Dark Messiah ever was.
As for time spent, I think I am a little past the 75% mark and I have sunk 26 hours into it, which comes from pushing to get 100% on collectibles, exploring the entire environment, reading notes & books, eavesdropping on conversations, etc. So, in one playthrough, you can definitely get some mileage out of Dishonored.
Where are my car keys and jacket? *drives to pick up this treat* #oldschoolgamer
Great review, I need to check this out!