Dishonored - RELEASED!

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Since the bad endings were both pretty depressing (in a good way of course), I guess I'm going to start my nonlethal run now - I won't even kill dogs, I promise!

So - what was your favourite level, everyone? (Don't forget the spoilers! )

Spoiler below!

I think mine was the flooded district and the mass grave. Emerging there in the river bed, looking up and seeing wagon after wagon arrive and leave, bringing an endless stream of corpses from the city. Its rare that a game suceedes in making death carry as much weight as it does in real life. And somehow the fact that all corpses were wrapped in sheets and there was no gore to be seen made it so much more effective than all the "shocking" guts and blood splatter in other games combined.

[Kreekakon]

Spoiler below!

I also read somewhere that if you take down Campball in the first mission non-lethally, you can actually FIND him in the flooded district as one of the weepers still with his heretic's brand.

I'm so going to look for him next time.

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Spoiler below!

Indeed, you can! I chose to brand him and there he was, in the building where you find your gear, crawling around sick and half-dead like all the other plague victims. I didn't even recognize him at first ("Oh its just another weeper..."), but then I found a note next to him in which he said he could feel the plague starting to infect his brain and that he would dedicate his last coherent thoughts to cursing Corvo.

[Kreekakon]

Oh, I just thought of something awesome I did in my last run:

Spoiler below!

Emerging there in the river bed, looking up and seeing wagon after wagon arrive and leave, bringing an endless stream of corpses from the city.

Spoiler below!

I actually found a way to get past a section in that level by RIDING the wagon. Wheee!!

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Spoiler below!

Oh, thats an elegant solution! I got past that section by climbing onto a ruined building and killing one of the Tallboys by jumping on him from above as he walked past. Then i hid and when they opened the gate at ground-level to send in another Tallboy for reinforcement, I quickly blinked through under him before the gate closed and climbed up to the exit inside the gatehouse. The possibilities are endless in this game!

Also I found this almost Easter-Egg like detail:

Spoiler below!

During Lady Boyles Last Party, you can sign the guestbook at the entrance with your name for shits and giggles. Then, later, when you are in the Lord Regents rooms, you can find a note from one of his men, saying something along the lines of "Someone signed the guestbook at Lady Boyles house with 'Corvo Attano'. Its probably nothing, just a sick joke - but still, I thought I'd let you know." Psychological warfare at its best!

[the dark side]

loving it. it is what i call a proper game, hard as hell, dark, gloomy has the gameplay i like (static hairs, medkits) has No mercy for the player, you need to read the manual for the controlls as you can turn the hints off (YES!). we NEED more games like this! the best of yesterdays gameplay with the best of todays sound and graphics, way to go arkane!

sadly, the storyline is a a little uninspiring, but then, im currently on my first playthrough, wich is the "if it moves, kill it" chaos path, and it is starting to get nicely dark and violent, perhaps its better on a "ghost" play.

The art style is fantastic, that mix of reality and fantasy with heavy victorian steam punk overtones, it feels a bit like metal gear crossed with theif II metal age, it certainly beats the usual "greay and brown" durkadurkastan look of most of the other games this year.

i also love how can properly cut limbs off and stick bades through peoples throats, no cissy "censorship" here, this game deserves its 18!, its got Proper hit damage, and even better, the enemy isnt scripted, its got proper A.I, you have no idea how much i miss AI, it reacts to sound and light, it feels pain, the enemy uses tactics and hunts you, and it can kill you with incredible speed.

The RPG elements like multiple choice conversations feel spot on,as always with a bethesoft published game, you really feel like you are talking to an intelligence.

ok it has a few annoyancesd for me, but thats because im being way to elitist. its just, well, it lets you turn the hints off (yay), but doesnt let you turn of the waypoint marker, wich is a bit of an annoyance for me, but i do like how you can properly explore, the leves are wide open, you can go anywhere you can see if you have enough mana for "blink". it can really let you get the drop on the enemy, and theres loads of secrets to find, it really does reward you for exploring.

on a final good note. you got an enemy to "comit suicide" by walking him into the path of his own bullet yet? sick. but....oh sooo satisfying!

the game is a definate 8/10 from me. we need more like it. it is selling really well, so hopefully it will show the industry there is room for proper "old fashioned", "hardcore" games, and we should get a sequal that hopefully will give us some more exposition on some of the charachters.

[Kreekakon]

you need to read the manual for the controlls.

I never read the manual for controls lol. I just let the game tell me what I have to do, and that's well good enough for me.

[the dark side]

True. Dishounred does have hints, but i turn them off, i dont mind hints if you can turn them off. its like scaling crosshairs, i dont mind them being in the game if i can turn them off (EG: Nolf Series, SOFII, RTCW, etc), its when i cant the game is ruined. same with hints, sure, have them, just let me turn them off as they ruin the game for me, because i feel patronised, if i want my hand held.. ill stay in reality, thanks.

i hope more games will implement that option in future, because i am someone who likes to read a manual, and i feel patronised when the game tells me what to do. so i really appreciate arkane letting me turn the damn hints off. more games need that option.

I feel its the perfect option for the future, as it lets the "lazy gamer" (no offense!) still have the hints on screen, but it also means elitist players like me who feel patronised by hints, especially as we actually created the controll set up we use manually, don't have to be treated like amoebas.

I am glad this game is doing well, as Arkane has done something very few other developers do these days. They have put thaught into the game, and found ways to make it appeal to both hardcore gamers and "new gamers" alike instead of just aiming at the lowest common denominator. hopefully it will inpsire other developers to make more effort with there own games.

The industry needs a kick up the a**e to save it from "activision war game copy for lowest common denominator market" complacancy and the inevitable crash that will cause, and hopefully dishonoured will be that kick up the a**e the industry needs. i mean, even Crosshaw liked it! and that is a very rare occurence, but then dishounoured is a rare thing. A. Proper. Game.

[Kreekakon]

I'd say there's WAY more to games than if it has an abundance of hints, or not. I don't even think it's a major deciding factor.

But hey, if the game gives you the freedom to alter it to whatever you like, then I'm all for it. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

[the dark side]

of course, i agree, the hints is the tip of the iceburg, its just nice to have that option!

As i pointed out in my big review, Dishounored meets a lot of the things that i feel make a great game, no, scratch that, A Masterpeice!

Its got an awesome, unique art style.
Its got great atmosphere.
The Music Score is Sumptuous and fits the game perfectly.
It has AI that genuinely challenges the player, reacts to lots of stimuli, and feels intelligent. its not scripted!
It is Properly Hard, its merciless, you screw up, your dead. (the more challenge, the more fun i have!)
The sound effects are fantastic, every crunch, every slice, it sounds meaty.
the Voice overs are superb, perfectly matched emotions and with great diction, personal kudos for me comes from the fact it is mostly British, something i personally love to hear, being British myself.
It has massive levels that award you for exploring.
It is properly optimised for PC, its not a rushed "port from console" job, it has AA, its reliable, it has control rebind, it has a steady frame rate, it feels properly optimised for the PC platform. thats rare for a multiplatform title these days.

it is a proper videogame, its Properly hard, its tense, its exiting, it rewards exploration, its clearly got massive replay factor, the RPG mechanics are spot on, it feels intelligent, it is a Proper Videogame. i offer my 8/10 score with no reservation, its just one or 2 little errors, such as the slightly uninspiring plot and the fact it is a little short, that prevent it getting a 10!

it is very rare i get to give a game a positive review these days, and i am overjoyed i can give dishonoured one, i may be an elitist, but im also human, i want to see great games, and dishonoured is certainly a great game. I hope to see more games like it in future, as its a game that is actually Worth! "cloning". its success should see that happening, it will be fantastic to see some Proper games, instead of lowest common denominator guff, coming from the big publsihers again, not just the indies. we could be on the verge of a second "silver era" here. fingers crossed eh?