Reviews by Alex Ros

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Nice Dishonored review. I agree with most of what you said but I do not really agree with your rating. I do agree that the story is shallow, the characters are peripheral and all of your targets are essentially just MacGuffins (though the reason behind each assassination is acceptable; just not very interesting or well developed). On the other hand, I think we should be grateful that one of the most high-profile games of the year was a good stealth game, which is really a dying breed. I can live with a boring story as long as the gameplay is exceptional, and in this regard I give Dishonored at least a 9. Even if it's just a playground as you put it, the possibilities for getting through the missions allows for virtually endless replayability, just like in the Hitman games. This game is actually very difficult to ghost with no magic (I can't get past Return to the Tower yet) and as an obsessive stealth fan I am infinitely grateful to be able to play in some new environments, with new goals, sneaking past my enemies. It's so visceral and satisfying, and I think for bringing us some real stealth Dishonored was a success (BTW, as a Thief fan I take offense at you calling the first two games outdated - they are still the most popular games to ghost and are as far as I'm concerned timeless).

I think Arkane really need to rethink their priorities though for sure. All of their games have fun, incredibly detailed, impressive gameplay with amazing graphics (for their time) but all have absolutely terrible stories. I haven't played Bioshock 2 but this is applicable to both Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Arkane just don't seem to realize how important story is in video games. But Dark Messiah and Dishonored are both games I would readily play again because of the amazing gameplay. Personally I would give Dishonored a 7/10 overall, even though I basically agree with everything you said.