Dishonored 2 Game Pa...
The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to undertake a series of missions in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be completed through stealth, combat, or a combination of both. Exploring each level opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals, and it is possible to complete all missions, eliminating all of Corvo's targets, in a non-lethal manner. The story and missions are changed in response to the player's violent actions or lack thereof. Magical abilities and equipment are designed to be combined to create new and varied effects.
Dishonored 2 Game Pa...
Dishonored received positive reviews, focusing on the missions' individual narratives and the freedom available in completing them. The game won several awards, including the 2012 Spike Video Game award for Best Action-Adventure Game and the 2013 BAFTA award for Best Game, and was repeatedly recognized as the best action-adventure game of 2012 and one of that year's best games. It has also been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. Dishonored was initially released in October 2012, for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360, and was later supplemented with additional content focusing on the assassin Daud and his quest for redemption. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game were released in August 2015. Two narrative sequels, Dishonored 2 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, were released in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and the 2021 game, Deathloop, takes place within the far future of the Dishonored universe.
Dishonored is an action-adventure game played from a first-person perspective with an emphasis on stealth action and the use of gadgets and the environment to eliminate opposing forces.[1][2][3] The game world is a series of self-contained, mission-focused areas designed for multiple avenues of exploration in terms of in-game movement and powers.[2][4] Between missions, the player is taken to a central hub called the Hound Pits pub where the player character Corvo can meet with his allies, receive mission briefings and alternate objectives, and convert recovered loot into new equipment and upgrades.[4][5] In-game areas include loading docks, royal estates, poverty-stricken streets, and a bathhouse.[6] The player can save their progress anywhere, and the game includes a checkpoint save system. Saving is disabled during combat.[7][8] The game has four difficulty levels which modify the effectiveness of health and mana (magic) potions, and enemies' awareness, damage delivered, and responsiveness. In the easy setting, health regeneration is possible.[9]
Dishonored features role-playing game elements, such as the ability to upgrade powers and to make moral choices with a focus on non-linear consequences.[10] The game is designed to allow the player to complete it without killing any non-player characters (NPC), including boss characters and mission targets. An example of a non-lethal situation given by co-creative designer Harvey Smith involved the player completing a side mission for a character, and in return that character had two of Corvo's targets kidnapped and enslaved.[11] Each mission contains multiple ways to explore and reach targets. Movement through and exploration of levels is designed to support the player character's abilities, rather than specific paths that are aimed at a particular gameplay style, such as hacking or sneaking.[12] Specific elements of missions, such as changes to the color of a target's clothing and mask in one mission are randomized, requiring the player to explore the game area to find the target each time the mission is played.[13]
The player's actions are not judged to be good or evil, but instead are tracked by a "chaos" system that records the amounts of friendly fire, violence, and deaths the player causes. This modifies the game world, affecting the story without directly punishing the player or forcing them to choose one style of play over another.[11][12][14] For example, an NPC who disapproves of violence may refuse to support the player, or may even betray them.[15] The game reacts to the chaos caused in scripted ways, such as changing dialogue, and dynamic ways, such as increasing the presence of rats and plagued citizens and adding new scenes. This can affect the active mission and future missions.[2] The system also influences which of the game's two endings is reached, with variations based on which characters live or die.[16] Using violence allows missions to be completed in less time than using a stealth approach, but violence consumes more in-game resources such as health and mana potions, which are required more often in direct combat.[11][14]
The ending varies depending upon the level of chaos the player has caused throughout the game. If Corvo saves Emily, she ascends the throne as Empress with Corvo at her side, and, if minimal chaos has been caused, a golden age dawns and the plague is overcome. After many decades, Corvo dies of natural causes, and Empress Emily Kaldwin I the Wise buries him beside Empress Jessamine.[61] If much chaos is caused, the city remains in turmoil and is overrun with the plague. If Corvo fails to save Emily, Dunwall crumbles, and Corvo flees the city by ship.[56]
The game supports a different interface for Microsoft Windows users to that for the console versions, and also supports the use of Xbox 360 controllers on Windows PCs. Smith described the team's philosophy of allowing its developers who are passionate about a particular release platform to develop software for it; those passionate about PC will work on developing that interface, while Xbox 360 aficionados were allowed to develop the Achievements for that platform.[68] Dishonored was officially released to manufacturing on 28 September 2012.[69][70]
The development team researched unexpected ways the player could combine Corvo's special powers, such as combining a high jump with the ability to teleport in order to travel greater distances than either ability allowed independently. Instead of restricting these exploits, the team tried to design levels to accommodate them.[15][41] The designers did not consider all of the powers they conceived during development, such as a power to become a shadow that could move along walls, to be suitable for the game.[16] Some existing powers went through several revisions: a version of "Bend Time" caused the player to unfreeze enemies when touched; "Possession" allowed the player to control a victim remotely without inhabiting their body, but this offered less challenge.[71] Balancing the effectiveness of the player's powers was considered difficult. Colantonio said: "We wanted to give [the player] very strong powers, to make [the player] really a badass, but at the same time we didn't want the game to be too easy". Each power has a duration, mana cost, and other variable properties that allowed the team to effectively scale even the most destructive of abilities by making them costly to use frequently or limiting the time they remain active.[12]
Dishonored's stealth system was originally based on that of the Thief series, which uses level lighting and shadows to determine whether an enemy can detect the player character's presence. However, it was decided that it was unrealistic that an enemy could stand directly in front of a player hiding in shadows and not detect them. It was also considered that making certain areas dark hid the designers' work and contrasted poorly with well-lit areas.[72] Much of the ambient dialogue was written to be lengthy and add background detail to the game world and to entertain stealth players who may be in a single area for a long time. Conversely, main story dialogue was written to be short to compensate for the player being able to interrupt or kill the character who is speaking.[73]
Dishonored was originally set in medieval Japan, but the idea was dropped early in the game's development because of the difficulties presented in marketing the setting, and because no member of the design team knew much about the culture.[77] Arkane moved the setting to London in 1666, considering that the city was recognizable to Europeans and Americans. Later designs inspired by added gameplay mechanics such as floodlights, electrified barriers and 20th-century technologies that it no longer resembled London, and Arkane opted to develop a fictional city.[34][77] The city of Dunwall, designed to be a "contemporary and cool" "period piece", was inspired by late-19th and early-20th-century London and Edinburgh.[34] Describing why London had been an initial setting and remained a significant inspiration, Smith said:
Antonov described his inspiration from London as "a big metropolis, it's messy, it's chaotic and intense ... and it's both exotic and familiar to Americans and to Europeans". He highlighted the importance of that familiarity to different cultures because "you want to communicate to a lot of people when you make a new piece of fiction". He said that Edinburgh provided a sense of containment and a variety of architectural designs, which were combined with a futuristic vision which Antonov said was not comparable to the brass, rivets, and steam of steampunk design.[65] Antonov and Mitton traveled to London and Edinburgh for research, taking photographs of people, places, and objects. The pair avoided the busier streets and focused on side streets and alleyways that would better suit the game's world. Mitton stated: "We were trying to design the game from a rat's viewpoint ... if we have a small city, from a constrained viewpoint, what are all the different angles that we can explore?"[78] Inspiration also came from the artwork of John Atkinson Grimshaw, Canaletto, and Gustave Doré.[79] The world map was designed as a single piece of art and was sectioned so the designers were clear on where each mission takes place.[37] 041b061a72