Dishonored Review

RPG Codex has produced a review of Arkane Studios’ newest RPG/shooter hybrid title, Dishonored. Although debate has broken out over whether it was proper for the site to cover such a game, the author’s feelings on the game mirror our own – good, but not great.

It is very much possible to ghost your way through this game. In the prologue mission, this is still quite challenging – the AI is aware and can spot you rather easily. When they spot you at the edge of their vision but are unsure if they’ve actually seen anything, they will get suspicious and keep their head turned in the direction where they’ve spotted you. If they spot you again, they will immediately alert and run to your position with swords drawn. Overall, I found the AI to be more perceptive than in Thief – on a horizontal level, at least.

Vertically, the AI is almost blind. As soon as you climb somewhere that is above the heads of your enemies, they will not see you. The only time a guard managed to spot me on a high ledge was when he was already alerted and saw me climb up. When unalerted, the AI will never look up, so as long as you stay above everyone’s line of sight, you’re perfectly safe. The levels usually offer many opportunities to climb up high, be it on ledges, ventilation shafts or heating pipes, rooftops or balconies.

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It’s a good game, nonetheless. I’ve explored every nook and cranny of the levels, finished it without killing anyone and successfully ghosting almost every level and had a lot of fun doing so. Occasionally, I attacked rooms full of guards for shits and giggles and enjoyed the combat system, which, although it doesn’t reach the quality of DMoMM, has a very satisfying feel to it. There’s nothing about the game that could be called bad. Everything ranges from solid to good. But, sadly, it doesn’t go any further. It’s good, even very good at times, but it never manages to transcend mere goodness and reach excellence. There aren’t any moments that are just jaw-droppingly awesome it’s merely a good game through and through.

So, if you’re planning to buy this, you can expect to be adequately entertained. Yet you should not set your expectations too high: this is no Thief, and it’s no Deus Ex either. If I had to compare it to another game of its type, I would say it’s slightly better than DX: Human Revolution. Chances are you will enjoy Dishonored if you’ve enjoyed DX:HR.

While Arkane and Harvey Smith have dropped some of the game’s RPG inspiration, hopefully we’ll see them expand on the ideas in Dishonored with whatever they might have coming in the future.