I remember seeing adverts for Dishonored plastered all over busses driving around Sydney when it was released back in 2012. Another generic shooter I figured, ignoring it at the time. But I also remember seeing some pretty glowing reviews, and the release of DH2 to similar fanfare made playing the first game seem like a good idea. Plus a friend was keen for a playthrough - just the motivation required. And I’m super glad we did - Dishonored is an excellent first person adventure, leaving the well trodden path of the shooter to deliver something far more entertaining.

The keys to it’s success were the fact that you can choose entirely different methods of playing, and that the levels and zones have a refreshing non-linear nature and great freedom of movement.

Set in a steampunkian world that resembles Bioshock Infinite to a degree, you are tasked with clearing your name (hence: Dishonored1) after an assassination. So far so predictable, but once you start your quest the game delivers in delightful fashion.

Never doubt it

You can approach the game as a run-and-gun shooter, blasting your way through everything, or as a stealth-based Thief-a-like. Compellingly, the choice you make impacts how the world reacts around you from level to level. Too much chaos and the guards are more alert. Too much death and the plague rats become more vicious. I snuck through the entire game virtually undetected using the invaluable x-ray vision - with copious reloads to do so - but the alternate approach is just as viable.

The level design is great, and the early introduction of a Nightcrawler-esque short distance teleport bampf suddenly opens up the game world to vertical and horizontal solutions. You can traverse the streets at great heights along balconies and rooftops, or scuttle through sewers and drains whilst possessing rats. The freedom of movement is very refreshing - trying other games after playing DH brings home the disappointment of not being able to go almost wherever you wish (looking at you Alien: Isolation - ‘no you can’t jump over that tiny wall or move through that obvious gap’).

There are optional goals for each level to satisfy replayability, objects and runes to discover to empower your skills, and the plot is satisfyingly political and mostly sensible (unlike the aforementioned Bioshock Infinite, which whilst fun had a nigh on impossible plot to unravel). DH also throws you straight into the main story, and keeps you there, which means it’s refreshingly short too - probably around 20-30 hours. Definitely recommended. Looking forward to DH2, maybe when the DH3 bus ads start appearing.

  1. Ugh leaving out the ‘u’ is difficult. ↩︎