It's disheartening to see how Arkane Studios appears to be the only developer still around which has the necessary skills to take usually overlooked vertical exploration and rich level design to such a, pardon the pun, high degree. So much so they can rightfully be placed at the very essence of Dishonored which revels and is at its best when it lets you explore the extremely well designed world of Dunwall which absolutely oozes atmosphere and character at every corner, but is sadly diminished by its poorly constructed and even worse, poorly executed narrative of the main story which leads to unsatisfying revelations and tacked on abrupt ending not redeemed in the least by an epilogue. This carries over to characters and their own stories which end up being very forgettable and merely serving a purpose.

Things are just as conflicted in the gameplay department where game offers multiple ways to go about your bloody business, but then proceeds to hamstring your stealth approach with very limited arsenal of tools at your disposal, at least compared to a more violent route which gives you much more freedom and utility. There are also customary problems associated with stealth AI detection and rats getting in the way of devouring your unconscious enemies which leads to some no kill failure states. Some of the non-violent target solutions could've also used a bit more challenge and less contrivance in some cases, but it's nothing worth writing a paragraph about and can be waved away.

In the end Dishonored is a widely uneven game, but one who's faults fail to overshadow the positives in the grand scheme of things. Shame I didn't get to tackle the DLC, but it's something for the future because Dishonored is most certainly worthy of replaying.

It's disheartening to see how Arkane Studios appears to be the only developer still around which has the necessary skills to take usually overlooked vertical exploration and rich level design to such a, pardon the pun, high degree. So much so they can rightfully be placed at the very essence of Dishonored which revels and is at its best when it lets you explore the extremely well designed world of Dunwall which absolutely oozes atmosphere and character at every corner, but is sadly diminished by its poorly constructed and even worse, poorly executed narrative of the main story which leads to unsatisfying revelations and tacked on abrupt ending not redeemed in the least by an epilogue. This carries over to characters and their own stories which end up being very forgettable and merely serving a purpose. Things are just as conflicted in the gameplay department where game offers multiple ways to go about your bloody business, but then proceeds to hamstring your stealth approach with very limited arsenal of tools at your disposal, at least compared to a more violent route which gives you much more freedom and utility. There are also customary problems associated with stealth AI detection and rats getting in the way of devouring your unconscious enemies which leads to some no kill failure states. Some of the non-violent target solutions could've also used a bit more challenge and less contrivance in some cases, but it's nothing worth writing a paragraph about and can be waved away. In the end Dishonored is a widely uneven game, but one who's faults fail to overshadow the positives in the grand scheme of things. Shame I didn't get to tackle the DLC, but it's something for the future because Dishonored is most certainly worthy of replaying.