Dishonored

Dishonored is an upcoming first-person stealth action adventure video game being developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is scheduled to be released in October 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Set in the industrial city of Dunwall, Dishonored follows Corvo Atano, a legendary bodyguard to the Empress who is framed for her murder and forced to become an infamous assassin to seek revenge on those who conspired against him. Atano is aided in his quest by the Outsider, a powerful being who imbues him with magical abilities. Several actors provide voice work for the game, including Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to tackle a series of assassination missions in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be tackled by stealth, combat or a combination of both. Exploring levels opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals, and it is possible to eliminate all of Atano's targets in a non-lethal manner. Magical abilities are designed to be combined to create new, more powerful effects.

Gameplay

The game is played in first-person, with an emphasis placed on stealth action and the utilization of gadgets as well as the environment to eliminate opposing forces. The game world is a series of self-contained, mission-focused sandboxes designed to allow for multiple avenues of exploration in terms of in-game movement and powers. Between missions the player is taken to a central hub. In-game areas include loading docks, royal estates, poverty stricken streets, and a bathhouse. The game features the ability for the player to save anywhere and also includes a checkpoint save system, with both disabled during combat. There are four difficulty levels which affect the effectiveness of health and mana potions, and enemy perception, damage and responsiveness. The easy difficulty also enables health regeneration.

Dishonored also features role-playing game elements including character upgrade system and moral choices with focus on non-linear consequences. The game is designed to allow the player to complete it without killing any 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 which in turn was rewarded with the mission targets being kidnapped and enslaved in a mine. Each mission contains multiple avenues of exploration and reaching targets, with traversal and exploration of levels designed to support the array of abilities at the player's disposal, rather than having a specific "hacking path" and "sneaking path".

Actions committed by the player are not judged to be of a good or evil morality, but instead are tracked by a "chaos" system that records how much collateral damage, violent actions and deaths are caused by the player. The game world is modified by how little or much damage is caused, affecting story decisions with an emphasis on not punishing the player or forcing them to choose one style of play over another. For example, a non-player character (NPC) who disapproves of violent methods may not support the player and may even betray them. The game reacts to the chaos caused in both scripted ways, such as dialog, and dynamic ways, such as increasing rats, plagued citizens and adding new scenes, and can affect the current mission and future ones. The system also influences the two game endings obtainable, with variations based on which characters live or die. Playing violently can allow missions to be completed in less time than a stealth approach, but will consume more resources such as health and mana potions, which are required more often in direct combat.

Features and abilities

The game features six active powers, four enhancements (passive powers), and 40 "bone charms" that grant the player supernatural perks such as increasing the duration of rat possession. Only three bone charms can be active at any time. Smith and Colantonio stated that it is impossible for a player to accrue all of the powers and abilities in a single playthrough. Mana is necessary to use the abilities and only partially regenerates after use, enough to allow the use of powers like "Blink" and "Dark Vision", but mana potions are required to recover larger amounts of mana, restricting the use of higher cost abilities like "Possession" and "Bend Time". Magic is assigned to the player character's left hand and weapons to the right hand. 

The main supernatural powers are unlocked and purchased using Runes, and each can be upgraded. Announced powers include: "Dark Vision", which allows the player to see enemies through walls, their field of view and an abstract representation of sound made by the player; "Blink", a short-distance teleportation ability; "Possession", that allows the player to inhabit and possess other characters from rats and fish to humans temporarily; "Devouring Swarm", which summons a swarm of deadly rats; "Time Bend", that freezes time; "Wind Blast", a gust of wind; and "Shadow Kill" that turns dead enemies to ash preventing their discovery. The player also has access to weaponry including a sword, grenades and pistols. Coins must be collected to upgrade weapons and gadgets.

Stealth is based on occlusion, hiding behind objects and architecture and avoiding the enemies' cone of vision, with lighting also a factor in player visibility. When hiding behind an object, the player can lean around the sides to view the immediate area and eavesdrop, and as long as Corvo's body remains hidden, enemies will not see him. The player can also look through keyholes to gain insight into closed rooms. Enemy AI will respond to sound and can be distracted by the player creating a sound in one place to lure a guard away from their position.

Guards have several states of alertness ranging from normal, to suspicious, aware of the players presence and then actively searching for the player. Remaining concealed from guards eventually reduces the alertness to aware, but it will not return to normal in that particular mission. Enemies communicate their alertness state to their allies, in turn increasing their alertness level.

If the player encounters thugs harassing an innocent passerby, they can be fought off, but the thugs themselves exist within the game world prior to the event, rather than simply spawning in at a designated time or place. If the player encounters the thugs ahead of time, they can be defeated and the mugging will never take place at all.

Synopsis

Setting

Dishonored takes place in the industrial city of Dunwall, modeled after late 1800s-early 1900s London and Edinburgh, that is ruled over by an oppressive regime. In the city, technology and otherworldly forces coexist. Dunwall is a center for fishing and whaling, with whale oil a valuable resource necessary for powering the city. The city is stricken with a plague spread by rats and dogs that is killing the poor and isolating the rich. The infected, known as "Weepers", cry blood and can become violent against others. The government uses the plague as an excuse to take or purge citizens as they wish. Order is maintained by the Tallboys, heavily armored officers on tall, mechanical legs, and districts are separated by Walls of Light, barriers made of energy that disintegrate those that attempt to cross them.

Cast

The main character of Dishonored is Corvo Atano, the Empress' legendary former bodyguard turned infamous assassin. Corvo is skilled in stealth and combat, armed with unusual gadgets, and possesses great supernatural powers. The cast also includes Granny Rags (Susan Sarandon), a former aristocrat now blind and deranged after years of living on the streets; Piero (Brad Dourif), an inventor who builds Corvo's mask and supplies him with gadgets; Admiral Havelock (John Slattery), a loyalist and ally to Corvo; Daud (Michael Madsen), an assassin; and Calista (Lena Headey) a caretaker for the Empress' daughter Young Lady Emily (Chloë Grace Moretz). Carrie Fisher provides the voice of the loudspeakers found throughout the city relaying government propaganda. Corvo is offered aid in his quest by The Outsider (Billy Lush), described as a mixture of God and the Devil, who imprints his mark on Corvo, imbuing him with magical abilities. The Outsider also grants his mark to other characters, granting each different abilities. Smith described the character as an amoral figure who grants abilities, but leaves the choice of how to use them up to the recipient.

Plot

After being framed for the murder of the Empress, bodyguard Corvo Atano is offered the chance to exact vengeance against the Lord Regent and others responsible by The Outsider. The Outsider grants Corvo its mark, imbuing the disgraced bodyguard with magical abilities.

Release

Dishonored is scheduled for release on Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms beginning in North America on October 9, 2012, followed on October 11 in Australia, and October 12 in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Trailer