'Dishonored 2' Review

Dishonored 2 review (PC version)

By Trevor Whalen

            Dishonored 2 is Arkane Studios’ follow up to their 2012 release Dishonored, and similarly is an immersive, first-person game that allows for a stealth approach, an action approach, or something in between. Like the original, it is a spiritual successor to the classic PC games Thief and Deus Ex, and it’s a success. Dishonored 2 is a really good game with great level design, beautiful visuals, and multifaceted, enjoyable gameplay.

            The game begins in Dunwall, the industrial, whaling-centric city from the first game. Empress Emily Kaldwin (daughter of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, assassinated in the first game) takes to the throne room in Dunwall Tower with her “Royal Protector”, Corvo Attano (the protagonist from the first game). The occasion is the memorial for the day Emily’s mother was killed. An entourage from Serkonos, the island country to the south of Dunwall, marches into the throne room. Royal Protector Corvo had known about this visit, but he had not authorized the surprise gifts it bore: a few “clockwork soldiers” and a Delilah Copperspoon, someone claiming to be Emily’s aunt and the rightful heir to Emily’s throne. In a coupe, Delilah, aided by her magical abilities, takes power. At this hectic point, you choose to play as either Emily or Corvo, and are imprisoned in Dunwall tower. The first mission of the game is escaping the tower and going on the run.

One of the first views from the game looks out over the cloudy Dunwall skyline.

 

After the Dunwall prelude, most of the game takes place in Karnaca, the capital city of Serkonos. (Dunwall is the capital of Gristol, the larger island nation north of Serkonos. The two island nations are part of the game’s fictional “Empire of the Isles”.) Karnaca is warmer than Dunwall, and while Dunwall’s economy centers on whaling, Karnaca’s centers on silver mining. The theme of mining runs throughout Dishonored 2’s story. One mission takes place in Karnaca’s “Dust District”, the area just outside the mines. Karnaca also has problems with “blood flies”, annoying maggots who infest some of the games’ buildings with their large nests. Destroying them with flame (via flammable liquids or incendiary bolts from your crossbow) may reward you with items and valuables tucked away behind where they were nesting.

Karnaca in the day.

Karnaca in the evening.

 

            While playing through the game as either Emily or Corvo, you may exploit the game’s powers and items or adopt a minimalist approach. I played the game as a stealth game, a method by which I think one can experience more of the game’s details, but an action approach is an option, as is an action and stealth hybrid approach.

I played as Emily Kaldwin, who has slightly different powers from Corvo. Her “Far Reach” ability is similar to Corvo’s “Blink” as it transports players quickly from one area to another within a reasonably close distance. Emily’s power has her pull herself very quickly, whereas Corvo’s power instantly transports him. Far Reach is the main power I used as I traversed the rooftops and ledges of each area or shot out of sight into cover just as a guard spied me. I ignored the other powers except for late-game uses of “Dark Vision” (an ability that allows you to see AI and security systems through walls) and “Shadow Walk” (an ability that allows you to sink into the ground as a shadow for a time and better sneak around). Early in the game, you can even choose to play with no powers available to you.

            If you choose to play with powers, you can unlock and upgrade them by using Rune Stones. Emily’s Far Reach ability may be upgraded to pull items and people toward you. Passive abilities, that may allow you to jump higher or to gain more health from eating food, can be activated by using Bone Charms. Both Rune Stones and Bone Charms lie throughout each level for you to find. They are in addition to other collectibles like blue prints for upgrades to your items, weapons, and self, and all the basic loot (coins, valuable trinkets, etc.). If you like exploring every nook and cranny and picking up collectibles, Dishonored 2 has a lot in store for you. The more you put into the game, the more you will get out of it. I explored and collected, and was satisfied by how much the game had to offer.

The collectibles each mission has. I didn't do too bad.

            Like in the first game, each mission has a target person for you to dispose of. In Dishonored 2, the goal is to eliminate Delilah’s inner circle of powerful friends in Karnaca. You may either kill each person or get rid of them in a “non-lethal” way. Discovering the non-lethal method of disposing a target requires a little more work, but the alternative is easily progressing straight to the target and killing them. Only one mission, an early one, offers real conflict, even for stealthy players, in choosing whether or not to kill the target or take the person out non-lethally. In most missions, the non-lethal path is usually accessible and interesting enough that choosing it is preferable to choosing a simple assassination. Going the non-lethal route leads to less overall “Chaos”, as does opting not to kill AIs. Less “Chaos” leads to a better ending, and the game tells you such early on. I’d prefer that this remain secret, but Dishonored 2 lets you know up front that if you kill more, you will earn a worse ending.

Taking down Clockwork Soldiers (like the one pictured above) won't add to your Chaos level.

 

            You can save the lives of average NPCs as well. Dishonored 2 has a few scripted scenes where members of the guard or of other in-game factions are threatening a civilian’s life. Initially I began only watching these moments, as if they were typical scripted sequences that I shouldn’t mess with. To my surprise, and after thinking, “Why not?” I once fired a sleep dart at one of the NPCs threatening another’s life. Doing so saved the potential victim. I noticed that the game has achievements for such life-saving acts. This ability to meddle in what might otherwise seem set-in-stone scripted sequences is another part of Dishonored 2’s fluidity.

The results for how hostile or stealthy you were. I came up a bit short.

 

            The level design in Dishonored 2 is excellent. The missions each provide you multiple pathways to any destination, several areas to explore, and room for trial and error. The latter depends on your method of play. The more perfectionist and experimental you are, the more you may fail and have to re-attempt any given feat. You will encounter multiple pathways because each area has ways to progress that are below or above street level. I usually took the higher road of rooftops, balconies and street lamps, as on ground level, even creeping about, you can be detected by NPCs frequently.

            The level design inspires through the whole game not just because the levels themselves are well built, but also because there is variety in the gameplay, structure, and purpose of the missions. Though each mission does ultimately center on a large structure you must infiltrate, these structures vary in ways that affect your progression in unexpected ways. One mission, the “Clockwork Mansion”, centers on a house with walls and floors that change via buttons on panels you find. Another mission, late in the game, has a fun and clever component that gives you a break from the standard gameplay. This interesting component could be the core of an entire game. Variety in missions pairs with fantastic level design as Dishonored 2’s greatest strengths.

 

            Intricate design is complemented by beautiful visuals. The art styles and the architectural designs are well realized and at times breathtaking. The designers wanted the Void Engine to enable graphics that look like a painting in motion, and it shows. I played on PC with the settings a mixture of Medium, High and Very High (the range goes up to Ultra), and it looked beautiful.

There are beautiful views at just about every corner.

 

The game is not void of technical issues, however. I played after early patches had been applied, with an Intel i7 6700 at 3.4 GHz, an Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060 with 6GB of onboard memory, and 16 GIGs of RAM. Though these are the recommended system requirements, and I was not playing with every setting on ‘Very High’ or ‘Ultra’, I experienced severe frame rate drops throughout. This was not so frequent as to be game breaking, but it is clear Dishonored 2 was optimized for consoles, not for PC. Recent patches have fixed most of the problems that plagued the early release, and the many graphics settings, including a much-loved-by-me field of view slider, make Dishonored 2 better than most. Still, it isn’t ideal conditions if anyone with a standard high-end PC can experience such graphical hiccups.

            The audio design, like the visual design, is solid work hampered by some technical faults. The voice acting is excellent throughout. The cast includes Stephen Russell (Corvo Attano) and Terri Brosius (some NPC lines), both Thief alums. Like in the first Dishonored and the Thief games, guards and other AI will mutter lines to themselves as they patrol. These add humor and charm to the game as you sneak by, and can make you feel guilty about choosing to kill, or even render unconscious, AI. How could you murder or strangle a guard who has just conversed with his stomach about dinner coming soon?

The musical style does not diverge from the original’s and, while there’s nothing particularly memorable, it complements the atmosphere, and there are several ambient noise effects that took me back to moments playing the Thief games. I did experience some technical flaws with the audio in the last few levels, though. A few scenes of people dancing and singing would seem mute until I passed a specific threshold close by, at which the noise would sound clear. Once I stepped back across this metaphorical threshold, the scene went back to being mute. Sometimes just turning towards and away from such a scene produced the same effect. I also experienced this same phenomenon with NPCs walking and chatting in the last couple of missions. At one point I received a mission note informing me I had overheard a conversation detailing where a certain key was—when I had heard no such conversation at all. These minor hiccups don’t make the game unplayable, and were the exception to the rule of solid sound design, but I did encounter them.

Part of a ruined home you will explore at one point.

 

             These occasional glitches with visual and sound design don’t ruin the otherwise very enjoyable and satisfying experience of playing Dishonored 2. The game is a successful effort from Arkane. Its level design and gameplay options make it a great game for anyone, and played as a stealth game it is a very special gift for old-time Thief fans. If you want to be immersed in an atmospheric game that rewards ingenuity and exploration, purchase and play Dishonored 2.

~My score: 4/5

+Excellent level design.

+Good visuals.

+Fun, multifaceted gameplay that allows for experimentation.

-Some technical issues with framerate and audio.