Dishonored

Dark, ambiguous and deathly refined, Dishonored delivers a world as strikingly beautiful as the stacked simulations within. A masterpiece. [Nov 2012, p.58]

It should be a crime not to play this amazing videogame. Please, do not miss this adventure, let CorvoAttano conquer your heart.

Dishonored made me feel like a person struggling to retain the things that were important to me in a world gone mad. It goes beyond "role-playing" to challenge players to draw their own personal moral line in the sand, but does so without being preachy or judgmental.

Many contemporary action games lead the player through a script-filled corridor and Dishonored is a breath of fresh air in this particular area. The developers have proven that there is still a place for new brands and unique ideas. The concept of a small, simulated virtual world has been pushed further than ever before. Freedom in Dishonored is greater than in the Thief and Deus Ex series, but basic gameplay elements - combat, movement and stealth - are pristine as well. Arkane's game is simply a great achievement.

Dishonored is one of the defining games of this generation... A dark, stirring and beautiful game. The new Master Assassin. [Dec 2012, p.63]

If you can buy one game in 2012, it should be Dishonored. From production to its ingenious gameplay, Arkhane Studios' title is outstanding, with its multiple references to many games such as Deus Ex, Thief, Bioshock or Half Life 2. It's simple, Dishonored is a 2-in-1 game you can finish either with violence and lots of action sequences, or with discretion, applying stealth strategies to kill your enemies without being seen.

While the teleporting seems like a cheap alternative to a proper climbing mechanism, Dishonored is still a first class sneak'em up. It manages to find a perfect balance between linear storytelling and free-form gameplay. The unique visual stylings make the game all the more enjoyable. [Oct 2012, p.17]

Whether you like to sneak, like to slay mercilessly, or somewhere in between, there is something here for you. Dishonored is very easily a contender for Game of the Year.

It's a shame that Dishonored's story isn't greater than the sum of its decidedly memorable parts, but its gameplay absolutely is.

A gorgeous, complex and slick assassination sim, with fascinating systems to play with and huge open levels to explore.

Sporting a memorable combination of superb stealth gameplay and gripping action, Dishonored offers simply one of the best single-player experiences in videogames this year.

This is a wonderful game if you're going to play it in stealth mode and use all the time you need to plan your assassination. And you have to do it in that way!

We can draw comparisons with other titles all day, but everything is based on something. Dishonored remains a unique gem in a beautiful, yet chaotic world, with flawless gameplay. [December 2012]

Dishonored is a love letter to everyone who has longed for more stealth action games in the vein of Thief. With its vast levels, openness, and its plethora of different ways of play this is a game that should be a great fit for practically everyone.

A candidate for the game of the year. This game is the most important title for all of you, Thief fans. A vengeance story becomes the gamer's freedom with countless choices how to deal with countless missions. I assure you that even after the credits roll you are going to return to Dunwall again and again.

Arkane Studios gives us a hybrid single player experience between a first person shooter and a stealth game. Telling a dystopian world, with fun gameplay and astonishing design, Dishonored is one of the best experience in this late 2012.

The guys at Arkane crafted a fine gem. It's been a while since we had so much freedom and such an amazing gameplay in a title. Chapeau.

But in most other respects this is an incredibly assured first-person adventure that grants a dozen hours of top-notch escapism in a brilliantly fleshed-out world, and practically demands an immediate replay so that all its delights may be sampled.

Pure FPS fans may not be too excited and there are a few minor problems, but this is a rare gem that anyone looking for a more cerebral action game should be paying serious attention to. And by "paying serious attention", I mean that you should buy it.

It's a rare game that feels so compulsively replayable, but Dishonored is such a game. The compelling abilities, the bold artistic design, the colorful characters, and above all, the freedom of choice--these are the things that mark Dishonored as one of the truly remarkable games of this year.

Drawing its strength from such greats as Thief, BioShock, Batman: Arkham City, and Portal, Arkane Studios' latest manages to deliver that magical formula of intimately familiar and refreshingly new. It doesn't shine as brightly as it should on PC, and it might not offer the challenge stealth-action fans are used to, but it's an impressive accomplishment that immediately stands out as one of the best things we've seen this year.

It's a rare delight to play a game with such consistency of vision, its art design, level architecture, rulesets, storylines and writing all working in lockstep.

The console versions of Dishonored have more graphical hiccups like framerate issues and screen tearing (especially on PS3). The textures look a little muddy no matter how you play, but go for PC if you have the option.

You could say that Dishonored has a sufficient amount of alternative paths and mission outcomes to warrant several playthroughs (again, something you won't find in many games today). The PC version was spared of a few graphical issues that appear to be plaguing the consoles editions, so I guess that's another good reason to go with this variant.

While I am disappointed that the story failed to deliver in the end, Dishonored is still easily a top contender for Game of the Year 2012. The gameplay is just that fun and special.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dishonored is as if Deus Ex had a beautiful child with Bioshock whose ancestors were that of Half-Life descent. While it certainly has its issues, such as a plot that isn't as fleshed out as it could be, and low-resolution textures inhabiting the world, it's still one of the better new intellectual properties this year. By offering multiple combat systems, a superbly crafted world and a high volume of alternate paths to take, Dishonored accomplishes great feats that will pave the way for future action-adventure games.