Dishonored

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5383 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,457 out of 5383
  2. Mixed: 696 out of 5383
  3. Negative: 230 out of 5383
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Trixmay
    Jun 18, 2016
    7
    This game has potential but is too flawed as both an action game and a stealth game for it to be of any interest. Whereas the original Deus Ex succeeded marvelously at both, and whereas Deus Ex Human Revolution in all honesty was not a good action game, but worked fantastically as a stealth game and excelled equally as well as the original game at all other elements of the game, of whichThis game has potential but is too flawed as both an action game and a stealth game for it to be of any interest. Whereas the original Deus Ex succeeded marvelously at both, and whereas Deus Ex Human Revolution in all honesty was not a good action game, but worked fantastically as a stealth game and excelled equally as well as the original game at all other elements of the game, of which there were a lot, Dishonored simply has nothing else going for it. When the two main focuses of the game both don't work as well as they should compared to other titles, there's little reason to play for any longer than a first playthrough.

    Dishonored has a very lack luster story. I could not care less about the empress and I could not care less about her daughter (whom of which seems to be a big focus in the game, yet is found in only the third mission), and the city, Dunwall, is too uninteresting for me to care about the inhabitants of the city. The architecture of Dunwall however is interesting, no surprise coming from the same art designer who did Half-Life 2, and you can definitely spot the similarities (overarching walls, hanging drop pods etc.) so there's no fault there, but unfortunately the games visuals don't give the art design justice. It's meant to look like a painting in motion, and with the character models and animations it does that quite well, but I can't help but feel like the world is ugly. Textures are really disappointing, and I can't tell if it's the whole painting design choice thing or the engine. Maybe we'll tell with Dishonored 2.

    I also find the characters lacking majorly, and is probably why I find the story so uninteresting. No one is really all that unique, and everyone seems very two dimensional. The outsider is meant to be a mysterious other-worldy being who tends to interfere in Corvo's world, yet I find him totally uninteresting, I don't know if that's due to the writing, voice-actor or what. Old creepy and probably equally as mysterious Granny Rags is more annoying than anything as she has about 6 lines she repeats over and over again for each time you meet her. It doesn't help that Corvo is a silent protagonist with only a few text-based dialogue options with the fully-voiced cast. It's just a completely forgettable story, and most of the in-game books aren't all that interesting to read and don't flesh out the story and world like they do in aforementioned Deus Ex and stealth series Thief. Corvo becomes an assassin after he is framed for the murder of high-empress Elizabeth, but I honestly can't remember who or why I'm killing the people I'm sent out to kill. I feel like I should be questioning them more than blatantly murdering them.

    The game is also linear. There's not that many ways to do an objective, and there aren't many things to do in each mission. There's one or two short side quests each mission but that's about it. Other-wise you're going through the mission with little variety in the way you complete objectives. There's always a few ways to get past a barrier or group of guards, but they're always the same. Find an obvious way up and above or just go around. It's not hidden, and you most likely won't be finding new ways of doing things each time you play the mission. Like-wise assassinations are boring. I don't feel like I accomplish anything when I kill them like I do in say, Hitman, because I don't know or care who the people are and there's very little character development, but moreso the issue is you either run in and stab them in slow-motion or there's an extremely obvious variation in for example, the third mission where you have to kill the Pendleton brothers, for one of them you go straight through and slit his throat or go through a door to the left and hold the use button to gas him. No skill, no thought and it doesn't give you anything to think about in way of morals or anything. It's just like mowing down thousands of enemies in most first person shooters.

    The game is ridiculously short, and it's disappointing that the original game plus the DLC is the entire length of Thief Deadly Shadows if you're playing on an easier difficulty. That is unacceptable, especially for a game that has surprisingly little replay value. The game is also very easy. Stealth is an absolute breeze, and murdering everyone is all too easy as the AI is very predictable even on the hardest difficulty, which I chose for a first playthrough. What was done pretty well however was the desire to not just kill everyone, and instead knock-out of avoid enemies instead. There will be less of the plague (rats) running around if you chose to save lives, and the empress' behavior will change. There is also a darker ending for if you chose to murder everyone, but that's about as far as it goes for any deviation in story. But this doesn't really make you feel for why you do what you do, it's only really just to see how the world changes around you in the minor way that it does.

    The sound design is fairly decent. The voice-acting I find is occasionally off in terms of line delivering, but it's mostly done well by guards and lead characters. The music is, and I hate to say this as this is someone's hard work and passion, but I find it pretty forgettable, but I'm going to go and say that it's most-likely because it's ambiance and wasn't trying to be recognized when compared to something like Unreal. Sound-design is pretty good and the sound cues for being detected is one of the things that help it stand out. Foot-step sounds are odd they as they don't exactly sync with music, and landing seems to be silent.

    Dishonored has an array of magical powers, given to you in a ?dream? by the Outsider. These can be upgraded and unlocked using Runes found around the missions and in the boring 100% forgettable hubworld. These include the incredibly over-powered short teleport Blink, slowing-down time, knocking people off their feet using a blast of wind, seeing through walls and a bunch of other nonsense. I hate this concept. It sounds like a magic version of augmentations from Deus Ex, but it's worse. Blink is a big reason as to why stealth is so easy and why the game is such a breeze. You can teleport anywhere, and the AI has trouble keeping up with it. All of the other stuff is completely unnecessary. You can do some cool stuff with it, as shown by a very skilled gamer on YouTube, but they actually ruin challenge. They're too overpowered. There's also very little variety in them, as there aren't many. You can also get upgrades, such as zooming in. These are pretty unimportant too though they're an alright side feature. Bone Charms too can be found around the levels and provide incredibly minor (pointless) bonuses, such as for example, one will make the enemies have a rare chance to miss. In gameplay, that has no effect, especially on harder difficulties where you will die fast, but not that it matters, because fire is easy to avoid anyway. They're an unnecessary addition, and you can only have three at a time, or I believe six if you upgrade.The weapon arsenal in essence is a dumbed-down, no-skill-needed version of Thief's arsenal. Here you have the crossbow dart (broadhead arrow), tranquilizer dart (gas arrow), incendiary dart (fire arrow) and proximity mine (mine). All it's missing is the water arrow and rope arrow from Thief, except it wouldn't need them anyway because stealth is nowhere near as complex as Thief's. In the two weapons it didn't blatantly steal from Thief, it makes up by having a short ranged 'pistol' which acts more like a shotgun, a grenade and a rewire tool. The latter not exactly counting as a weapon. These are all cool, and for good reason, but none of those are going to be helpful when you're doing a non-lethal playthrough are they? So instead you have a knife, the ability to choke and a tranq, which is what you will be doing the whole game. And if you're doing a stealth playthrough, many of the weapons will be pointless because they make too much noise.

    The reason for even just my 22 hour playtime that I have at the time of writing this is more because I never could get into the game, and I kept trying and trying. Actually playing it from beginning to finish is quite a bit shorter. Dishonored is a game I believe you should play once, but don't buy it for anymore than $25 with all DLC included. It's just not worth it. It's not a great game, and it's not really all that special. In terms of stealth, there are better things to play. In terms of melee and gadget style combat, there are better things to play. In terms of story, lore or graphics, there are better things to play. I will recommend it for a one time playthrough, but it's not worth the money, and that's why overall I'm not recommending it on Steam. Also, Bethesda you money-grabbing **** how dare you sell this pos with all DLC for a full-priced new release ($80) for a simple, lazy port on current gen consoles. Literally all they did was make it 1080p, it's still at 30 **** frames per second. Just to let people know, but I doubt PC gamers care. There's more to talk about, but this is easily my longest review, and it didn't need to be this long so this is where I'll end it.

    Overall: 7/10    … Expand
  2. muzmuz
    May 13, 2016
    8
    Stealth games? They are usually boring and annoying. But Dishonored is a complete exception. Bethesda's and Arkane Studios' Dishonored is unquestionnably an enjoyable first-person game with multi-linear maps, various possible game play tactics to complete your mission, a unique setting, and creative game play mechanics -- this is what makes Dishonored fit in this world full of bigger franchises.
  3. currer_bell
    Apr 23, 2016
    9
    Dishonored can feel a bit generic at times (it's basically a clever mix of Batman, Assassin's Creed and FallOut...), but it's such a well-crafted game that we can easily forgive it. Using the blink ability or the heart to find Runes is really fun. On top of that, the design of the universe and the maps are just about the best I've seen so far. Got to give this game a try.
  4. psylife
    Apr 9, 2016
    7
    The stealth action blend is good and the controls are responsive. The sandbox level design is the real star of the show where situations can be solved with multiple approaches and techniques while never feeling overwhelmingly so. The new skills and abilities that get introduced add an amusing new set of possibilities to how you choose to solve problems. The nice variety of locations andThe stealth action blend is good and the controls are responsive. The sandbox level design is the real star of the show where situations can be solved with multiple approaches and techniques while never feeling overwhelmingly so. The new skills and abilities that get introduced add an amusing new set of possibilities to how you choose to solve problems. The nice variety of locations and scenarios keeps the experience fresh throughout. The optional mission tasks on offer are often attractive and come with a satisfying payoff. That said, the game could have been slightly more difficult; Some sections were almost completely absent of challenge and ultimately failed to satisfy. The story is pretty engaging and the world is interesting. The audio-visual compartment is polished. This is a unique and enjoyable ride.… Expand
  5. phwaap
    Apr 4, 2016
    6
    This game pretty quickly showed is limitations. First, the graphics are terrible, reminding me of some early 2000s WWII game. You feel like Frankenstein running around with your two arms out in front of you. Combat and the physics are absolutely a joke.

    Boring story, bad voice acting. The bone charms were almost completely useless and, except for a few powers, they weren't much    This game pretty quickly showed is limitations. First, the graphics are terrible, reminding me of some early 2000s WWII game. You feel like Frankenstein running around with your two arms out in front of you. Combat and the physics are absolutely a joke.

    Boring story, bad voice acting. The bone charms were almost completely useless and, except for a few powers, they weren't much better. Of course, you're way overpowered so the game tries to force you to play its way by concocting swarms of rats when you don't play "properly", even if you've turned every kill to ash.

    Mostly a waste of time, almost didn't finish.    … Expand
  6. rosnk30
    Apr 3, 2016
    8
    - Great game
    - Great environment
    - Great battle system

    If you like stealth game with great story, consider this game. This game is a Half Life and Bioshock junction.

    One more word.
    Revenge solves everything.
  7. Reviewist
    Dec 5, 2015
    9
    First off, the part of this game that really shines is the lenthy lore and the plot. All of it is original and creative. The stealth mechanics were excellent, being more realistic than thief or deus ex machina games. The chaos level is unique to dishonored and promotes stealth over running and gunning. A minor flaw in this game is that there are a lack of animations for a number of things.First off, the part of this game that really shines is the lenthy lore and the plot. All of it is original and creative. The stealth mechanics were excellent, being more realistic than thief or deus ex machina games. The chaos level is unique to dishonored and promotes stealth over running and gunning. A minor flaw in this game is that there are a lack of animations for a number of things. Air assassinations and backstabs use the exact same animation every time. The same is with sneaking or running. The semi open world made dishonored levels a sandbox with both replay-ability and creativity, unlike the courses of thief games. In contrast to negative reviews, I simply say that there would be no need for a blackjack or the abusement of your sword's pommel. Great game overall and for a true stealth fan.… Expand
  8. Jodle
    Dec 1, 2015
    10
    This game is amazing and awesome and epic i played this game three times.
    .............................................................................
  9. everin
    Oct 1, 2015
    9
    Tier 1
    + An original and compelling world that matches the gameplay in tone and themes excellently
    + Noble attempt to create open gameplay that allows players a lot of freedom in play style + Dynamic and exciting stealth mechanics, with one of the funnest game mechanics ever made (blink) ? A little rough around the edges in narrative and gameplay at some points - Story suffers from a    Tier 1
    + An original and compelling world that matches the gameplay in tone and themes excellently
    + Noble attempt to create open gameplay that allows players a lot of freedom in play style
    + Dynamic and exciting stealth mechanics, with one of the funnest game mechanics ever made (blink)
    ? A little rough around the edges in narrative and gameplay at some points
    - Story suffers from a silent protagonist    … Expand
  10. CntrlAltDel101
    Sep 29, 2015
    10
    I couldn't put this game down. When I wasn't playing it I was thinking about playing it.

    Play it the way you want. Bloodbath or stealth.

    Great story. Excellent game play and incredible replay value.
  11. Aldebaran7
    Sep 21, 2015
    10
    A flawless masterpiece. Even though I'm not a huge fan of stealth games, this game left me without breath throughtout its duration. The mechanics are as simple as they should be, the gameplay is smooth and challenging but the best part is that you can devise literally thousand ways to complete a mission, which makes the game a true "sandbox" of ideas. A must-play for absolutely everyone.
  12. verbal_666
    Sep 12, 2015
    9
    A real complete and enjoyable game. As a Bioshock "clone", one of the best game ever played. Full immersive, tactical, logical, action, all features to maintain tension high with a really good story. Corvo Attano is an impressive high personality actor!!! 9+++++ (waiting also for the Second :-))
  13. jelikey
    Sep 10, 2015
    8
    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.
  14. Bandifighter
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    Literally the best game I have ever played (and I played a lot).
    Blablabla 150 characters - bla bla bla - 150 characters - bla bla bla - 150 characters - bla bla bla - 150 characters - bla bla bla - 150 characters - bla bla bla
  15. hongkong97
    Aug 31, 2015
    2
    this game is boring. skyrim is better than this crap game. plus stealing is boring and the story made me go to sleep. i don't know how this game got good reviews but please stay away from this game. please.
  16. FallsDownz
    Aug 11, 2015
    8
    Even though the main story is kind a meh but the overall gameplay AND The Knife of Dunwall DLC makes up for that , the gameplay is super fun with playstyle that you can choose , want to go sneaky and don't kill anyone ? sure !! , want to go ham and just slaughter everyone ? SURE !! both gameplay is fun using these"void" power is super fun and both have a different ending since the endingEven though the main story is kind a meh but the overall gameplay AND The Knife of Dunwall DLC makes up for that , the gameplay is super fun with playstyle that you can choose , want to go sneaky and don't kill anyone ? sure !! , want to go ham and just slaughter everyone ? SURE !! both gameplay is fun using these"void" power is super fun and both have a different ending since the ending is about how much "Chaos" you did and Chaos comes from a lot of killing .

    Even though another 2 DLC is kind a pointless but i highly suggest you play both The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches it's just really great DLC i think the story , characters in The Knife of Dunwall is actually a lot more interesting than the main story , The Brigmore Witches is okay still worth it but not as great as Knife of Dunwall for sure.

    Still Dishonored is a really great game and it's getting sequel already !! So if you like what you see just buy it and you won't regret it.    … Expand
  17. toberewoven571
    Jul 24, 2015
    8
    good game. player can choose to play low profile or high profile style or both. nice graphics,environment,gameplay,features (powers,bone charm,note,inventory,weapons,characters. Interesting missions. overall is nice. And i found this comment at other web, he said " game follows Deus Ex" . What i dont like is, there are door frames, and they put brick wall or metal wall in it.
  18. witchunter
    Jun 26, 2015
    8
    Don't bother chasing after achievements. I had 'ghost' checked on every single mission and did not receive 'Ghost' achievement at the end of the game.
  19. ThePCGamer101
    Jun 24, 2015
    9
    A FUN stealth game, reminds a lot of the Thief series, very nice graphics, nice worlds and the City of Dunwall is fantastic although there is a little gloomy side of the city considering the plague... BUT! A fantastic game, very good work on behalf of Arkane Studios
  20. hellblazer32
    Jun 4, 2015
    10
    When this game first came out, I ended up playing it non stop and completed it 3 times in a week, I still play it to this day including dlc. I still appreciate it as much as I did back in 2012.
  21. TheShadowRO
    Mar 20, 2015
    10
    I love to play this game over and over again and each time try another game style. Very good story - anyway your style can influence future events so be careful - i love that. AI char can be annoying sometime but you can turn-it to your own advantages with patience.
  22. dorkyjerk
    Feb 22, 2015
    9
    I waited the release of this game from the first time I heard about it, but while my first 2 or 3 hours I thought it would be my disappointment of the year 2012. But then I decided to slow down a bit, and taste it in small pieces, began to explore the world and then it was just like that - click and since that I was hooked. Truly a masterpiece and one the most beautiful and complex worldsI waited the release of this game from the first time I heard about it, but while my first 2 or 3 hours I thought it would be my disappointment of the year 2012. But then I decided to slow down a bit, and taste it in small pieces, began to explore the world and then it was just like that - click and since that I was hooked. Truly a masterpiece and one the most beautiful and complex worlds in video game industry… Expand
  23. The_Best_Ned
    Feb 20, 2015
    9
    This game was the best stealth game that I have played in a long time. It incorporated good combat elements that kind of reminded me of Arkham City if it was in first person and had a better timing element. The stealth is tactical, and various. There is never one way to do an assassination. If you like gameplay choice, steampunk, detailed games, or parkour (with magic) you shouldThis game was the best stealth game that I have played in a long time. It incorporated good combat elements that kind of reminded me of Arkham City if it was in first person and had a better timing element. The stealth is tactical, and various. There is never one way to do an assassination. If you like gameplay choice, steampunk, detailed games, or parkour (with magic) you should definently give this one a try.… Expand
  24. Guinness
    Jan 7, 2015
    6
    I will start by saying that this game is heavily overrated. It is not bad by any means, but it lacks fundamental features of what I would call newer generation of PC games. Dishonored heavily resemble Half Life 2. In fact, I would with certainty assume that it runs on the same engine as HL2. This would be good thing if game was released 10 years ago, but today, it's severely degraded inI will start by saying that this game is heavily overrated. It is not bad by any means, but it lacks fundamental features of what I would call newer generation of PC games. Dishonored heavily resemble Half Life 2. In fact, I would with certainty assume that it runs on the same engine as HL2. This would be good thing if game was released 10 years ago, but today, it's severely degraded in terms of visuals, and game mechanics. As result of this alone, this game should not be rated 10. To make things worse, Devs attempted to make the look of the game resemble something from Monet's painting, with blurry, paint-brush defined environment, but it was not done right, so the game looks more like low res game from 15yrs ago. In addition, most defining objects, including people are low-poly models which when combined with blurry textures make the game look even worse. Even if you invest hrs in searching for graphical config settings online, you will find out that results will be nearly the same as vanilla. For me, it is impossible to gain the sense of immersion, which I can get easily when playing HL2. Even today, ten years after its release. The s.c. stealth aspect is nearly not existing. Yes, your character can crouch and hide in the shadow, but the mechanism of detection is not as nearly good as what you find in the new versions of stealth games. On positive side, the game is very solid, and no crushes or issues with performance. The story line is interesting, and may be the only reason why you would want to try it. That is if you can overcome the horrible visuals and lack of depth of the first person interaction you so often experience in newer games. If this game had visuals, animations and mechanics, appropriate for new generation of games, I would give it 8.… Expand
  25. Odogreviews
    Jan 1, 2015
    8
    I really enjoyed playing Dishonored but it did have some flaws. The first missions I really enjoyed playing but then when you got near the end the missions were not as fun. The "Tallboys" ruined 2 of the missions by being too difficult sometimes they would randomly spot me behind a wall. This game is still a must buy. You should buy it but with caution on the fact that the last missions are bad.
  26. Rem
    Dec 27, 2014
    8
    Dishonored is the best "playing" game I've had the pleasure of enjoying in a very long time. This game elegantly puts player enjoyment of a game ahead of anything else as you cut a bloody swathe through the fantastically realized city of Dunwall as the "Dishonored" Lord Protector Corvo Attano. The city of Dunwall sports an oil painting art style with soft textures that appear more muddyDishonored is the best "playing" game I've had the pleasure of enjoying in a very long time. This game elegantly puts player enjoyment of a game ahead of anything else as you cut a bloody swathe through the fantastically realized city of Dunwall as the "Dishonored" Lord Protector Corvo Attano. The city of Dunwall sports an oil painting art style with soft textures that appear more muddy than deliberate. The one thing I absolutely loved about Dishonored was the chaos system. Depending on certain set choices and your desire to kill guards, the game adapts to your playstyle. Killing guards means more rats and a greater enemy presence later on, and those who carefully chose the less satisfying stealth approach will find that they have less to deal with later on. Now on with the gripes. Dishonored contains a couple of voice actors who in my opinion, suck really bad. The VAs for Piero, The Outsider, and various NPCs really make me cringe at their underwhelming delivery. This is made up for in guard dialogue. The one thing that Dishonored falls short upon was the plot. As I said before, the city of Dunwall is buzzing with great lore, but the actual revenge plot surrounding our main character is quite predictable and underwhelming at times. It has a direction, but the intensity never really picks up outside of gameplay. And the ending is to say the least unsatisfying with a "slideshow accompanied by overarching narrator" cliche thrown in for good measure. Your choices don't matter up to that point which made me leave Dishonored on a bitter note. That said however, I enjoyed Dishonored for what it set itself up to be: a fantastic sandbox adventure game that makes it fun to play games again, at least in 2012. It's a game meant to be played, not be immersed in, and I'm damn fine with that.… Expand
  27. CJW
    Dec 4, 2014
    9
    Very exciting game. I loved the game's background the city of Dunwall. Story and plot was also good, and of course the game itself was the most enjoyable. It was hard to find anything wrong with this game.

    First, the background and story. Making this world must have been a great effort to writers of the game. The story is so complete and the steam punk world setting is so interesting.    Very exciting game. I loved the game's background the city of Dunwall. Story and plot was also good, and of course the game itself was the most enjoyable. It was hard to find anything wrong with this game.

    First, the background and story. Making this world must have been a great effort to writers of the game. The story is so complete and the steam punk world setting is so interesting. Reading the journals, books and finding clues about this whole world was is much fun, you can't possibly escape from going to dishonored wiki and read more about the story of dishonored. Best thing I think is that you can go through 3 endings depend on how you play the game. I first cleared with low killing as possible and got a happy ending. Next time I played, I saw another ending. I felt very sad when Samuel saw me(Corvo) as cruel murderer in second play. You'll be sad too when you get to see the bad ending.

    Second is gameplay. I won't say that this game is best stealth game of all time but, what I felt is that there are many ways of clearing each stages and that it is certainly fun to try each other way. I suggest to play at least twice so you can try many ways yourself. Another thing I liked was that though it had some collectibles, it wasn't that hard to find, and there aren't too many of them. For a player who get distressed about not getting all collectibles like me, this is good and important thing actually.

    Third, the map design. I think that map designers did a great job. As I sad, there are many ways of clearing this game and at least some applause should go to them. It was the wide(Not that wide like open world games) and delicate map that made it possible to go through passages of missions not just along the road but up to the rooftops and into the buildings(not every buildings of course). One possible complaint here could be that the map is too wide in some cases (like flooded district which was too long maybe) but guess they had reasons.

    Last for graphics. Personally, I like realistic graphics but, as even for me, the graphic was quite nice and detailed. After playing the game I felt this bit cartoon-like graphic could be a better choice for a game. Background graphic, I give good score and Person? well I was a little bit disappointed about Emily. Too plain maybe? I couldn't feel much emotions in her face

    To end the long writing playing this game was absolutely fun and though I spent more than 40 hours
    (I played it twice) I never ever felt this game boring. So I give 9. Thanks for reading my review and excuse me for poor english and writing skills.    … Expand
  28. eelegendo
    Nov 30, 2014
    10
    This is one of the best games I've ever played. Great design and gameplay. My only critic is that it gives you the choice of sneaking or killing and then it punishes you for killing... So it won't give you any choice. Other than that I enjoyed the game that is a 10 and I'm looking forward to the next Dishonored!
  29. Strider71
    Nov 27, 2014
    7
    So I thought I’d write a review for Dishonored as an alternate opinion to all the 9’s and 10’s this game is getting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good game, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near a perfect game.
    The game has some shortcomings so even though I’m giving this a 7, I’ll focus on them.
    The antagonist, Corvo Attano, really has no personality. He obviously has a history and a    So I thought I’d write a review for Dishonored as an alternate opinion to all the 9’s and 10’s this game is getting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good game, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near a perfect game.
    The game has some shortcomings so even though I’m giving this a 7, I’ll focus on them.

    The antagonist, Corvo Attano, really has no personality. He obviously has a history and a reputation that other characters react to, but he says nothing throughout the game giving us little clues as to what kind of person he is. I realize game developers do this in an attempt to make the player imprint themselves on to the antagonist, but many games add a voice and a personality to the lead character and it works well. In Far Cry 3, for instance where I felt more connected. In Saints Row 3 & 4 you can choose between 3 male and 3 female voices. I didn’t even go with my same gender and I felt connected to the personality of the lead character.

    The AI is also not very good. If you put a guy to sleep, or even kill someone they’ll often not be alarmed at all upon discovering them, or do a quick search and if they don’t find you within 30 seconds, they’ll just give up and go back to their usual patterns.

    For example, during one of the missions, I blinked into a room, took out the guard, the primary target was 5 feet away, but never heard me. I easily took out the primary target next, then I was slashed by a guard I hadn’t known was there. I slashed back, and he blinked away. I knew I couldn’t have killed him yet. But curiously, he never returned! (Maybe off to put some Polysporin on that superficial wound I gave him)

    The plot isn’t terribly exciting. The first batch of missions force the plot along in a very contrived way. However; the plot does pick up towards the end of the story.

    The setting is a plague infested, post industrial revolution London in a steampunk style and is quite beautiful in its own way. But it doesn’t seem like a living city like you’d find in GTA or Assassins Creed. There are very few innocent civilians wandering around. You’ll mostly just encounter guards and “weepers”. Weepers are plague infested civilians who basically walk and behave like zombies.

    The characters aren’t very deep. Cardboard cut-outs really, but they serve their purpose. They have a character called “The Outsider” that’s some sort of supernatural being that gives you powers for unknown reasons. I guess the developers wanted to add powers to your character and this is the MacGuffin they decided on. Still, the powers he gives you are cool. More on that later.

    The great thing about the game is that you can approach situations in many different ways. Possess an animal or human (if you level up) and walk past guards, fight your way through, or stealth you way through. You don’t have to kill a single person in the entire game. Or you can kill everything in sight. The game lets you know that if you kill too many people, however, you’ll get a “darker” ending.

    The game really just wants you to play as non-lethally as possible. I tried to play stealthily at first, but by the later missions I had more fun letting loose and killing guards. The game, unfortunately, punishes you for that and you get a darker ending. (even the friendly boatman that ferry’s you around scolds you near the end!) I had a problem with this, because despite what they say, you really are meant to play it the way the developers wanted you to - stealthily.

    So if you prefer the “shoot-em-up” style of games like I do, it’s not nearly as satisfying to mostly avoid contact.
    I’ve seen it written that if you play the game 3 times, you’ll be good enough to do the entire thing using non-lethal methods, but who has time to play the same game 3 times over when there are so many other great games out there?

    I’ve saved my biggest problem with the game for last: The gameplay. The game has some great ideas. The problem is the execution (no pun intended). Sometimes I felt like an assassin, by so often I felt like a klutz. The game definitely has a learning curve to it.
    The problem is you have so many tools; you’re constantly juggling between them. “Dark Vision” is great, but it times out. (Unlike “detective mode” in Batman Arkham Asylum/City or tagging enemies in Far Cry 3)
    So you sit and wait for your opportunity to blink, or take out a guard some way, dark vision runs out, I have to switch back to that, turn it back on, then switch back to blink or a weapon and by then, my opportunity may have passed. I can only do one thing at a time and juggling between things, especially if I want to do them quickly, felt clunky.
    Taking on a lot of enemies at once is a quick way to get yourself killed. Enemies will all rush at you if you’re detected.
    In Assassins Creed, it was a much more fluid transition between skills and I really felt like a super hero. Ditto for Batman and Far Cry 3. In those games, even when I failed, I had the confidence I could go back and do it better, but in Dishonored I never perfected my stealthiness.
    In Dishonored I found myself accidently blinking into a sword fight when I forgot that blink was enabled instead of dark vision. It’s amusing that everyone in the swordfight was surprised it was happening, including me!

    So overall, and in my humble opinion, it was a good game, but not a great game. 7/10    … Expand
  30. jimbobslimbob
    Nov 24, 2014
    7
    It's a stealth FPS which follows the path of Corvo, who is wrongly accused of murdering the empress. So begins your journey through a vivid, interesting steam-punk world.

    Anyone into the Thief games or stealth in general will find something to like here. This game however, also features an impressive ability set of "magical" powers that you can acquire through runes and bone charms    It's a stealth FPS which follows the path of Corvo, who is wrongly accused of murdering the empress. So begins your journey through a vivid, interesting steam-punk world.

    Anyone into the Thief games or stealth in general will find something to like here. This game however, also features an impressive ability set of "magical" powers that you can acquire through runes and bone charms throughout the game. Some of these completely change the way you approach situations and are most welcome additions.

    The only thing I was not to keen on was this "choice" you have over low or high chaos (stealth and not killing anyone or slaughtering everyone in your path). The game keeps on telling you to not kill people if you want the "good" ending, yet by doing so you miss out on some of the most fun powers and mechanics in the game. It's saying, here is an arsenal of cool stuff, but don't use them.

    Anyway, a great game in most respects that I would recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

    Jimbo Rating: 7/10    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2012
7
#7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    90
    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]
  2. Absolute Games
    Nov 9, 2012
    75
    Dishonored rarely challenges the players, but it doesn't take them for fools, either, so that's an achievement compared to other games in the genre. Just don't expect strokes of genius like the Shalebridge Cradle level from Thief: Deadly Shadows.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 4, 2012
    100
    Dishonored injects new life into stealth actions and their sophisticated worlds. Awesome work in every detail. [Nov 2012]
See all critic reviews »