Unreal Tournament had baked-in support for modifications of all kinds-
from simple ones that just changed the properties of weapons, to
full-fledged new game modes. One of the most impressive and expansive of these was Thievery Mod, which turned a frenetic multiplayer shooter into a slow and steady sneak-em-up and did a bang-up job of doing so. Later, I played Thief, which Thievery was very heavily based on.
Sorry for the personal history- this is a blog, not a magazine, so I think there’s value on putting an individualistic spin on it. All that background is to say- although Dishonored is technically the first of its series, it is pretty much Thief Reborn, and so carries a lot of nostalgia.
Our boy Garrett Corvo comes home from taking care of some legitimate business that you shouldn’t look into too much and rushes into the arms of his lady friend the empress, who is then promptly stabbed by some wizard jerk, and Corvo takes the fall. Almost like being a renowned assassin makes you suspicious when an assassination has happened.
He takes it very well, and when some anonymous benefactors break him out of prison promising he will get revenge, he very politely declines and- no, not really, it’s crossbows and swords o’clock and our wizard friend has an appointment with the pointy end.
This game is a lot of fun and I’m very bad at it, but that’s entirely my fault. Corvo moves well, a lot nippier than the sluggish Garrett was, and the stealth is probably some of the best implemented I’ve come across. Enemy alertness is clearly displayed and escaping notice is actually skewed in the player’s favour; not once have I been discovered by a psychic NPC with mystical divination powers.
Fin or Bin:
There’s lots of room for shenanigans, as you’ll see in the stream, but I wasn’t prepared for what came next. I had already decided to Finish Dishonored, and almost like it was thanking me for trusting it, it gave me an anime flashstep ability. Holy smokes, every single game needs to have an anime flashstep button. Even puzzle games. I wanna see that shit in Tetris, in Chess, in Solitaire. The exhilaration of zooming past an enemy, then step-step-step up to the rooftops and away from danger, is rarely matched. It’s excellently implemented and would earn the game a Fin by itself if I hadn’t already decided.
(Steam)