Dishonored

My original opening gambit for Dishonored was "Marmite: some people love it and some people admire it on a technical level, but find it hard to connect with it and never able to display the grace with it that others seem to achieve. Dishonored is a Marmite game".

In the middle of Dishonored, it clicked to a certain degree and even though I was bad at the game, I still enjoyed it. But I certainly had issues with it; some were down to me as a player, others down to some odd design choices.

If you're good at the game, you probably wouldn't pick up on this, but for all the freedom Dishonored supposedly offers, it seems very disapproving if you don't play the way it likes. Combat is cumbersome and achievements favour the stealthy option. But if you're not good at the game, you will probably draw attention to yourself and have to fight your way out. By the time you reach the second level, the game will warn you that to continue to do this, you will attract more rats, more weepers (zombie like plague victims) and face a darker ending. In short, if you're not good at the game, it'll make it harder for you. Similarly items that can make you more stealthful are hidden in areas you need to be very stealthful already to explore.

However, I seem to be in the minority here and people seem to go through the game undetected. Even though I was bad at this, it would be crazy to deny the quality of the game and I am intrigued by the prospects of a sequel.

8.0/10