Dishonored 2

Dishonored 2 for PC, PS4 and XONE is the official sequel of Dishonored from 2012, a bestselling first-person stealth game set in a fictional, totalitarian world that combines steampunk elements with industrial “aesthetics” of the late 19th and early 20th century. It was developed by the French studio Arkane, the creators of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, and published by Bethesda Softworks, the owner of such franchises as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Dishonored 2 came out for personal computers as well as the 8th-generation consoles.

Story

The action of Dishonored 2 takes place 15 years after the events of the first installment of the series. Two familiar faces serve as the game’s main characters, namely Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin (with emphasis on the latter), but we’re not in Dunwall anymore. The action takes us far away from the capital of the insular empire ruled by the Kaldwin line – we find ourselves in the warm southern parts of the world, in Karnaca, where the authorities of the island of Serkonos have their seat. That’s where the main characters ended up after Emily was cunningly deprived of the crown and forced to flee the capital. Upon their arrival at Karnaca, the protagonists start to look for ways to restore the throne to the rightful empress.

Gameplay

In the prologue, we assume the role of Emily, but having completed the interactive introduction, we have to choose between the young empress and the protagonist of the first Dishonored, Corvo Attano. Although the story is hardly affected by this choice, because the differences are rather cosmetic, the decision is somewhat important, as the selected hero or heroine cannot be switched, unless we start a new game. The playthroughs are different for each character, though, mainly because of the unique sets of available magical powers and different dialogue lines (yes, Corvo finally learned how to speak).

The gameplay formula remained largely unchanged. In Dishonored 2, we still make progress by completing quests. Their structure somewhat resembles that of the Hitman series. We are given various tasks, often involving assassinations, but the way we complete them is entirely for us to choose. We have a lot of freedom in deciding how to approach the objective – we determine the path we take to our target, deal with the guards as we see fit (we can kill them in open combat, murder them in silence, knock them out, avoid them, etc.), look for additional information, complete optional objectives and so on.

Instead of trying to revolutionize the solutions of the well-received Dishonored, the developers decided to merely enhance the already known mechanisms. In Dishonored 2 for PC, PS4 and XONE, the locations we visit are bigger and packed with various, even more abundant options. The chaos system, responsible for moral evaluation of the player’s actions, was also improved, and now monitors our deeds more precisely, providing a wider range of consequences to our choices (it primarily applies to developing the story in various directions). What’s more, the character development was expanded, allowing the players to personalize their preferred play style even further.

Game modes

Similarly to the first Dishonored, Dishonored 2 offers only a single player mode. Despite the fact that the game features two protagonists, a cooperative mode wasn’t included.

Technology

As far as graphics are concerned, Dishonored 2 for PC, PS4 and XONE presents a similar style to its predecessor, as the discussed production was developed with 8th-generation consoles in mind the visuals have been significantly improved in comparison to the first game. The artificial intelligence was enhanced, as well, which translates primarily into more intelligent behavior of guards.

Additional information

The developers addressed the complaints of the players who thought that Dishonored was too easy and introduced a solution similar to 2014’s Thief. In Dishonored 2, there are numerous extra options (gameplay modifiers) that can be used to precisely adjust the gameplay to our liking, making the game as challenging as we desire.

Last updated on December 12, 2015