Dishonored by Arkane

[Azalin]

Gamespot and IGN seem to cumming all over it too

http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/...slot;DishonoredReview;DishonoredReview;ReadIt
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/10/08/dishonored-review

 

[Raghar]

Bunch of PC screenshots:

Kinda wonder if that Russian video I seen was from XBOX360 or from PC version. Ether he played on HDTV, or recorded directly, and had perfectly calibrated TV and knew how to make a video, or he somehow managed to run PC version. These textures looks about as great as the video I seen, current videos on youtube are bland occasionally over-brightened crap.

Of course, the video has been removed by user already.

 

[Gord]

Amidoinitrite?

 

[Turisas]

Shit graphics confirmed!

 

[Morgoth]

I'd still play dat shit.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

Just like to say I really like Viktor Antonov's art style. Really like what he did with Half-life 2 and then seeing certain design elements of that style appear in Dishonored.
Maybe, just maybe I'll buy it on launch day... :D

 

[sea]

I didn't know the hivemind consists of so many LGS legacy haters. Probably must have many BIS and Troika haters around here too.

The problem is that so far everything in Dishonored looks like it is designed for the popamole generation. Combat looks really easy and simplistic (counter button, takedowns, insta-kill weapons), levels are densely detailed but also look very small and confined (plus separate load zones for interiors), it lacks the depth in the upgrade and skill systems of Deus Ex, it has no inventory, and it's full of incredibly overpowered abilities given to you early on, such as "teleport anywhere you want at any time for no cost" or "possess a guard, walk past other enemies, and teleport to his location" or "slow down time, shoot everyone, unslow time" - cool, yes, but unrestricted they could seriously harm the difficulty of the game. Oh, and there are quest and objective markers everywhere. There seem to be no dialogue options at all, and in fact your character doesn't even speak... not a huge problem but it's awkward to watch NPCs babbling on to you without being able to respond.

It's not that the game is necessarily bad, it's just that it features a lot of stuff seen in newer games that exist to make things more accessible to wide audiences while also dumbing down gameplay and removing skill-based elements. Like BioShock it seems to have all the right ingredients for an awesome game but fucks up the execution by catering to mainstream audiences above all else... the fact that BioShock also seems to be a far more game in terms of setting/themes/story/etc. does not instill me with confidence either. Comparing it directly with Thief/System Shock 2/Deus Ex does not do it any favours because that only highlights what the game has abandoned.

I will still buy and play it at some point. I have confidence it's a good game and it's still definitely one of those "gotta play it for yourself" things. I just hope I won't have to crank the difficulty/play with mods/tweak the shit out of it to get it to be fun.

 

[Infinitron]

I guess there's enough AAA in there in order for it to sell reasonably well.
Hopefully there's still enough oldskool in it, too.

Depends how you define "reasonably well". Games of this sort do not seem to sell incredibly well as a rule. Eg, I don't think DX:HR sold much more than ~3 million.

 

[Jaesun]

So Morgoth actually believes Dishonored is of LGS quality of game?

 

[Gord]

It's not that the game is necessarily bad, it's just that it features a lot of stuff seen in newer games that exist to make things more accessible to wide audiences while also dumbing down gameplay and removing skill-based elements.

Thief didn't have skill-based elements either and it worked well. They aren't a necessity in this kind of games.
However, Thief also had you playing a far weaker character, with much less gimmicks at his disposal.
The audience was noticeably different, too.

I will still buy and play it at some point. I have confidence it's a good game and it's still definitely one of those "gotta play it for yourself" things. I just hope I won't have to crank the difficulty/play with mods/tweak the shit out of it to get it to be fun.

About the same here. If some prestigious Codex-reviews say it's a good game and I find a retailer offering it at 10-15% off on release I might even buy soon after.
Otherwise I'll wait for a sale.

 

[Black]

Just installed Dark Messiah, I feel bad for people playing this.

 

[Ion Prothon II]

Wacthed several reviews.

The combat seems to be painfully retarded in terms of AI and gameplay, even if those idiots played this on very easy normal. Just compare it with Dark Messiah FFS
'Blink' is a game breaker. It's not skyrim, why they put there a pathological hybrid of portal and fucking fusrodah- I don't even
Graphics looks as if there was no god.

In the best case I expect it to be as bad as Desu Ex HR or slightly worse, but better than Biocock.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Welp, looks like it's time reinstall Dark Messiah. Been a good year or two since I ran through it anyway.

 

[Berekän]

Meh, still looks interesting and fun enough. Don't know why people here are expecting a Thief game just because some dumbfuck reviewers were paid to throw the name there. Will pirate and judge by myself.

 

[sea]

Thief didn't have skill-based elements either and it worked well. They aren't a necessity in this kind of games.
However, Thief also had you playing a far weaker character, with much less gimmicks at his disposal.
The audience was noticeably different, too.

Maybe you misunderstood me. By skill-based elements I meant player skill, not skill perks and levels etc.

Thief and Deus Ex have stealth which depends on line of sight, sound and light/shadow. Dishonored's stealth does not take light/shadow into account and enemies seem to have very small vision cones (i.e. can't see the player 15 feet above them).

Thief and Deus Ex let you get around by using your own acrobatics, which depended on execution and timing. Deus Ex in particular had abilities that let you run really fast and jump really high. If you were good, you could get around levels in really creative ways. Dishonored has blink, a default skill everyone gets, which lets you teleport anywhere you want without any skill required.

Thief had strong enemies that could seriously fuck you up in only one or two hits, making avoiding detection essential. Late-game Deus Ex had enemies that could kill you in seconds if you didn't build yourself for combat and use various augments available. Hard to say about Dishonored but all the footage I've seen makes enemies look very incompetent and easy to kill.

I could go on, but my point is that (and again, based only on what I've seen) Dishonored is a pretty unchallenging game where the fun comes from LARPing your way through a shooter with the help of a few magic powers, rather than one which specifically constructs gameplay scenarios which force you to specialize and upgrade your character to deal with those problems. Like BioShock it seems like it's a game that offers a lot of tools but then says "yeah you can just turn your brain off and shoot everyone." At least those older games required you to be smart about being an action hero. I hope Dishonored proves me wrong.

 

[Gord]

sea: Yes, I did indeed misunderstand you there.

Also, I agree with you on those points. Although I can't say how much player skill will help in Dishonored in the end.
But indeed, it's becoming ever more apparent that devs (or probably publishers) are obviously very afraid of making their games too "frustrating".
I'm pretty convinced though, that even most modern gamers (some casuals aside, maybe) are much more skillful and intelligent than publishers seem to think.

 

[Trash]

Didn't Dark Souls sell bundles?

 

[Ion Prothon II]

Didn't Dark Souls come from a bit different culture?

 

[Raghar]

This isn't Thief, and only retards would compare it to Thief.

It also TAKES light into account, which is the reason some not entire bright people are in perpetual combat. It just uses the light in realistic way, and when a person would look at you, he would see you even when you are in a shadow. (Thought they should make me a consultant because they suck at that assassin part. And these people are moving unrealistically.)

And I seen a video where someone used blink as an idiot, went into combat, tried to run backwards and fire and was mauled under 5-15 seconds. Dunno about difficulty. If it was normal, then hard is about three hit kills. And this is about ASSASSIN, which should be able to work better in combat than just a Thief.

 

[Peter]

This isn't Thief, and only retards would compare it to Thief.

aka the devs?

 

[Volrath]

Morgoth has shit taste in FPSes, news at 11.

 

[Black]

Morgoth has shit taste, news at 11.

 

[Roderick]

I still think this will be a great game but i'm pissed off that the blink power has virtually no cost.

And they should have keep the use of shadows in stealth and different levels of noise on different surfaces.

Maybe they should have implemented some more equipment types too (stun grenades for example).

I wonder if stealth is viable without any magic powers

 

[toro]

I still think this will be a great game but i'm pissed off that the blink power has virtually no cost.

And they should have keep the use of shadows in stealth and different levels of noise on different surfaces.

Maybe they should have implemented some more equipment types too (stun grenades for example).

I wonder if stealth is viable without any magic powers

From rps's preview: "Blink is unlocked straight away but other powers must be purchased using runes, which can be located in each area using a grisly item."

 

[Menckenstein]

BROFIST to Arkane for developing such a game, and BROFIST to Bethesda for having the guts to publish such a game.