Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Tested on: Xbox One
Dishonored 2 – Review
While it only seems like yesterday that we roamed the streets of Dunwall, putting our special abilities to the test, it’s actually been since 2012 when the Dishonored series first saw the light. Even though the game received stellar reviews, it seemed to be gone from the gaming landscape, until the promise of a second title resurfaced last year. Now, finally, we get to play through the second installment, which takes us fifteen years further in the future of part one, where the world has been prospering, at least until now.
Story
Dunwall has been under the reign of Emily Kaldwin for some time now, after Corvo Attano secured her place on the throne. Dunwall has been prospering and while enjoying only a relatively short period of peace, all seems to be going well. Nonetheless, as of late, there’s a small disturbance in said calm period, as all of a sudden Emily’s ‘enemies’ are dropping dead like flies, by someone who is called the Crown Killer. Many believe it’s simply Emily taking down the opposition, making sure her reign goes unopposed.
Alll of a sudden a woman shows up claiming she’s the sister of Emily’s deceased mother, thus having the first claim to the throne. When Emily and Corvo refuse to let her do as she desires, things turn quite nasty, seeing even many of their own guards betray them. From here on out the story shifts slightly depending on if you choose Emily or Corvo. When you make your choice, the other character will be turned to stone and you’ll be captured. After that you’ll be on your way to dispose of the usurper and free the other character.
While the game offers two storylines, they are basically the same, albeit with a few differences. You’ll still have the same objective, but you’ll simply have a character with a different personality. That being said, the game is definitely worth being played twice, not only to try out the different characters, but also to see the different endings, which depend on how aggressive you played.
Graphics
Even though Dishonored 2 looks rather spiffy, it does drop a few stitches along the way. Whilst most character models look decent, the facial features are often rather appalling, be it by the designers’ choice, or simply because they used dated character models from the previous games. Nonetheless, it’s the environments that are this game’s forte, even if some portions of the world seem rather empty. In many ways the lighting is reminiscent of Bioshock Infinite, which also featured a ‘Steampunk’ dystopian universe. Those sentiments aside, the lighting, the reasonable amount of inhabitants of the world, the clutter and different sights to behold, all come together into one beautiful looking world.
During our playthrough on the Xbox One version of Dishonored 2, frame drops were a regular occurrence, which kind of hampered the otherwise fluent gameplay. These frame drops mostly occurred when entering new environments, or when a hefty amount of soldiers were breathing down our neck.
Sound
Even though Dishonored 2 has a great soundtrack, which is accompanied by equally as great voice acting, it gets by thanks to proper usage of atmospheric music, which cracks down like thunder when you find yourself in combat. While most of the time the tracks that are playing on the background are hardly noticeable, they do set the proper mood and scenario for this title.
Voice acting, while certainly being superb during the actual cutscenes or important dialogues, it’s even more commendable they’ve added a few lines of spoken text for all of the civilians that are roaming through the streets of Dunwall.
Gameplay
Dishonored 2 is an action-adventure game, where stealth plays an important role. You’ll be dropped in several different environments, to extract a certain person, object or even slay those who have wronged you. In many ways, as just stated, stealth is the best key to victory, but you can also throw caution into the wind and have an all-out brawl, and hope to see the light of day after the blood of your opponents colors the floor in a bright red tone. That said, you’re on a quest to put a stop to the usurper of your kingdom, who sadly has inexplicable powers which force you to explore the realm in order to find out her story and by doing so, her weakness.
Even though the game might give you the impression that it’s a sandbox game, where you can constantly roam around freely, in reality it’s a game that is divided in different levels/areas. Each of these do have a certain sense of freedom, as you can explore many nooks and crannies when you’re in a populated area, but you can also take different routes during sequences with many armed forces, granting you the chance to take them out in different ways, or simply sneak past them and tiptoe to your objective(s).
You can actually clear the game with the basic necessities when it comes to gear, but investing in a few extra items and/or upgrades will certainly come in handy, especially when you’re able to pick up some additional ammo, as your starting limit is pretty negligible, proving to be worthless in fights that take longer to finish. Shops don’t come by every few minutes, so be sure to save up some money by exploring, and (automatically) sell some of the valuable items you find when sneaking through different areas. Of course, you’ll have a reasonable amount of powers at your disposal, which also have their own fair amount of upgrades, making these fancier and more important than additional weapons.
Even though most of the controls feel fluent and are responsive, we can’t help but feel as if the controls were designed for PC, as for some actions you really need to pinpoint certain objects, or landing spots when using your teleport ability. Nonetheless, after a few hours, these controls will also feel fairly natural, but there’s a clear learning curve. Sword fighting and such works without a hitch, so you won’t have to worry about basic combat.
Conclusion
Dishonored 2 is a fun second installment of the series, even with a few graphical flaws and a rather flimsy storyline. It’s the environments and the mechanics that make the game, even if you decide to go in guns blazing, you’ll still have as much fun, as you would playing the game like a true assassin. Being able to pick two characters and thus, in a way, play two storylines, you’ll have ample content to plow through, being a delight for true completionists.
No Comments