Understanding the Parts of the Whole

Do you remember Deus Ex? The original, that is, not the sequels (although DX:HR had most of what I intend to talk about here). Well, for those of you who do, you're going to understand what I'm going o talk about and can skip to the next paragraph. For those who don't, or never played it, here's a summary. Deus Ex was a mission based, action rpg with first person shooter style combat. It had literally endless variation and freedom thanks not only to its gameplay mechanics, but just how fun and easy it was to find ways to trick the system. Stacking wall mines to climb over a wall to bypass enemy defenses is a particular favourite of mine. A lot of why Deus Ex succeeded was in the ways it limited you. It tricked you into thinking it was a shooter, but getting stuck in a gun fight, especially early on, was always a death sentence. So it forced you to be clever, to try anything and everything to get through a level alive.

So what makes me bring up Deus Ex? Its spiritual cousin, Dishonored. Developed by Arkane Studios, which features members of the Deus Ex dev team, the Half Life 2 art team and the guys who made Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah, Dishonored stars you as Corvo, a supernatural assassin. And it's about what you expect, it's a game that looks life Half Life 2 and plays like Deus Ex, with some Arx Fatalis style first-person hack and slash-y combat thrown in. But it's a focus and love for the many parts that make up the whole, rather than the whole itself, that makes Dishonored so exciting. It's all about creatively limiting the player to encourage exploration and experimentation. There's nothing hat you can't do within the rules of the game. Want to fly over that roof to avoid the guards? Just jump in the air and Blink. Time it right and you can break your fall with some unfortunate saps body, killing him instantly. Surrounded? No problem, slow down time, drop a mine then Blink out of there and watch the carnage from afar. Or maybe you'd rather posses a fish an swim through the sewers to your target? Or call down a swarm of rats to help your escape? Every part of this game, from the expertly shaped gameplay, to the fantastic soundtrack and the immediately recognizably unique art style, feels like well oiled, well loved parts of a machine. And that's why I'm so excited about this game. If they can put that much love and attention into every tiny part of the game, then the whole will be some extraordinary. Dishonored is releasing for PC, PS3 and Xbox360 October 2012.