Dishonored: Definitive Edition, a slightly upgraded version of what a lot of people deemed to be their game of the year back in 2012. Developed by Arkane Studies and published by Bethesda, Dishonored again puts us in the shoes of Corvo, a Bodyguard turned silent assassin after he was framed for the killing of the empress. Featuring better graphics, more stable gameplay as well as all the DLC thrown into the release this is really trying to keep the name of Definitive.
Story
The game starts off with Corvo returning from an excursion requested by the empress herself, to talk with nearby cities about the plague spreading around the city of Dunwall. Sadly he returns with no news of a cure but of people cutting off transport to the city in fear of their own cities becoming infected. Shortly after the message is delivered several assassins teleport to you, the empress and her daughter. Knocking you out of the combat, killing the empress and kidnapping the daughter you are left behind to take the blame for it all.
Continuing on from the prologue you are given the real gameplay with your first mission (kinda) with a key being handed to you through bread in the cells. Escaping the prison you’re kept in isn’t a tough ordeal, guards have been assigned to your execution and preparing for that means not as many guards are patrolling the prison itself. With some explosives from your friends in the dark you blow you way out, following instructions from your friends you find a boat to take you to their hideout.
Meeting up with resistance members the game will start for real, with meeting the Outsider who is the world’s version of a god-on-the-sidelines imbuing you with his mark and abilities to help you in the game. With introductions done you will be given several assignation targets, from guard captains to wealthy individuals, all the while searching their estates and complexes for information of the missing daughter and the plot behind it all.
The main story can last you around 12 hours, depending on playstyle as sneaking takes a lot more time than simply guns blazing. There is also up to 20 more hours if you go for all the collectables and DLC on offer with this edition. If you’re good at the game you should have it completed within 40 hours. You can also replay it at higher difficulties, but there isn’t much of an incentive too besides the trophies, the game is also kind of samey when it comes to repeated plays.
Gameplay
The gameplay hasn’t seen much of a difference in this edition, though it didn’t really need changing from the original release, don’t fix it if it isn’t broken I guess. Dishourned can be played stealthily or all swords and guns blazing, either going for no-kill or kill everything runs. The game does change depending on your actions which can lead you into your second run to play and see the game develop differently. With the choice to not kill any of the targets it also changes the ending and mission structures later on so it does feel as if it has splitting paths.
Taking a 1st person style to stealth, your character can get up behind an enemy to knock them out or kill them, from there you can drag their body to throw them into corners to containers to hide the evidence. Besides walking up you can slow down time to get the jump on them, or use Blink to actually jump up to them, wind blast them into walls or off ledges and more with the abilities you unlock throughout the game. Tranquilizer darts are also quite useful for those out of reach or out of blink range enemies.
Besides taking the stealthy approach there is quite a solid fighting system in place, with parrying, sword and gunplay as well as explosions to help in all-out war with the plethora of guards or thugs chasing you down. With health and mana potions you will be able to heal up in the longer battles and boss battles that are thrown at you, allowing you to survive longer or use more abilities during the level/battles. Open fighting isn’t too difficult on medium, until you get to the later missions when people on stilts and better equipment come into the equation.
Overall thoughts and feelings
The definitive edition doesn’t add too much or improve on a lot over the original release, the best part of the edition is that it adds all of the DLC into the package. Graphics a bit sharper and lighter but even with a side-by-side comparison it is hard to distinguish a big change. Gameplay feels smoother without any dips in fps which the original release seemed to suffer and I didn’t see as many glitches, but this could have been fixed with a patch on the earlier game.
Overall Dishonored: Definitive Edition gets a 4/5, the game was great on its own but with the great deal of the game + all DLC make this a steal if you never got the original release. They didn’t mess with the game to make it worse, though the improvements are hard to see at most points. If you have the original game I wouldn’t recommend this version, unless you lack all of the DLC and want it on a different console.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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