I remember when the original Dishonored game was first released, everyone was raving about it so eventually I decided to play it. After playing I felt underwhelmed, it wasn't bad but definitely wasn't everything it was hyped up to be. When I heard they were releasing a sequel I was mildly interested, mostly because this time you had the choice of playing as either Corov or Emily and the early gameplay looked good. Lucky enough my favorite technician and buddy SiniĊĦa (kidding, you are all my favorite) loaned me his copy so I could give it ago.
Let's talk about soup. It's healthy, can be tasty and is great if you are not sure what else to eat. There are hot and even cold soups, why there are cold soups I don't know but they exist. There are simple soups and more complex ones. For me the most basic soup is tomato, nothing wrong with it but it's not really my soup of choice. Add a little chili or another ingredient and yeah it can be nice but by itself, meh. Playing Dishonored 2 I found myself asking was this just a plain tomato soup or was it something more exciting?
Story
The story is set fifteen years after the first game and Emily is now Empress after her mother Jessamine was assassinated. Her father Corvo stands by her side as her Royal Protector, but don't be fooled Emily can handle herself. The game starts on the anniversary of Jessamine's death, naturally a great way to dishonor her memory is to stage a coup. Things get intense fast and you have to choose to play as either Corvo or Emily.
The story is about revenge which is great as I like revenge stories, but I did feel Dishonored 2 shared a little too many similarities with the first game. Clearing your name for a crime you didn't commit, saving someone you love and helping to clean up the corruption by kicking asses and taking names. While the story isn't bad I wish the studio had been a little bit more adventurous, while there were some interesting characters it just felt a little too familiar for me.
Graphics
This time around the game is visually more impressive and features a lot more detail especially the interiors of buildings, however like the first game it suffers with something I can best describe as the 'unfinished painting effect'. Some people have said that the game is visually impressive, I would argue that point. I was speaking to a friend of mine about it recently who made a really good point about it, the Borderlands Series has a very distinct art style that is purposeful and works well with the style of gameplay it offers but with Dishonored it feels out of place as the gameplay has a darker and more serious tone. There is a clear foundation of something that could be really special but instead just feels unfinished, the colours often feel very basic and some parts of the background look half completed which stops the world feeling organic.
All the visual bashing aside there were some areas of the game that looked great and stood out for me. The two that come to mind are; the journey out to the Addermire Institute and the Clockwork Mansion. Travelling out across the water to the Addermire Institute is great as you really get to focus on your surroundings, the building itself looks like the setting of a horror movie, it gives a real feeling of isolation. The Clockwork Mansion was hands down my favorite area, pulling levers in the house completely changes the structure and layout of rooms and feel likes a real feat of engineering.
Music
The score moves between two very distinct tones, somber and foreboding. These sounds are conveyed through the harsh use of percussion and stringed instruments. Listening to the score again it really gave me pause as I became so used to the music in the game I almost didn't notice it. While I know that sounds very negative I actually mean it as a positive, with many other games I have played the music almost feels like a separate entity rather than being intertwined as it was in Dishonored 2. Perhaps it is an oxymoron to say the music was distinct but also subtle but I think with this score it really does settle comfortably between the two.
The creator of the sound was American composer Daniel Licht who sadly passed away earlier this year. He worked on films, TV series and games, some of his works include: Dexter, Amityville: A New Generation, Hellraiser: Bloodline, Silent Hill: Down Pour and the Dishonored Series.
Outside of this there were a few additional people who contributed to the score including;
Ravi Krishnaswami creative director at COPILOT Music + Sound, Raphael Colantonio founder of Arkane Studios and one Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. John Benthal, Lev Zhurban and Brian Slattery were the musicians who helped create the sound of the Serkonos group who can be found playing in different parts of the game.
A very enjoyable soundtrack and I really liked the additional pieces of music, my favorite included; 'Dishonored 2 Main Theme', 'Corvo Trailer', 'Void Theme', 'Delilah's Theme (Combat)'
'The Coup' and 'Silver and Dust'.
Gameplay
Onto the meaty goodness that is the gameplay. As noted earlier you get to play as either Emily or Corvo, as I had played as Corvo in the original I wanted to mix it up and see what Emily had to offer. Dishonored 2 is a first person, stealth, action, open worldish game. The combat, weapons and abilities are pretty good and sometimes a little weird. The combat for the most part works well, the swordplay can be a lot of fun and choking someone out mid-combat never gets old. If you want to take the non lethal approach then you will likely need a lot of sleep darts and stun mines, there are buffs and abilities you get later in the game that will help you minimize the amount you use and save you money. There are a lot of abilities you can unlock in the game, my favorites were; shadow walk and mesmerise. Shadow Walk allows you turn into a ghostly looking shadow and knock out enemies which looks really weird. Mesmerise allows you to distract people for a time, which ends up looking like a moth gravitating towards a flame, funny and useful.
There are upgrades for your weapons in the form of blueprints but the downside is you can't make them. Basically you find the blueprint, pay to get it made and then you can buy it on the black market. This bothered me a little because you were paying for the item to be made and then paying for it again once it was made along with going to the effort of finding the blueprint in the first place. I feel they should have either allowed crafting of items or just be able to buy them in the shop day one. Sorry you can craft bone charms and runes which I found playing on normal difficulty did not come in that useful as a whole.
Similar to the first game there is an otherworldly element, it is definitely more present this time around. The mechanical heart appears again and is used to track down runes and talisman that will help you on your journey. Playing Dishonored 2 I couldn't always figure out if the studio wanted to make a serious stealth game with otherworldly elements or an otherworldly game with some stealth elements. Overall though the gameplay was pretty solid and had some interesting moments.
Final Thoughts
So after nearly twenty hours how did I feel? The experience was better than expected but overall it wasn't amazing. The story felt a little rehashed, the visuals were better than the original but still not quite there. The soundtrack was great and there was some good gameplay. I think like tomato soup Dishonored 2 just wasn't for me. Scoring this was one was tough but in the end I could only give it 3 out of 5
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