Superb stealth.
Dishonored 2 is officially available for pre-order customers right now, and as per Bethesda’s official policy I’ve had just a day to play with it before release. As a result, IGN’s official score won’t go live until I’ve finished the campaign and had a lengthy spin with both of Dishonored 2’s protagonists and its various play styles.
From the (approximately) seven hours I’ve had with Dishonored so far, I can say developer Arkane has made some smart tweaks to the original’s more-or-less evolutionary level design. The two major areas I’ve played so far - The Addermire Institute and the Clockwork Mansion - have made for dramatically contrasting experiences.
Where the Addermire Institute carries all the Victorian horror and general ‘work your way up’ questing you might expect from Dishonored, The Clockwork Mansion is a new beast, where you must use switches to change the layout of each area in disorientating and wonderful ways. With their front and back fields of vision and devastating swiping blows, Clockwork Soldiers are terrifying and formidable new enemies, and their monotone voice prompts are the stuff of nightmares.
The entirety of the chapter is dizzying, and that’s a decent summation of Dishonored 2’s new city Karnaca. It’s a lot more vertical than the original's Dunwall, allowing for adrenaline-fueled leaps across rooftops, while its Southern-European sun-kissed greenery makes for a much brighter, and more lively, world.
From my first several hours, there really is a feeling that Karnaca is populated. Runes - which are the currency used to upgrade your powers - are coveted by Howlers pretending to be in peril, while shady types that you just stumble upon may ask you to find a body in exchange for... something 'worth your while'. There’s a feeling that the world is alive, and a loitering NPC might open up an optional quest at any moment.
While I’m still in the early hours of Dishonored 2, Emily is shaping up to be a very versatile protagonist. Obviously nudged into being as a ‘stealthy’ character, her Dark Vision ability can be evolved to visualise enemy routes, and while her Far Reach ability is, at first, in step with (original protagonist) Corvo’s ‘Blink’, it can be evolved to grab and throw various objects; enjoyably chaotic when around tanks of whale oil.
There’s a lot more to Emily, obviously, but I’m in the early days of her powers. Dishonored 2 is tough in its first few chapters, and - in particular - made me work for those runes, which are more-often-than-not surrounded by hostile NPCs - tricky if you want a low-chaos playthrough. It’s fun to work for it in the face of high-chaos temptation.
I’ve got a lot of Dishonored 2 hours ahead of me, though - especially considering I’m going to play through as Corvo (and try out high-chaos) in a second run - so it’s too early to assign even a tentative score to Dishonored 2 just yet. Check back later for my full review, but my early impressions are very positive.
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