Dishonored: A Series That Deserves Honor - For The Courage To Be Different

2023 Author: Sheila Hailey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-09-26 03:45

The studio was founded in Lyon, France in 1999, and there has been a second one in Austin, Texas since 2006. Until 2010 it was developed for various companies, and with the takeover by ZeniMax Media, Bethesda (also belongs to ZeniMax) became the publisher for the games from Arkane.

Arx Fatalis (2002) is an action RPG and the first game by the French developers. Despite rather positive reviews, the game was not a financial success, it also had to stand up to The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights. The apparent urge to compete against big brands is also important at Dishonored.

The second game, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006), was praised for its innovative hand-to-hand combat system, but otherwise received only modest applause from critics. The "Xbox 360" version was heavily devalued due to technical defects.

After that, Arkane Studios worked on Call of Duty: World at War (2008) and Bioshock 2 (2010). Then Bethesda came up with the idea to develop a stealth game based in feudal Japan. The name: Dishonored.

Dishonored 2: The Legacy of the Mask - Launch Trailer (German)

The Dishonored range

Everyone should know that nothing happened with the feudal Japan. Dishonored: The Mask of Wrath was released in 2012 and received three DLCs, the second part with the German title expansion The Legacy of the Mask was launched in 2016. A year later, a spinoff called Dishonored followed: Death of the Outsider, which many would have preferred to see as Part 2 DLC.

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Industrial-Victorian whale oil punk

One of the most salient features is the scenario and the associated art style. Instead of feudal Japan, there was Victorian steampunk. Originally based on London in 1666, electricity and other modern technologies have been added in the course of development, making Dunwall, the city that serves as the main venue, more similar to Edinburgh in the late 19th century. Dunwall has been hit by an epidemic that has plagued rats. This not only shapes the image of the city, but is also a crucial game element.

Dishonored follows its own interpretation of steampunk, because the eponymous steam power does not exist. A technique based on whale oil runs the game's machines.

While Dunwall is constantly portrayed as a dark place with an oppressive atmosphere, the second part takes the player to Karnaca, a town on an island that lies to the south of the game world. The city is much brighter and there is a little lack of the industrial rawness of Dunwall, since wind turbines and not oil tanks serve as electricity suppliers. This makes it correspondingly windy on the island, which ensures that storms of dust regularly envelop the city and take away the view of players as well as NPCs.

Of assassins and empresses

Although the story isn't one of the main arguments to play the Dishonored series, you wo n't find any big story spoilers in this section, except for what is needed to outline the actions of the games.

In the first part, the player takes on the role of Corvo Attano, the bodyguard of Jessamine Kaldwin, the empress of the island empire, in whom Dishonored plays. At the start of the game, the empress is murdered and her daughter Emily is kidnapped, Corvo is put on the act by the masterminds of the coup and he is arrested. However, he is liberated by a few loyal emperors and now searches for the conspirators who now rule the empire by force, and of course Emily must also be found and liberated.

Shortly after fleeing, Corvo meets the outsider, a mysterious figure that gives him magical powers. In addition to magic, Corvo also uses various weapons and technical aids. He wears the famous mask so that he can carry out his research unrecognized.

In the sequel, 15 years after Part 1, Emily is empress and ruled over the empire with Corvo as the imperial patron. An assassin eliminates Emily's enemies and she is suspected of being behind these murders. Duke Abele from Karnaca (capital of Serkonos) leads a coup against Emily with supporters at the court. He succeeds, but not he ascends the throne, but a woman named Delilah, who claims to be Emily's aunt.

At the beginning, the player decides whether, as Corvo or Emily, he wants to uncover the conspiracies and secrets around Delilah and free the other character. Again, a small group of loyal followers are at the player's side and the magical abilities as well as the technical aids are available again.

The outsider's spinoff Death is about Billie Lurk, a character in the second game, who, after the events around Emily, Corvo and Delilah , searches for the outsider to kill him. However, this visits Billie and also gives her magical powers. Nevertheless, she sets off to find him and the cult that created him.