Dishonored - Review Roundup

Over the weekend the first Dishonored reviews have flooded in, so here's a roundup. Arkane and Bethesda look like they have a ripper on their hands, with most reviews landing in the 9s.
Kicking off with Kotaku, who call it a "masterpiece":

I would love to have been a fly on the wall during the pitch meeting for Dishonored. “Well, it’s Deus Ex meets BioShock,” someone undoubtedly said. “Oh hey, and let’s throw in some Half-Life 2 ’cause why not?”
It’s a bizarre, eclectic blend, the type of combination that might seem too ambitious to work. But the resulting game is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Shacknews on being an "RPG", which left the reviewer "emotionally exhausted and simultaneously stunned":

The challenge for a developer creating a role-playing game is to build a bond with the player, the kind of bond where the player as protagonist not only believes in the mission of his alter ego, but cares about the characters in the game on an emotional level. The story is the essence of any good RPG, and the developer must allow the player to feel the character's anger, frustration, joy or any of the myriad emotions through that story. A great RPG builds a trust with the player and demands that role-playing be the game.
And for that reason, Arkane Studios' Dishonored is a great RPG. My emotions drove my style of game play as the bodyguard Corvo, falsely accused of killing a beloved Empress and my friend. I started with the mindset that clearing my name was secondary to finding those that killed her and kidnapped her daughter, the future monarch that I had watched grow up in my time as their bodyguard. I began play in a non-lethal fashion, fully unaware that what I was about to experience went well beyond the traditional point-and-click RPGs.

Joystiq with 4.5/5 on the different approaches:

So, reaching a mark may involve overhearing a conversation about their location, blinking (teleporting) from rooftop to rooftop onto a window ledge, using dark vision to observe enemies through the wall and choosing just the right moment to enter. Then, once inside, possessing a rat in the house, scurrying through a vent (possession in Dishonored is a full transference of body) and finally blinking into the target's room. That's just one stealth approach. Should you choose, you can also just walk through the front door and cut down everybody in your way, summoning rats to gnaw on anyone who gets too close.

IGN calls it "a breath of fresh air", on the way to 9.2/10, talking about the missions:

Dishonored’s nine missions are all very distinct. You’ll attend a society gala in disguise, scale a bridge, escape from prison, wander through flooded slums and stalk across rooftops. You'll take part in a duel, carry an unconscious man through a gauntlet of enemies and decide whether or not to become a torturer. Each mission is designed as a sandbox, allowing players to utilise whatever approach they want, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll take your time, getting the lay of the land, discovering alternate routes, listening in on conversations, taking on optional objectives, looking for secrets and treasure, and generally just playing.
Players who really take the time to enjoy the experience are rewarded too. The more runes, bone charms and money you find, the more you can augment and upgrade your character, and the more bad-ass you’ll become. In fact, by the last couple of missions I was almost too powerful; able to stalk, choke and kill with ease. Good thing there are hard and extra hard difficulty settings to move on to, which ramp up the perceptiveness of enemies and increase the general challenge.

More on exploration from GameSpot, who awarded 9/10:
[quote]
Exploring Dunwall is another one of Dishonored's great pleasures. The city prospered from the whaling trade in the recent past, but has fallen on hard times since the influx of a deadly plague. Brick walls and wooden beams loom over alleys crawling with rats, while granite facades and metal barricades block off the cobblestoned plazas of the wealthier neighborhoods. Dunwall evokes a British city in the grip of the industrial revolution, but painterly coloring and slightly exaggerated proportions give the place a unique feel. Though some t…More information.

So much for being a cult hit. ( Which I thought it's gonna be. )
You can hardly see such reception for new IPs ( or new IPs in general ) these days. Kudos to Arkane.

Not surprising since it is published and marketed by Bethesda. Did we really expect Bethesda to allow bad reviews prior to the release date?

The game does promise but, personally, I'll wait for a sufficient amount of well argumented user reviews.

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
The game does promise but, personally, I 'll wait for a sufficient amount of well argumented user reviews.

Yes. I'd love to hear some impressions of fellow Watchers…

The description of its RPGness is basically the same you would say from any adventure game, or action game, or anything with a well developed story pretty much. Basically that you 'feel about the characters in the game'.

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
Not surprising since it is published and marketed by Bethesda. Did we really expect Bethesda to allow bad reviews prior to the release date?

The game does promise but, personally, I 'll wait for a sufficient amount of well argumented user reviews.

Brink and Hunted got mediocre reviews.

pibbur who for no rational reason bought Hunted

299

Less than 16 hours! That is what Steam is telling me (I already pre-loaded the game).

edit:

JeuxVideo (French) gave it 19/20. I don't think I ever seen them give such a score to a game before. Seems like only a Rayman game on the PC ever reached the 19 value.

Originally Posted by pibbur who
Brink and Hunted got mediocre reviews.

I don't follow the FPS and action genre so I cannot comment about those games.

Just out of curiosity, did these games also have such an extensive marketing campaign as Dishonored?

Originally Posted by pibbur who
Brink and Hunted got mediocre reviews.

pibbur who for no rational reason bought Hunted

299

Including that is a bit redundant, considering it's you, pib

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
I don't follow the FPS and action genre so I cannot comment about those games.

Just out of curiosity, did these games also have such an extensive marketing campaign as Dishonored?

They only reason i found out about those games is because i go to the Beth site for the TES forums. I only found out about Dishonored by coming here.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Including that is a bit redundant, considering it's you, pib

Of course. But not everyone here knows me as well as you do.

pibbur who for no rational reason answered the musketeer

YAY!!!

Ugh. I played most of Hunted on the Xbox. It really had some good points, but overall, pretty bad. An extremely annoying/buggy/jittery boss towards the end made me quit.

Dishonored sounds interesting. And yes please, I'll take a great 16 hour game over a bloated 40+ hours of filler.

Originally Posted by Ovenall
…

Dishonored sounds interesting. And yes please, I'll take a great 16 hour game over a bloated 40+ hours of filler.

Word!

Life is short, time (and energy) to spend on frivolous activities is limited.

I´d rather have a glass of smokey, peaty single malt than a keg of watery beer.

OnT.

This game seems intriguing to me, a christmas holiday playgthrough?

C

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
Not surprising since it is published and marketed by Bethesda. Did we really expect Bethesda to allow bad reviews prior to the release date?

The game does promise but, personally, I 'll wait for a sufficient amount of well argumented user reviews.

I hate this conspiratorial BS.

Originally Posted by Paul
I hate this conspiratorial BS.

Conspiratorial or not,i cannot believe how the review scores for Fallout 3 were considerably better than those of Fallout New Vegas.To me there is no comparison between the two games.
Also i do not hold Oblivion in such a high esteem as almost all professional reviewers
have done.I would never rate this game higher than 8,being ruined by the level scaling and some other design choices.

Originally Posted by Ovenall
Dishonored sounds interesting. And yes please, I'll take a great 16 hour game over a bloated 40+ hours of filler.

Yes, I said it once, I'll say it again. This game is changing the world!!

I'll be waiting on reviews for this one. It lost in a nowheres close fight to Xcom for the next 2 weeks of my life, but I'll be interested to see what people say about it and for when it goes on sale at some point.


-Carn

Hmm… I've been skeptical about this game, but I might be interested now.

I'll still wait for RPGWatch feedback though.

Originally Posted by Paul
I hate this conspiratorial BS.

You are free to do so.

Anyway, the current pre-release Metacritic score is 90% so let us see whether the rating will maintain or decrease once the post-release reviews come in and, more importantly, whether they match the user ratings.

It is not the first time that a hyped game failed to deliver. Sincerely speaking, I do hope that we are dealing with a genuine gem here.

Originally Posted by Ovenall
Dishonored sounds interesting. And yes please, I'll take a great 16 hour game over a bloated 40+ hours of filler.

Originally Posted by Crilloan
I´d rather have a glass of smokey, peaty single malt than a keg of watery beer.

You guys is speakin' ma language! :-D

That right there may be the tipping point to me buying it, even tho I certainly don't need another game I don't have time to play…