Dishonored
Preview
The next Rapture in FPS gaming
by Chris Davis
previewed on X360
Vengeance, By Blade Or Spell (cntd)
Beyond the force field, a pack of rats are feasting on the remains of two unfortunate souls. Getting too close, they attack viciously before the player moves into the light from which they retreat. Rats serve both as an element of Dunwall as well as a tool at your disposal, as was demonstrated later on.
Moving into an alley, Corvo hears the cries of a woman being mugged. The encounter is entirely optional but the player goes ahead and comes to her aid. It turns out to be a trap however as two more thieves vault over the fence behind them. Drawing his dagger, Corvo begins his first-person melee fight by parrying, blocking, and dodging the attacks. Corvo takes a bit of damage but deals it back ten-fold, executing brutal killing moves against his enemies. The woman flees at the sight of the killings but the event may just return some profit, be it money or information, later on in the game.
What is interesting about the combat though is just how strong and fluid it is. First person melee combat isn’t something that has ever really been successful outside of a handful of titles and even then it has always felt clunky. Arkane clearly knows what they are doing though as Dark Messiah was one of the few games ever to actually get it right. The maneuvering of the character looks quite natural and the execution of attacks look to blend in just as well as combat in your typical third-person brawler like Enslaved.
Infiltrating The Mansion
Corvo exits this area via an alleyway and arrives at the section where his target resides. In front of him a force field that only allows guards through separates him from the courtyard where the lawyer’s mansion resides. The two-story building in front of him contains the powersource for the field though, so watching the patrolling guards, Corvo sneaks in. Ascending the stairs, Corvo is forced to kill two guards protecting the circuitbreaker. The fight however draws the attention of other guards and the alarm is raised. As the players waits behind the door though no one enters the room, even after several tense seconds. Dishonored’s design is such that the world itself is very random in nature from encounter to encounter and the AI reflects this. The alarm wasn’t a scripted moment in this demonstration and neither was the absence of the reinforcements: just another example of how versatile an experience the game can be.
Finding the circuitbreaker, Corvo modifies it to kill enemies instead of him which the guards learn when a patrolling one is vaporized as he walks through it. Rather than risk taking to the streets where the enemy is littered the player opts to take to the rooftops. Looking out the window, Corvo spots a flat roof that would be perfect for maneuvering undetected. How he would get their though is another matter entirely.
Corvo isn’t just known in the world as a skilled assassin based solely on his combat abilities: he also is one of the few who can use magic. Selecting the “Blink” spell from a circular menu, the player charges up the ability and targets the opposite roof before activating it. Blink gives Corvo the ability to teleport short distances and it easily allows him access to the roof. Spells are designed to be versatile from the start and can easily be integrated into combat or evasion to the player’s preference.
Moving along the rooftop, Corvo looks down into the courtyard of the mansion. It is heavily occupied by several patrolling guards and a watchtower with a large machinegun attached to it. While a guns-blazing approach is certainly an option in almost any circumstance, the demonstrator instead opts to take a far more stealthy approach. Using a combination of Blink and double jumps, Corvo crosses the roofs and descends to the street, staying in the shadows. Moving from wall to wall and being careful to avoid patrolling enemies, Corvo comes across a grate on one wall of the mansion. It is here where Corvo demonstrates another one of his powers: Possession. Looking down Corvo spots a rat and activates the magic spell, completely taking over the mind and body of the rat. Possession is not a throwaway tool as Corvo's physical form is tied directly into the body of his target, so the death of the rat would cause the death of Corvo in this scenario. Possession is not limited to rats as Smith hints that other animals and even humans are a possibility.
Seeing through the tinted eyes of the rodent, Corvo steers the rat into the grate and through the winding paths of the air duct. Creeping past a maid and into the shadows Corvo returns to human form and briskly sneaks past the unsuspecting woman. Climbing a grand staircase the player stops at the top just out of sight of a guard who is admiring a bust of a statue. The guard has the key needed to access the lawyer’s office, so as he continues to stare at the stone carving, Corvo sneaks up behind and pickpockets it. The key isn’t necessary to complete the mission, although it does make the approach a bit simpler.
