E3 2012: Dishonored Preview

Last August I brought you our first preview of Dishonored, Arkane Studios’ first original title in over five years.  You can read my extensive preview here but, for those who don’t want to, allow me to surmise my feelings as I left QuakeCon 2011: I was incredibly excited.  Stealth- based games like Dishonored have been lacking in both quantity and stealth elements for several years now, the only significant title of the past three years coming to mind being Splinter Cell Conviction.  For this year’s E3 Bethesda decided to properly unveil the game to the press and, judging by both the presentation and the live demo we got to play, the game is looking even more impressive than it did last year.

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Feed Him to the Hungry Rats for Dinner
Sitting down in a room of thirty other gamers and journalists in the Bethesda booth, creative director Harvey Smith and introduced the demo by stating that we would see the same level played twice: once from a stealth-focused perspective and the other being a balls-to-the-wall, kill everyone approach.  To get an appreciation for the stealthly nature of the game we were shown the most subtle approach first.  Trust me when I say that what we saw delivered on what was spoken.

Today’s demo took place at the Golden Cat, a bathhouse in Dunwall that is also the site of a house of ill repute.  You are tasked with eliminating the Pendleton brothers, twins that are part of the overall conspiracy that both murdered Dunwall’s Emperess and framed Corvo for the act.  For the purposes of the demo the player was given the full array of Corvo Atano’s powers that will be featured when the game ships.

Starting out the level, Corvo descended to the streets (each level has multiple entry points, in this case we started out from a rooftop entrance) and nears the water’s edge adjacent to the Golden Cat.  Using his possession ability, Corvo took control of a fish and swam into a broken pipe going into the building. He emerges from his pescadilliac possession in one of the women’s changing rooms.  Barely sneaking past two entering whores, the player enters the main lobby of the Golden Cat with the objective of finding the Madame of the establishment in order to get a master key and thus move through the building unimpeded by pesky doors and the like.  Sneaking upstairs, Corvo finds her on the other side of a door after peaking through a keyhole.  Waiting for her to leave, the player follows her to a secluded room where he pickpockets her, the Madame never being the wiser.

Dishonored’s stealth gameplay, more than anything, seems strongly to be a cross between classic Metal Gear Solid and that of Splinter Cell Conviction, two titles that are widely different and yet, for this title, seem to match harmoniously.  Enemies utilize a cone of vision that Corvo can detect using his Dark Vision power.  If the player enters that cone of vision a circle appears on screen indicating how well they see you and from what direction you are seen.  Once the indicator turns red the player has been fully recognized as an intruder and the NPC reacts accordingly.  It’s an odd combination at first but, as demonstrated in Dishonored, works very well together.

After returning to the lobby area Corvo overhears a conversation between a “relaxing” guard and his mistress which reveals the location of one of the Pendleton brothers: the basement sauna.  Descending unnoticed, the player eventually locates the target in a steam room along with one of the mistresses.  As if reading my mind that a blade would be too simple for the target, the player instead turns a valve controlling one of the steam pipes, scalding both of the victims to death.

With only one target left, Corvo ascends once again, sneaking past guards and wandering prostitutes alike.  Corvo eventually locates his target in the penthouse room of the Golden Cat, the unsuspecting brother chatting it up with one of the ladies of the evening.  Instead of barging in through the front door the player instead opts for the balcony.  Climbing along the rooftop and utilizing the Blink ability which teleports the player a short distance, he reaches the balcony of the room with ease.  Corvo then uses his possession ability once again to take control of the last remaining Pendleton, guiding him to the balcony itself.  Withdrawing from the brother, the player selects Corvo’s Windblast power and, in a move seen countless times in Skyrim videos across Youtube, blasts the target over the edge and into the water below, eliciting a laugh from all in attendance.  The last target eliminated, Smith ends the demo.

Restarting from the same position as when the stealth portion began, the player begins his more murderous approach.  Corvo descends to the streets and attacks one of the guards outside the Golden Cat.  The game’s melee-focused combat system is quite simplistic, acting similar to that of the attack, parry, counter system utilized in Skyrim and, more appropriately, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.  Corvo makes quick work of the guards and proceeds into the establishment.

It is here that a murderous onslaught began.  Our demonstrator begins killing everyone in sight, guards and prostitutes alike, using all the tricks at his disposal.  Corvo’s primary weapon in all of this is his blade which is dedicated to his right hand while his various tools of the trade as well as his magic powers are focused on the left hand.  All manner of weapons, including his pistol are demonstrated, with items such the crossbow and the Plague of Rats power which gruesomely devours your unfortunate victims before your eyes.  One particular weapon, a mine, deploys a band of razor wire that shreds enemies to pieces in a smile-inducing display of blood and muscle.  No one is a match for the player but, again, since the demonstration gave you Corvo’s full arsenal of weapons and powers at their peak abilities, this is more than likely a scenario that most players won’t experience.

Weigh Hey, and Up She Rises
After the hands-off demo was shown to us, the press was allowed to actually experience the game hands-on, something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I first registered for E3 this year.  The demo was different from the one we were shown, showing a far smaller slice of the game.  Tasked with kidnapping the Imperial physician that conducted the autopsy of the Empress, I began the level once again on the rooftops.  Knowing the target’s whereabouts I swiftly and silently used Corvo’s Blink power, bounding from rooftop to rooftop and bypassing all the patrolling guards on the street.  I eventually arrived at the doctor’s rooftop laboratory and, sneaking up on him quietly, I knocked him out.

As I was about to leave I found a woman trapped in a cage just across the room.  Feeling for her I filched the key from the doctor’s body and freed her.  This action ties into the game’s world chaos system which, while not immediately having an impact on the game itself, will eventually culminate with world-altering results later on in the game.  For now, it may have little impact but, for me as I tend to play very moral characters, it was a pleasing act of kindness in the cruel, cruel world that is Dunwall.

 Taking the doctor’s body with me, I once again began to traverse the rooftops using the Blink ability.  With my extraction point in sight I came across a group of citizens imprisoned along the roadside.  I decided to help then and dropped the physician off right next to the exit before returning to the prisoners.  On the wall adjacent to the cage I found the security controls and both deactivated the electrified cage and freed the citizens but not before being spotted by the patrolling guards.  It was here that I was glad for once that no one was filming the game as, given I had only a handful of minutes of experience at the game already, I was doing a terrible job of fighting off the guards.  I eventually was able to eliminate them all but not before a few of the citizens were killed in the process.  I returned to the doctor’s body and took him to my contact, ending the demo.

I, however, wasn’t satisfied.  With nary an appointment ahead of me I went began the demo again, this time determined to do better.  I successfully knocked out the doctor once again, this time utilizing Corvo’s crossbow that was equipped with sleeping darts.  I took his body out of the laboratory but stopped short of jumping across the rooftops.  Below me, patrolling was a Tall Boy, a stilted soldier equipped with a explosive set of bow and arrows.  The Tall Boy is easily one of the most imposing enemies in the game and is Dishonored’s take on the Strider from Half-Life 2.  Selecting the Possession power I took control of the victim and marched down the street straight toward the prisoners as well as the pesky guards who gave me problems just a few moments ago.  Using the Tall Boy’s weapons I quickly dispatched with the soldiers before exiting the victim.  I quickly killed the Tall Boy using a sticky grenade so as to prevent experiencing what I had just done to the decimated soldiers at my feet.  Freeing the prisoners, this time with nary a scratch on them, I retrieved the doctor and once again completed the demo.

Early in the Morning
Dishonored was an exciting reveal for me last year and was a wonderful experience to have on the first full day of E3 2012.  The stealth elements at this point seem very well done and the abilities at Corvo’s disposal make him a powerful opponent to the waves of guards and enemies of the game.  Arkane brought us word shortly before E3 began that players can even do a pacifistic runthrough of the game, allowing you to complete Dishonored without actually killing anyone.  Considering that I can recall a stealth action game allowing this since the last Metal Gear Solid title, my excitement is further heightened by the news.

With all the enticing titles being pushed into 2013 Arkane Studios’ latest will happily not be boarding the delay train and will instead arrive during the second week of October in North America in Europe.  Stay tuned for our review.