Monday, 7 December 2015

LO1 - Game Analysis - Dishonored



Dishonoured                      (PC)
Dishonoured is a stealth action game. It’s not a very conventional game however, while in most of this genre of games you are funnelled down a narrow corridor occasionally switching weapon or fighting a different enemy. Dishonoured on the other hand just drops you into a level, gives you an objective and just tells you to do it. It’s the kind of game that doesn’t hold your hand, there are multiple ways to complete each objective, many side tasks you can optionally complete and lots of lore you can explore and discover if you want to.
The story follows Corvo Attono, a bodyguard who must avenge the empress he was sworn to protect after she is murdered in front of his, her daughter is kidnapped and he is blamed for her death. The story of the game isn’t anything too new or unique, but it does have its fair share of twists and turns. the story’s shortcomings are also dwarfed by the brilliant look and feel of the world, the characters in it, the excellent writing and voice acting and all of the smaller elements that add to the games lore and atmosphere. A lot of the characters in the game come close to just becoming archetypes, but some clever and smart writing gives them a more human feel, it also helps that certain voices are done by celebrities; some players may find that this breaks the immersion but I personally found it helped give the characters a lot more life to them. Corvo himself doesn’t have a voice, and what little writing he does have, are dialogue options designed purely to offer clear choices that would progress the story. This may be to allow players to envision Corvo as themselves and roleplay the game slighty more, I personally don’t have a massive problem with silent protagonists but given the quality writing and characters of dishonored it’s a shame to miss out on one more of them.
The game was developed by Arcane studios and published by Bethesda softworks using the unreal engine. This allowed Arcane to create working physics whilst also letting them play about with magical powers whilst still keeping the game looking good and running smoothly.
The gameplay is designed to allow players to complete a mission in any way that they see fit. This allows players more freedom, giving them a lot more incentive to replay the game and try different methods. The two main playstyles of the game are stealthy, in which you creep around the map avoiding enemies or taking them out silently or action in which you engage enemies in sword fights and use loud weapons like pistols and grenades to gain an edge in the fight. The game also gives players the opportunity to gain powers throughout; these offer a lot of difference to gameplay and can be bought with in game currency throughout the play through. There is also a Parkour system in place, which in addition with a teleporting power you automatically get called blink, allows for quick and seamless movement around each level. All of these mechanics are added together to try and create the best possible supernatural assassin experience for players.
The game is aimed at an older audience due to its graphic violence and mature content. This is also accentuated by how the game is rated an 18 by PEGI which would stop some younger players from being able to play it. The game also is part of a franchise so it would be aimed at players who can afford to buy the next game every few years and wouldn’t become bored of it easily.
Dishonored was originally released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, it did however get a remastered rerelease for Xbox one and PlayStation 4. The game works fine on all consoles with no framerate issues that I noticed. The game feels more like it was developed for pc just because of the delicate controls, however the lack of modding capability in a game such as this, that encourages experimentation, might annoy some players.

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