Developer Arkane Studios Publisher Bethesda Softworks Format 360, PC, PS 3, PS4, Xbox One Release 2013
Not for Arkane Studios the outof-body interludes favoured by peers in the firstperson action sphere; if Dishonored has a cardinal rule, it’s never to take away control. As a player, you’re given total directorship of your camera, as well as final say on when precisely the beats of a level happen: the assassination, the escape to a waiting boat, or indeed whether an assassination happens at all. Which makes the opening of The Knife Of Dunwall, the first half of Dishonored’s DLC campaign, a cardinal sin.
You watch helplessly through Daud’s eyes as the city’s most notorious hitman creeps up through the lock that connects the river Wrenhaven to Dunwall Tower, and steps out onto the roof of the royal residence, alerting only the birds to his presence. The guards drop silently as Daud’s lieutenants, recognisable by their industrial gas masks and dark supernatural gifts, slip swords into their flanks.
In a curious and effective touch, the familiar UI indicator that heralds a– is visible as Daud and his entourage flit between ramparts. It’s a detail that suggests agency, yet you’re powerless to stop yourself from trespassing into the folly where the Empress throws herself in front of her young daughter; unable to prevent your left hand from gripping the monarch’s throat, and your right from sinking metal between her ribs. The sense of violation, in a game where you’re otherwise always empowered to stay your blade, is profound. This, after all, is the memory that plays in Daud’s head late at night – the series of actions he wishes he could change, but can only relive.
