Dishonored - Bethesda Softworks

[BizioEE]

[size=+2]Dishonored - Bethesda Softworks [/size]

Bethesda’s next game is a first-person stealth/action adventure, and we’ve got the first look at it in our upcoming August issue. There are dozens of reasons why you should care about this weird-looking game you\'ve never heard of. A few of the most important ones are after the jump.

Arkane Studios and founder Raf Colantonio have made memorable games in the past (Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic) that ultimately suffered from a lack of publisher support. Bethesda Softworks believes in their vision and is giving them all the time, money, and development help (regular meetings with guys like The Elder Scrolls\' Todd Howard don\'t make your game worse) they need. Harvey Smith, one of the main minds behind the first two Deus Ex games and a legendary veteran of game development, shares the vision and is on board as Dishonored\'s co-creative director along with Colantonio. Viktor Antonov designed Half-Life 2\'s iconic City 17 and is lending his talents to Dishonored\'s world. This is a perfect storm for creating a game that shatters the mold that first-person action games have built for themselves in the mainstream.

We\'ve seen the game running, and now we share Colantonio and Smith\'s vision too. Dishonored is the antithesis of a edge-of-your-seat roller-coaster ride. It\'s a game about assassination where you don\'t have to kill anyone. It\'s a game about infiltration where you can set up traps and slaughter the entire garrison of an aristocrat\'s mansion rather than sneak in. It\'s a game about brutal violence where you can slip in and out of a fortified barracks with nobody ever knowing you were there. It\'s a game about morality and player choice where the world you create is based on your actions, not navigating conversation trees.

It sounds interesting.

[BizioEE]

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dishonored/b/xbox360/archive/2011/07/11/getting-to-know-dishonored.aspx

Who are you?
Players take on the role of Corvo, the Empress’ legendary bodyguard. As the game starts, Corvo is falsely imprisoned for her murder. What the corrupt Lord Regent behind the coup didn’t realize is that Corvo is legendary for a reason. He’s not only a skilled combatant accomplished in the art of not being seen, but Corvo has a suite of supernatural powers that combine with his natural talents and unusual gadgets to make him one of the most lethal men in the known world.

Why should you care?
Even if you haven’t played them, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Thief and Deus Ex. One of the main minds behind those two games, Harvey Smith, is the co-creative director of Dishonored along with Raf Colantonio, the founder of developer Arkane Studios. The two share a vision of a game that gives players the power to be creative with their skills and tactics, and invites them to come up with interesting solutions to the obstacles in front of them. Arkane is known for its immersive first-person gaming (Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic), and the power of a talent-driven publisher in Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3) behind the team is promising.

How are they going to do that?
Dishonored has several major elements that combine to create its unique gameplay: mobility, powers & gadgets, environment, and AI. The trick is that a single power doesn’t just do damage or heal you. You can combine them organically to create interesting effects. Stop time and knock a bunch of stuff off a table in one direction then book it in another, so the guards search for you in the wrong place. Summon a swarm of rats to attack one guard, but possess one of the rats and escape in the chaos. Every problem has as many solutions as you want it to.

What’s the catch?
It’s an assassination game that reacts to how violent you are. An unusual “chaos” system tracks how much collateral damage you cause, and the game world changes as a result of your actions. Unlike a light/dark side meter, though, it’s a behind-the-scenes element that affects story decisions without punishing the player or pushing them to play one way or another.

When can I learn more?
Soon! You can get ten pages worth of details in the print magazine, and we’ll be dropping new online content, from video interviews to an interactive map of Dishonored’s world, throughout the month. We asked a lot of questions, and Smith and Colantonio had a lot to say. For starters, on Wednesday we’ll share a video that breaks down why you should be interested in the team at Arkane even if you haven’t played any of their previous games.

[BizioEE]

Thoughts ?