Dishonored Preview: Arkane Studios and Bethesda Are Cooking Up An Instant Classic

With its innovative gameplay, distinctive look inspired by classic illustrators such as N.C. Wyeth and Charles Dana Gibson, an incredible cityscape created by Visual Design Director Viktor Antonov with Art Director Sébastien Mitton and the rarefied air of a product that knows how great it’s going to be to those who “get” it, Dishonored has shot up to the top of the list of games I really want to play (and see succeed in this era of sequels and retreads). Arkane Studios has been going full steam ahead with this all-new PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 IP, a single player focused and yes, story-driven game that allows players do tackle missions in just about any way they desire.  Without a multiplayer mode in sight (thankfully), Arkane is showing that a strong story and stronger gameplay can do wonders for an industry where relying or retreading popular multiplayer modes has decimated some games and genres into a depressingly generic formula year after year.

 

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BioShock Infinite’s Delay Of Game Is Actually GREAT News…

…Especially IF you’re Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks, that is. Dishonored, the absolutely gorgeous and innovative upcoming first-person stealth action game (which some are unfairly over-comparing to Irrational’s game), is coming later this year, and as it’s equally well-crafted and also shares a few MINOR similarities with BI (both games take place in fictional worlds based loosely on 19th Century America or a Victorian-themed pseudo London setting, both have a steampunk aesthetic to them, and both look amazing), it SHOULD be on your old-timey radarscope thingamajig too, I say.

The big deals about Dishonored are its stellar art direction and is its more flexible gameplay that allows players to possess people or certain animals or play the entire story without killing a single person, plus a lot more that has to be seen to be believed. Yeah, yeah – my preview is late, but that’s because I’ve been occupied with some other stuff. Still, stick around, as I’m going through my notes now and should have something up soon….

Dishonored Trailer Drops, Bethesda Gets My Fingers Tingling…

(shakes fist at monitor)… Blast you, Bethesdaaaaaaa! Showing off such an awesome game to us yesterday here in NYC, slapping us with an embargo until next week THEN unloading this spectacular trailer on the masses! Grrrr! Anyway (very fake rant over and done with), Dishonored is going to be a game that gets talked about quite a lot, especially as it’s definitely one of the more intriguing games I’ve seen this year that’s NOT a sequel or reboot of an older IP. Arkane Studios’ hard work blew me away and I hope it will do the same to you once more news gets out about how amazing it is.