Welcome to the Should You Play series where we talk about games old and new. Today, I will talk about Dishonored 2, the pros and cons, and should you play it? Dishonored 2 is a direct follow up to the 2012’s cult classic first-person stealth action game.
Previously on Should you play? I talked about-
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Story
Dishonored 2 follows after some time has passed after the events of the first game. Emily Kaldwin is the empress of the kingdom of Dunwall following her mother’s death in the first game. On the day of remembrance of Emily’s mother, lady Delilah Copperspoon comes to her castle and claims to the sister of the late empress and true heir to the throne. With the Duke and Clockwork army’s help, she takes over the throne and it’s up to you to reclaim the throne.
The story is simple. yet effective. The game is all about choices and consequences. From the onset, you are given a choice of who do you want to play as – Corvo Attano or Emily Kaldwin which has a pretty big impact on how you tackle the game’s objectives.
Characters
Dishonored 2 doesn’t feature a lot of key characters, but most of it is quality stuff with good writing overall. Emily is a great example of this as her dialogues and tones give away her royal upbringing, while also incorporating some bravery and wit, which her father Corvo must have taught her during her training.
Apart from these characters, you have two allies that help you in your journey -Anton Sokolov and Maegan Foster. Anton Sokolov is an old scientist that is really weak and on the brink of death, but intelligent nevertheless. Meagan’s character is somewhat shrouded in mystery and gradually rolls out during the course of the story.
Delilah Copperspoon also has an interesting story arc, with new information about her backstory revealed gradually throughout the story. It mostly consists of tried and tested kingdom and castle affairs, but it works with great effect here. You know something’s really good when these tragedies make you question the righteousness of your own quest.
The Gameplay Loop
Dishonored 2 builds upon the formula set in place by its predecessor. The core gameplay revolves around trying to find your way through labyrinth levels and reach your goal – be it a key item or an assassination. Depending on who you play as you have a myriad of tools under your belt ranging anywhere from a simple teleport move to taking control of an enemy.
The levels are extremely open-ended and massive. There is also a lot of verticality in them. You are free to tackle these missions as you seem fit. You could be a ghost by not touching anyone except your target or you can kill anyone who stands in your way. The failure spectrum is really large and no matter what you do, it always feels a possible solution to the problem at hand. I went for a ghost run in my first playthrough, killing a total of only 2 targets in my entire playthrough. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing that in their playthrough as accomplishing this required me to do a fair bit of save scumming.
Save scumming isn’t bad, and the game’s large levels require that you save often. However, the best moments in the best stealth games come from playing past your mistakes. Using your abilities in conjunction with some combat can produce some really cool moments where you just manage to slip by from a situation. On that note, the combat is pretty simple just like the first game. You are encouraged to pick off enemies one by one rather than fighting them head-on.
The Level Design
Ghosting a level isn’t that hard as it seems at first. Spamming the quick save and teleport gets that job done. The real element of the challenge comes from collecting all runes and bonecharms in a level while remaining hidden and not killing anyone. Runes are the equivalent of upgrade points that unlock new abilities, while Bonecharms are the equipable buffs.
For every target in Dishonored 2’s levels, you have a chance to either take down the target non-lethally or lethally. This ties in directly into the game’s multiple endings. Your aunt Delilah and her allies aren’t just one-dimensional villains but have some depth and backstory to them. They aren’t the most complex characters, but it is enough that you may actually want to avoid killing some of them.
As for the levels themselves, they do have some variety and character to them. The clockwork mansion is probably the highlight of them all. It is a rotating mansion that is filled with these mechanical soldiers. This being one of the first levels feels a lot more difficult as these mechs can easily detect you and aren’t easy to take down. Couple that with some trial and error required to set up the non-lethal kill, it can be pretty intimidating to beat. The Dust District mission which involves getting into Aramis Stilton’s mansion is also pretty memorable with an interesting time shift mechanic.
A Powerhouse In Terms Of Value
Dishonored 2 took me around ten hours to beat, but you can easily stretch that up to thirteen if you explore the levels thoroughly and try to collect all runes and bonecharms. Couple that with two distinct playable characters with special abilities, multiple approaches, multiple endings, and no-powers run, Dishonored 2 can pack a lot of punch in terms of sheer content. There are also some optional side quests in every level that give you some key items in exchange for particular information or an item.
As said earlier, the thought given to all the characters means that both approaches are equally viable. What fate you choose to deal with your foes is entirely up to your moral compass.
World Building And Atmosphere
Apart from briefing cutscenes, there are a lot of secrets and information to uncover. While traversing levels, you will come across many diaries, journals, and newspapers that give a lot more information about your surroundings. While some notes are crucial to carrying out a particular assassination, others just give some more insight into the world at large.
As for the atmosphere, the developers and designers have done a fantastic job of crafting a beautiful world that feels immersive and believable. The palaces are large and majestic and towering. The city is bustling with people working, talking, getting intimidated by the guards, and trying their level best to survive in a kingdom that has been brought down to its knees. Some areas, the Museum, in particular, have an eerie feeling to them due to the presence of supernatural entities. The finale, in particular, is really good. A fallen kingdom is brought to life by the use of washed-out colors and a feeling of emptiness all around.
Conclusion; Should You Play It?
Dishonored 2 is a worthy sequel to its 2012 predecessor. It smartly adds some new elements to the pot while staying true to what made it great in the first place. Fans of the first game or stealth games should try the game if they haven’t already. For people new to the series or ones who don’t like the idea of waiting around in a spot in a stealth game, Dishonored 2’s multiple approaches might just be for you.
What do you think about this short review? Which games do you want us to cover next? Tell us down in the comments below.
