Dishonored

Dishonored is a 2012 first person stealth action game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Arkane Lyon created the game under directors Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio, while Viktor Antonov, known for Half Life 2, supplied its distinctive visual design. Players control Corvo Attano, formerly bodyguard to Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, after her assassination and the kidnapping of her daughter, Emily, leave him framed for murder. After escaping Coldridge Prison, Corvo works with the Loyalists, a conspiracy seeking to remove Lord Regent Hiram Burrows, whose coup installed him as Dunwall's ruler. Dunwall is a fictional industrial city afflicted by a rat plague, and whale oil powers much of its technology, including weapons, lamps, and security systems. Early in the story, the Outsider gives Corvo supernatural abilities and a hand, allowing powers such as Blink teleportation, Possession, Bend Time, and Dark Vision. The game permits lethal combat or nonlethal solutions; player choices influence chaos, a measure that changes later levels, enemy presence, dialogue, and the final ending. High chaos generally produces more rats, weepers, and hostile forces, whereas lower chaos supports a less destructive outcome for Dunwall and its surviving inhabitants afterward. Dishonored uses missions set in locations including the Golden Cat, Kaldwin's Bridge, the Boyle estate, and the flooded district, home to Daud and Whaler assassins. Daud leads the Whalers and killed Jessamine at Burrows's order; he later becomes the protagonist of The Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore Witches downloadable expansions. Dishonored's optional approach extends to targets and guards, because Corvo can use sleep darts, chokeholds, distractions, and environmental routes instead of killing them directly outright. Art direction combines nineteenth century inspired architecture and clothing with grotesque technology, and the Tallboys, towering stilt walkers armed with mounted bows, regularly patrol streets. Daniel Licht composed the score, while the voice cast includes Stephen Russell as Corvo, Susan Sarandon as Granny Rags, and Carrie Fisher as the Outsider. The original release received substantial critical praise, and it won the 2012 Spike Video Game Award for Best Action Adventure Game, among other international honors. Arkane followed it with Dishonored 2 in 2016, letting players choose Corvo or Empress Emily, and later released the standalone Death of the Outsider expansion. The series is especially associated with immersive simulation design, where its levels accommodate exploration and creative problem solving rather than enforcing a route through objective.