Xbox Reviews

Dishonored 2 review

Review Dishonored 2 | Arkane Studios conquered many gamers hearts four years ago with Dishonored. With good critic reviews, million sales and many awards it comes as no surprise that Bethesda brings a sequel.  Let’s take a look if Dishonored 2 can bring the greatness again in this review!

THE GOOD

  • Just like the first Dishonored, the biggest strength from the game is the replay value. You can play it the stealth way, you can decide to use your powerful powers or not, you have two total different characters and the game levels an insane amount of hidden secrets. Each play through will take around thirteen hours, so just playing the game with the two different characters will give you almost thirty hours of gaming fun.
  • Dishonored 2 takes place 15 years after the first game, and depending on who you choose to play as, Corvo or Emily the story changes. You can’t really call it a peaceful story, things suddenly change and you are left with a clear objective. Thanks to some great small dialogue, each of the levels provide some new knowledge. Hidden books provide some background story, although I’m not sure if many gamers will take the time to read them.
  • I know I said that the replay value was the biggest strength but maybe that’s wrong. Equally cool is the freedom you get for finishing the levels. You have so many ways for killing, or not killing enemies. Planning your way, and using one of the many powers for reaching that goal is really fun and challenging. Going for the stealth way is the hardest but manageable and with some frustration (check The Bad).
  • I don’t think you can get a much better voice cast for Dishonored 2, especially Emily has a great voice that fits perfectly. You hear the emotion and strong will in her voice, really brilliantly done. Actress Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple, in the Marvel world), deserves some credit too. She does a great job for voicing one of the supporting characters.
  • Learning how to use your powers, and most importantly learning how to combine them is shockingly fun. You frequently get some Holy shit, did I do that? – feelings while playing the game. I’m a huge fan for Emily’s Domino-power, making you link enemies. Take one out with a sleeping dart and all of them fall a sleep. It was also a pretty brilliant thing to do to make the two playable characters so distinct. Truly making the game different when playing with Emily or Corvo.

Mixed Feelings

  • Gorgeous level design and artwork give the players some real pretty looking moments. One thing that I noticed and really disliked was the lack of detail in facial expressions and the weird noticeable pop up. Overall though, things looked pretty good with a few minor visual mistakes.
  • The developer has promised that Game+ and mission select is coming but for now you will have to do without. Weird that things like this aren’t available from the start.

THE BAD

  • First person stealth games are never easy and Dishonored 2 raises the bar for that. Prepare to do some multiple quick saving if you want to go for a complete stealth play through. Enemies see you coming from miles away, even when just using the peek-mechanic. It happened more than once that a guard saw me through a wall or behind an object, one of the most frustrating things that can happen for stealth-players.
  • Enemies mysteriously die for no reason, you would think “hey, that’s fine by me” but players that go for the no kills achievement will curse and yell for this VERY annoying bug.

Score: 87% | Arkane Studios did a great job with Dishonored 2, they have improved upon every aspect and made another great experience. Gamers will love the freedom and insane looking powers that Corvo and Emily have at their command.

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