Dishonored : Picking Styles

[Bells]

So, recently two new videos for this game were released showing how open the missions are, and just how many ways there are for you to reach your goals. The extremes being a totally pacifist play through vs a brutal one

Forgive me for not properly showing the videos here, but you can watch them on pretty much any gaming site, here is from gamepost

Stealth
http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/videos/stealth-dishonored-developer-walkthrough-6384775/

Direct
http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/videos/direct-attack-dishonored-developer-walkthrough-6384774/

I for one am actually very intrigued on playing a truly pacifist stealth option while still being able to defend myself if things get messy...

But here is the thing... and this could still be fixed... but still. I have a few problems with the enemies... they seem a bit too oblivious. The video shows that you pretty much need to be tapping on their shoulders for them to notice you... and visual direction seems a lot more important than audio feedback. One scene in the direct assault video shows you firing a big gun in one room and the guard on the very next room doesn't move a muscle.

These little problems could hurt the atmosphere of the game... but on the other hand, maybe it would be just too hard to have the game be first person AND carry a truly sensitive feedback of audio and visual to all the enemies... i dunno.

It looks awesome, but seeing these little problems just put a little dent in it for me.

still gonna abuse that possession spell like there is no tomorrow though....

[Arcanum]

Looks like Bioshock meets Deus Ex: HR. Pretty neat, although rather lackluster in the graphical department. Also, it seems like a lot of the powers cheapen the stealth elements, like Blink, Possession, and the time freeze. Also some of the stealth is rather silly, like sneaking along a practically see-through grate 3 feet higher than someone's head, or hiding under a table that would in no way hide someone who was glimpsed for a brief moment. And on that note, it's a shame that their AI looks to be bringing back "What was that noise/person-shaped-shadow?" "Oh I only saw it for 1.5 seconds instead of 3, it must have been nothing."

Although this does remind me I need to do another pacifist playthrough of Deus Ex since someone apparently died in my first try (stupid tranq darts randomly killing people).

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I am quite looking forward to this. Granted it still needs some work on the ai but it essentially looks like Bioshock meets Thief, with better movement and abilities. I look forward to attempting a pure ghost run of the entire game, though I think the ghosting rules might have to be changed to account for some of those powers, blink, possession and see through walls could be seriously overpowered.

[Bells]

from what i noticed, the "See Through Walls" power has NO cost to sustain, just to activate. That could be a problem for balance...

[synkr0nized]

Woo, more stealth where the AI seems oblivious.
Very neat looking, regardless.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

And apparantly, the blink power recharges, so actually has no cost. This is deliberate, as they didn't want you to be able to blink somewhere and get stuck, which, you know, happens with powers like that. On thinking about it though, they do seem to be contantly topping up their mana in those vids, which I doubt you can do quite so much in the full game, so they've probably got god mode on there giving them unlimited potions or whatever. Plus they did build the level, so they obviously know the best way to easily complete it and they are only playing on normal.

Other powers do seem to be more draining, like possession, which takes a massive amount of mana to use, so you're probably not going to be able to spam it.

[Bells]

and the time stopping power seems to take a bit to charge and make you vulnerable while doing so, so it shouldn't be all that easy to do in the middle of a big fight...

And it's not an open world game... it's not sandbox (the main menu even has "missions") so it does look a bit more Hitman than Assassin's Creed... and with all combined, to me, it's looking for like a "Murder themed Portal" where each mission is just a puzzle on how to kill the target and move on...

Still wanna play it, but i hope the higher difficulties make this game a bit more fairly challenging.

[Arcanum]

Actually from the looks of it, every power has an "initial cost" and then a "recharge period" where you regain some/most of the mana spent on the spell. Of course the mana you regain seems to depend on the spell, with Blink recharging most (but not all) of its mana cost, and possession recharging a lot less.

I actually really like this idea, because it prevents you from spamming powers in rapid succession, but also doesn't force you to rely on drowning yourself in mana potions.

[Aldurin]

I like how they don't overly limit the powers, so they got many cases of their testers pulling bizarre tricks like the possession jump, which is a great thing with a game designed for almost any approach to a mission.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Not to mention summoning rats and then possessing one to flee whilst the rest distract and cover for you.

[Bells]

Although one thing i didn't like about that was how he possessed the fish that was right there, stationary, sitting right next the opening vent for him to use, that sits right in front of the girl you could possess in the end. that part felt a little be less "creative thinking" and a bit more "find the disguised set pieces"