“Dishonored” Game: Plot and Players Essay

Dishonored is a first-person stealth-action videogame, published by Bethesda Softworks and developed by Arkane Studios. The game mechanics allow the players to complete the missions in different ways, either combat or stealth, depending on the player’s choice. There are also tons to eliminate the opponents lethally and non-lethally due to the variety of weapons and magical abilities at the player’s disposal.

Dishonored is a nonlinear game, meaning the game world allows one to explore the levels by climbing the rooftops and going through sewer systems. However, there is a more or less strict order of missions the player must follow. The player’s choices in how they use their killing abilities directly affect the process and the game’s ending. Dishonored has an in-game metric system called “Chaos” that measures the player’s level of destruction (“Dishonored”). The more enemies the player kills, the more chaotic the world of Dishonored becomes. For example, a high level of “Chaos” increases the rat population that attacks the player, making the gameplay more challenging. However, it depends on the player’s preferences and how they want the game to run (“Dishonored”).

Dishonored takes place in a fictional city Dunwall, in which citizens are suffering from the plague. The main character, Corvo, is a personal bodyguard of the empress that is assassinated at the beginning of the game. Now Corvo’s mission is to bring the kidnapped daughter of the empress Emily back to the throne while the usurper runs the country. The world-building is based on nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh.

Dishonored allows the player to choose the level of difficulty at the start of the game (from easy to very hard). By increasing the difficulty level, the enemies become more perceptive and deal more damage (“Dishonored”). The game has an implemented artificial intelligence system that controls how the enemies respond to the player’s actions. They adapt to the new environments; for example, if Corvo lets himself be noticed, they act alerted, and their line of sight widens. Daniel Licht, responsible for the music in the game, composed the score using violin instrumentals to reflect the atmosphere of nineteenth-century London. It has a dark tone to make the player feel uncomfortable.

Bartle (3-4) categorizes the players into four types: achievers, explorers, socializers, and killers. Dishonored offers a great arsenal of abilities to satisfy every type of player. Achievers get to collect various types of items throughout the game, complete the mission with different goals set (for example, without being noticed once or killing anyone), achieving the particular ending (the game has two). Explorers can swim, run, sneak around, visit different locations, eliminate the traps and solve the game’s puzzles in different ways. Socializers can talk to non-playable characters and learn about the in-game world through scattered items such as notes, letters, and recordings. Moreover, there are differences in dialogues depending on the player’s choices. Killers can implement magical abilities and countless styles of elimination such as close and distant combat, cold and fire weapons, and lethal and non-lethal stealth.

The gameplay effectively employs the self-determination theory by allowing the player to choose how they want to play (killing or not killing), which corresponds to autonomy. The competence aspect is also satisfied because the missions become more challenging, and the player is constantly tested to use new skills. The relatedness lies in the narrative; the main character has a noble mission to save the innocent child and has a determined role of a royal bodyguard.

Dishonored received many awards for its gameplay and creative world-building, so it is difficult to criticize highly acclaimed work (“Dishonored”). However, the story’s plot could have been more complex and engaging because, after three hours of gameplay, the dialogues begin to sound repetitive. Despite that, Dishonored is an excellent work for its time, and I think even if it was released now, it would still have received positive feedback.

Works Cited

Bartle, Richard. “Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players who Suit MUDs.” Journal of MUD Research, vol. 1, no. 1, 1996, Web.

“Daniel Licht’s Music for ‘Dishonored.’” Top Score, 2013. Podchaser, Web.

“Dishonored.” Dishonored Wiki, n.d., Web.