Dishonored

Don't be surprised if Dishonored is in the conversation for GOTY 2012. Arkane Studios' first game is one of the best titles of the year in almost every facet.

The world of gaming owes a great debt to sci-fi author William Gibson. As the author of Neuromancer and coiner of the term ‘cyberspace’, he helped create cyberpunk, that high-tech/low-life species of sci-fi that encompasses everything from Blade Runner to The Matrix, and as the co-author of The Difference Engine he created steampunk, the kind of sci-fi in which robots and spaceships run on clockwo...

Dishonored impresses with its atmosphere and freedom of mission implementation methods. The steampunk adventures of the assassin Corvo turned out to be a worthy heir to the Thief and Deus Ex series.

It's a shame that Dishonored's story isn't greater than the sum of its decidedly memorable parts, but its gameplay absolutely is. Each mission is built as an elaborate network of choices for players to explore, and the same can be said for Corvo himself. Each player's selection of powers, perks and other upgrades will inform how they see and interact with this world, and no two play-throughs will ...

A game full of options, Dishonored puts choice in the hands of the player in nearly every element--gameplay, level progression, even storytelling. Dishonored is one of the greatest new IPs in recent history, and one of the best games of the year.

This is a solid single-player adventure that lasts a good amount of time, but it's just a shame that Arkane Studios can't make more of Dishonored's obvious potential.

With blade and magic, can you save an empire from collapsing under the weight of its own ambitions?

Dishonored is a game based around action and stealth. It is a first-person game throughout and was developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.

The plot may be straightforward but the level of detail in the world could inspire countless fan fiction stories. Some choices may not have the consequences you’d demand from Deus Ex or The Witcher but the vast majority do and they’ll blow your mind – you remember that side-quest I told you about earlier that sent me to another map entirely? I returned to it later in the game and my actions had le...