Topic: Dishonored -> Update: The Brigmore Witches DLC Reviews

[MysterD]

NEW -> 8-13-2013:
OWNet -> Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches DLC - REVIEWS Compiled.
OWNet -> Dishonored: The Knife Of Dunwall DLC - REVIEWS Compiled.

OLD:
GameFront -> Preview on The Knife of Dunwall DLCBethBlog -> Details on 3 upcoming Dishonored DLC's.
IGN -> Dishonored's Many Influences.
DSO Gaming -> Dishonored PC Performance Analysis.
BethBlog -> Download "The Drunken Whaler" song & stems, if you want them here.
Kotaku -> 5 Ways Dishonored Shines On PC.
PC Gamer -> Harvey Smith of Arkane is hesitant on wanting to do a Dishonored 2.
Destructoid -> Dishonored has been Region-Locked in Russia...similar to how Borderlands 2 was.
Kotaku -> Arkane was never pressured by their publisher to add Multiplayer to Dishonored.
Kotaku ->  Austin Grossman (writer/designer) talks to Kotaku about The Story.
Kotaku -> Harvey Smith (co-creator of Dishonored) responds to some of Kotaku's complaints about the game.
Dishonored will have DLC.
Kotaku -> Thief: The Dark Project Easter Egg hidden in Dishonored.
OWNet -> Dishonored (base game) - REVIEWS compiled -- click this post.
GiantBomb -> QUICKLOOK - 42 min 08 sec.
G4TV -> First 15 minutes of Dishonored.
GameSpot -> Dishonored - Comparison of PC vs. X360 vs. PS3.
Rev3 Games -> Dishonored - Comparisons of PC vs. X360 vs. PS3.
PC Gamer -> Dishonored PC - Options Run-Down.
Youtube -> Dan Bull - Dishonored Rap (Revenge Solves Everything).
EGMNow -> Arkane explains why they dropped the "Thief" light mechanic.
BethBlog -> Dishonored has gone GOLD.
Lazygamer.net -> Dishonored deemed too difficult by testers, so that added hints & clues.
Dishonored PC - System Requirements.
BethBlog - Dishonored's PC UI and options shown off.
EGMNow -> Dishonored - E3 2012 Trailer.
Destructoid -> Dishonored has 5 different Pre-Order bonuses.
Giant Bomb -> Look at the story - thanks, Scary!
PC Gamer -> Dishonored - TRAILER.
G4TV -> Dishonored - "First Look".
G4TV -> Preview.
Shacknews -> Info on Dishonored by Arkane Studios, upcoming first-person stealth/action-adventure game.

Dev. Diaries
G4TV -> Dishonored Dev Diary #4 - "Endgame."
G4TV -> Dishonored Dev Diary #3 - "Experience."
G4TV -> Dishonored Dev Diary #2 - "Immersion".
G4TV -> Dishonored Dev Diary #1 - "Inception."

REVIEWS:
OWNet -> Dishonored: The Knife Of Dunwall DLC - REVIEWS Compiled.
OWNet -> Dishonored (base game) - REVIEWS compiled.

[Xessive]

Dishonored is the antithesis of a edge-of-your-seat roller-coaster ride. It's a game about assassination where you don't have to kill anyone. It's a game about infiltration where you can set up traps and slaughter the entire garrison of an aristocrat's mansion rather than sneak in. It's a game about brutal violence where you can slip in and out of a fortified barracks with nobody ever knowing you were there. It's a game about morality and player choice where the world you create is based on your actions, not navigating conversation trees.

Sounds intriguing.

[Xessive]

Half-Life 2 + Deus Ex = Bethesda's Dishonored

The game's being described as “the antithesis of an edge-of-your-seat rollercoaster ride.” Not in a bad way, though! It's simply not following in the combat-crusted bootprints of Modern Warfield 3: Honor on the Homefront, co-starring the explosions from Transformers 3. Instead, Deus Ex cybermind Harvey Smith and Half-Life 2 City 17 architect Viktor Antonov – among others – are silently slicing out their own piece of the FPS pie with a “a game about assassination where you don't have to kill anyone.”

[Quemaqua]

Half-Life 2 + Deus Ex = Bethesda's Dishonored

I'm probably the only person in the world that doesn't find that equation in the least bit exciting.

[Xessive]

I'm probably the only person in the world that doesn't find that equation in the least bit exciting.

Understandable. When I think about the best and worst of both games I can see how it can come off as monotonous or tedious.

I tried replaying classic Deus Ex recently and I couldn't believe how I got through it the first time! I think my patience with games has gone down a lot! I'm having a really hard tiome tolerating my character's inability to aim accurately until I level-up my skill! hehe I'm getting old and cranky!

[ScaryTooth]

http://www.giantbomb.com/heres-a-look-at-the-story-in-dishonored/17-5879/

This looks awesome...

[idolminds]

Trailer looks awesome. Will wait for actual gameplay, though.

[MysterD]

BethBlog - Dishonored's PC UI and options shown off.



With ALL UI Options enabled:


With ALL UI Options disable:


PC Specific Shortcut Bar:

A few options not featured in these screens that we also wanted to mention:
    The FOV slider for changing your field of view. (PC Only)
    Controller and mouse sensitivity options, as well as four different options related to auto aim strength and aim assist.
    The mouse smoothing/acceleration slider and enable/disable options. (PC only).
    Graphics options for the full spectrum of monitor resolutions, anti-aliasing, and various other graphical toggles. (PC only).

And of course Dishonored also supports the use of a gamepad.

[MysterD]

Dishonored PC - System Requirements.

   Minimum Spec:
    OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7
    Processor: 3.0 GHz dual core or better
    Memory: 4 GB system RAM
    Hard Disk Space: 9 GB
    Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 512 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850)
    Sound: Windows compatible sound card

    Enhanced for:
    64-bit
    multi-core

   Recommended Spec:
    OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7
    Processor: 2.4 GHz quad core or better
    Memory: 4 GB system RAM
    Hard Disk Space: 9 GB
    Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 768 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850)
    Sound: Windows compatible sound card

[idolminds]

So no XP support then. I really to need to upgrade.

[Xessive]

So no XP support then. I really to need to upgrade.

Yeah man, you can't even play Halo 2! Coz you really have to play Halo 2 on PC! God, I can't go on like this, haha!

Win8 is almost out. Check out a release preview and decide if you wanna jump up to Win8 or stick with Win7.

[MysterD]

{MysterD is shaking his head at this....}.

[Quemaqua]

Yeesh.

I really haven't looked into this at all, but it looks neat. When does it ship?

[MysterD]

Yeesh.

I really haven't looked into this at all, but it looks neat. When does it ship?

October 9th for PC, PS3, and X360.
PC Version requires Steam, BTW.

[Xessive]

I'm intrigued by it but honestly, the last couple of new IPs from Bethesda have been less than worthy. I'm gonna wait for this one to reach a more palatable price range.

[MysterD]

I'm intrigued by it but honestly, the last couple of new IPs from Bethesda have been less than worthy. I'm gonna wait for this one to reach a more palatable price range.

I normally always wait for games to drop in price, since I consume so many of them.

Anyways, I think what Arkane's doing here looks WAY more interesting than what InXile (Hunted: TDF) and Splash Damage (Brink) came up with.
[shrugs my shoulders]

[W7RE]

I've been trying to get into the habit of waiting for any single player game, just because of price. If it's got multiplayer, those are usually best at release. If it's got coop, I'll probably have friends playing at release. SP only though, I can do that whenever. (but hype usually gets to me)

[MysterD]

EGMNow -> Arkane explains why they dropped the "Thief" light mechanic.

Citing themselves as huge fans of the Thief series, Dishonored lead level designer Christophe Carrier told Eurogamer how the team originally tried (and failed) to implement light and darkness elements:

“In Thief the light is very very important. At the beginning we tried to be in the same mood: use the light, use the shadows. But we realised that when you’re standing in front of an NPC like this [hand in front of face] it’s not realistic – we must admit that. In the real world it’s not like this.

“As we are a bit perfectionist, we wanted it to work as in Thief and very realistically. With these two notions we got crazy and decided to eliminate the light parameters, because it was too difficult to have both.”

With the way that the game plays now, Dishonored relies more heavily on direct eyesight—although depending on how high the difficulty is tweaked, enemies will be able to spot you in most lighting conditions.

Arkane Studios designer/associate producer Dinga Bakaba also chimed in, noting that purposely obscuring so much of Dishonored in shadow would actually work against the art team, since they spent a lot of time working on design, character models, and heavily detailed environments, which also makes a lot of sense.

[Xessive]

Tales from Dunwall: a 3-part animated short giving some backstory to Dishonored.

[MysterD]

Looks like someone got Dishonored PC early off a Best Buy shelf.

I don't think that person will get too far - Dishonored PC requires Steam; and Steam DRM is known to enforce release dates.
I guess, that person might possibly get it installed (or pre-loaded)...and that's about it...

[MysterD]

Dishonored
REVIEWS

Scored out of 100
Comics & Games -> 96.
PC Gamer -> 92.
GameFront -> 90.
HardwareHeaven -> 89.
Venture Beat -> 86.
Canadian Online Gamers -> 85.

Scored out of 10
GameArena AU -> 10.
AusGamers -> 9.6.
EGMNow -> 9.5.
CVG -> 9.5.
OXCGN -> 9.5.
PlayStation Lifestyle -> 9.5.
IGN -> 9.2.
GameSpot -> 9.0 -- Written Review; Video Review.
Forbes -> 9 - Short Review; Long Review - Part 1 & Part 2.

Polygon - The Verge -> 9.
Edge Online -> 9.
OXM -> 9.
Destructoid -> 9.0
Metro UK -> 9.
OPsM -> 9.
The Sixth Axis -> 9.
Digital Chumps -> 9.
GameInformer -> 8.75.
GameTrailers -> 8.7
Eurogamer -> 8
Machinima - Inside Gaming Daily -> 8 -- Written Review; Video Review.
VideoGamer.com -> 8.
GamerLimit -> 7.


Scored out of 5
Escapist -> 5 stars - also contains SPOILERS.
GameSpy -> 4 1/2 stars.
G4TV -> 4 1/2 stars -- Written review; Video Review.
GamesRadar -> 4 1/2 stars.
Joystiq -> 4 1/2 stars.
GiantBomb -> 4 stars.

Grading system (from a low of F to a high of A+)
1Up -> A+.
Gaming Age -> A-.

No Score
Kotaku.
Rev3 Games.
RockPaperShotgun -> "Wot I Think."
The Average Gamer -> "Great."

[Xessive]

Nice. I'll have to check them out myself but I'm relieved to see it getting such critical acclaim.

[Cobra951]

Damn!  From complete ignorance to must-get in under an hour of reading and watching.  I think this is a record for me.

[MysterD]

I've been anticipating this game...I'm also relieved to hear it turned out to be awesome.
Had a funny feeling this could be pretty good. Arkane surely did NOT disappoint me w/ Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah of Might & Magic...

EDIT:
BTW, the Blink Ability sounds like a GOOD solution to the often problematic "First-person platforming" found in many first-person games...

[MysterD]

Reddit -> Modders been tinkering away at Dishonored PC -> making FOV even bigger; disabling open videos; etc etc.

How to change FOV
Go to: Documents\My Games\Dishonored\DishonoredGame\Config
Open: DishonoredInput.ini
Add this line: "m_PCBindings=(Name="F4",Command="FOV 110")" after this line "m_PCBindings=(Name="Zero",Command="GBA_Shortcut_9")". Don't forget to save the file.
Launch your game and press F4.
Goodbye headache !
Comparison

How to Hide/display HUD
Add this line: m_PCBindings=(Name="F6",Command="ShowHUD true")
Press F6 to hide or display HUD.

Remove intro movies (Arkane logo, Bethesda logo, UE3 logo, etc)
Go to \Steam\steamapps\common\Dishonored\DishonoredGame\Movies
Delete/move these files:
Legal.bik
LogoArkane.bik
LogoBethesda.bik
UE3_logo.bik
ZenimaxLegal.bik
ZenimaxLegal ** .bik ( ** depends of your region)

[gpw11]

Damn!  From complete ignorance to must-get in under an hour of reading and watching.  I think this is a record for me.

This.  This for sure. I was just thinking about how there weren't game coming out that I even cared about and then I browsed this thread.  I guess I just don't pay attention anymore.

[Xessive]

Sweet, just ran it briefly yesterday. Ran into a few odd bugs (dialogue skipping, some texture pop-in, minor stuff) but otherwise it ran beautifully.

From what little I did play I know I'm gonna love it! It's geared towards stealth but going all-out is a valid option as well. I will definitely be changing the FOV though, which I'm almost certain was actually in the game options. I'll have to double-check that.

[MysterD]

Sweet, just ran it briefly yesterday. Ran into a few odd bugs (dialogue skipping, some texture pop-in, minor stuff) but otherwise it ran beautifully.

From what little I did play I know I'm gonna love it! It's geared towards stealth but going all-out is a valid option as well. I will definitely be changing the FOV though, which I'm almost certain was actually in the game options. I'll have to double-check that.

From what I hear, it ONLY goes to 85 currently (in-game).
Hence why people been changing it in the INI to...whatever they want (90+).

[MysterD]

Dishonored will have DLC.

Bethesda Softworks Verified
‏@Bethblog
RT @dcdeacon @CamGarrant Will announce our DLC plans at a later date. There are no plans for any DLC "exclusives" for Dishonored.
1:18 PM - 9 Oct 12

[idolminds]

A modern game with DLC? I'm shocked by this turn of events.

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> Dishonored has been Region-Locked in Russia...similar to how Borderlands 2 was.

Eastern European gamers are being diddled again, this time by Bethesda. Hot off the heels of Borderlands 2's controversial Russian-version region lock, it's become apparent that Dishonored is also using a locked version in Eastern European territories -- and again, nobody who preordered was warned.

This time around, it's not quite as egregious as Borderlands. The Russian version does include English voicovers as opposed to forced, unpopular localization. However, it's been noted that Bethesda did this once before with Fallout: New Vegas, and it led to immense delays in patches and DLC releases, which has become the primary concern this time around.

The worst part is that some customers have been unable to launch the game yet, due to region restrictions, but have nonetheless had their money taken for it. Not good.

Oh dear. Not cool, Bethesda.

EDIT:
PC Gamer -> Harvey Smith of Arkane is hesitant on wanting to do a Dishonored 2.

The rotting city of Dunwall is filled with mystery, but Dishonored’s dystopian depiction of the once-great industrial empire might be the only glimpse we get of Arkane’s stealth- and steampunk-infused excellence. In an interview Kotaku, Dishonored co-Creative Director Harvey Smith stated he “can’t say” whether he’d like a continuation of the neck-stabbing, maid-punting universe he helped design.

“Part of me would love to see future games leverage this world,” he said. “And part of me would love it if the vault door was just closed, and that’s it. This is your one view into the Empire of the Isles and into the city of Dunwall.”

We came away mightily impressed from our time beneath Corvo’s ghastly mask, but experiencing a full-fledged sequel could diminish Dunwall’s strong identity by virtue of repetitive environments. Of course, Arkane’s DLC plans involve branching out into other cities, characters, and nations in the Isles and beyond, so it’s a fair bet we’ll be honored with more Dishonored in the future.

[Xessive]

Well, I just stumbled the first annoying but not game-breaking bug, it's not serious just tedious. If you play in while Steam is in Offline Mode (which I frequently do since I'm usually on the move), the game settings will reset every time you launch the game. All key assignments, video, audio, gameplay settings will always revert to the default in Offline Mode.

Annoying but I'm testing out a possible workaround, which is altering the default settings files and making them Read-Only. I'll confirm if that works.

[MysterD]

Well, I just stumbled the first annoying but not game-breaking bug, it's not serious just tedious. If you play in while Steam is in Offline Mode (which I frequently do since I'm usually on the move), the game settings will reset every time you launch the game. All key assignments, video, audio, gameplay settings will always revert to the default in Offline Mode.

Bleh!

Annoying but I'm testing out a possible workaround, which is altering the default settings files and making them Read-Only. I'll confirm if that works.

Good luck and let us know!

Also...we'd love to hear more about your thoughts on the game so far and whatnot...and how the PC version turned out!

[Xessive]

I'm liking it so far. I'm a few chapters into, already completed several contracts. The level of choice you have as a player is phenomenal. For practically every situation you're either given a choice (do this or do that), you may discover a choice (eavesdropping, conversing, or finding notes give you hints at alternative routes or non-lethal options), or you're left to your devices on how to handle it (the "what happens if I flick that switch?" approach, as I like to call it ).

Overall the gameplay feels like Bioshock meets Thief. It's not a shooter, it's more of a stealth/platformer first-person game where you have the option of shooting. It's tough to describe because it breaks so many conventions but also sets new standards for its ambiguous genre.

The PC port is extremely well done. The interface switches on-the-fly to match to your preferred control scheme (radial menu for gamepad and hotbar for KB+mouse). I have faced no major issues (other than the one I've mentioned earlier about offline mode not saving settings) and it runs very smoothly.

I'm about 6 hours in (what with exploring and progressing the story) and I'm looking forward to uncovering more of the story.

[MysterD]

Awesome, X.
Thanks for the info!

[gpw11]

I'm liking it so far. I'm a few chapters into, already completed several contracts. The level of choice you have as a player is phenomenal. For practically every situation you're either given a choice (do this or do that), you may discover a choice (eavesdropping, conversing, or finding notes give you hints at alternative routes or non-lethal options), or you're left to your devices on how to handle it (the "what happens if I flick that switch?" approach, as I like to call it ).

Overall the gameplay feels like Bioshock meets Thief. It's not a shooter, it's more of a stealth/platformer first-person game where you have the option of shooting. It's tough to describe because it breaks so many conventions but also sets new standards for its ambiguous genre.

The PC port is extremely well done. The interface switches on-the-fly to match to your preferred control scheme (radial menu for gamepad and hotbar for KB+mouse). I have faced no major issues (other than the one I've mentioned earlier about offline mode not saving settings) and it runs very smoothly.

I'm about 6 hours in (what with exploring and progressing the story) and I'm looking forward to uncovering more of the story.

You know what I found weird about the pc controls?  Left mouse click is attack....which is your right hand on the screen.  It makes sense, but feels weird.

[Xessive]

You know what I found weird about the pc controls?  Left mouse click is attack....which is your right hand on the screen.  It makes sense, but feels weird.

Yeah, at first I kept left-clicking when I intended to use my left hand! Several 1st-person shooters have dual-wielding but this is the first game I've really had that happen with! haha

About 20-30 mins later I was used to it though

[MysterD]

Yeah, at first I kept left-clicking when I intended to use my left hand! Several 1st-person shooters have dual-wielding but this is the first game I've really had that happen with! haha

About 20-30 mins later I was used to it though

Don't most games use LEFT-CLICK to attack (no matter what hand your character uses?
[eyebrow raised]

I think even Skyrim had LEFT-CLICK for attack in right hand; RIGHT-CLICK for off-hand (left).

Most games don't have DUAL-WIELDING.

[Xessive]

Don't most games use LEFT-CLICK to attack (no matter what hand your character uses?
[eyebrow raised]

I think even Skyrim had LEFT-CLICK for attack in right hand; RIGHT-CLICK for off-hand (left).

Most games don't have DUAL-WIELDING.

Haha yeah that's what makes it weird that we fumbled in this particular game!

I guess it's because the left-click (or main attack) is exclusively melee and the right-click is to shoot if you've equipped a pistol or crossbow, yet we're so used to melee being a secondary function.

[MysterD]

Haha yeah that's what makes it weird that we fumbled in this particular game!

I guess it's because the left-click (or main attack) is exclusively melee and the right-click is to shoot if you've equipped a pistol or crossbow, yet we're so used to melee being a secondary function.

In the control config - can you swap them?
Could you put left-click as shoot (secondary attack); and right-click as melee (main attack)?

Or maybe put their controls ALSO secondary elsewhere on the KB?
In shooters, I often put END as my melee key - b/c I'm left-handed and keep my left-hand hovered over the cursor keys (Up, Down, Left, Right arrow keys) 90% of the time.