Indie Gaming: Gunpoint

Gunpoint is a stealth-hacking game where you play a freelance spy. Honestly, if that's not enough for you to want to buy it already I don't know what's wrong with you.

It begins, as many things do, with a murder. Your task is to solve that murder and make some money while you do it! Armed with a variety of interesting technological gizmos and a lot of snark, you do jobs for whoever asks and pays.

It's a noir-like detective story at it's heart, with the gameplay essentially puzzle-like, as you figure out the best way to achieve your goals, which is generally to hack a computer and steal some files. The puzzles generally involve a sequence of hackable circuits that are connected to doors, alarms, lights and so forth. To add a bit of danger to the mix, there are various types of armed security guards to get in your way.

Dishonored: Knife of Dunwall

Dishonored is one of my favourite games of recent years. It had a brilliant blend of mechanics and aesthetics borrowed from the likes of Bioshock, Thief 2 and Half-Life 2. Few games capture my interest so much that I replay them in their entirety, which I decided to do before delving into the DLC.

The crime that eclipsed all that had come before

My replay of the game focused on non-lethal, "ghost" runs throughout the game, which I generally managed outside of two levels (avoiding assassins is particularly tricky). The changes in the game from such a "low chaos" playthrough are minor, except for the final level and ending, but I enjoyed the different challenge and reacquainting myself with Dunwall and it's residents was very welcome.

21st Century Gaming: Dishonored (part 5)

In my previous post, I stated that I desired revenge against those that poisoned me. The final parts of the game did not disappoint. I had begun this undertaking to find those responsible for killing the Empress and kidnapping her daughter. I had completed this task, and had been struck down by those that had assisted me. Perhaps they desired power and wanted me out of the way, or perhaps they were scared for the monster I had become.

Spying on the assassins

 Either way, they were beyond my sword at this point, and I had to get through the assassins territory. Daud the assassin was the tool by which my enemies had killed the Empress, and it seemed fitting that I dealt with him while I was in the neighbourhood. Either way, I had to go through his headquarters to find my way back to the Hound Pits and discover where my former colleagues were hiding.

21st Century Gaming: Dishonored (part 4)

So I think I'm at least half-way through the game, perhaps even two-thirds. So I feel like it's a good time to write a little bit while I have everything running clearly through my head.

The Boldest Measures Are The Safest

I've already mentioned the early game, with it's obvious betrayal and cliché plot setup. What follows is a trip through Coldridge prison and the sewers. It's where the game really feels like it's started, where you can begin to make your choices between stealth and death. Choose to kill and you raise the "chaos" level, or you can choose to avoid all combat (and for added difficulty, try not to be noticed at all for the "ghost" playthrough). The level of chaos (high or low) is supposed to change certain parts of the game, although I haven't noticed much yet. It's quite possible that my murderous ways have made things more difficult, but I won't know exactly until the ending. It says something for the quality of the game that I'm actually considering a second play-through (non-violent) before I even finish it the first time.

21st Century Gaming: Dishonored (part 3)

The tools of the trade vary greatly between different games. While most first-person games tend to have a limited selection (generally a list of firearms of increasing power), the likes of Thief and Deus Ex provided weaponry, tools and more to the player. With Dishonored, the arsenal is comprised of three parts: Weaponry, Magical abilities and special tools.

The weapons of Dishonored are the least interesting of the three. Your first acquisition is a sword, for lethal takedowns and melee combat. Next up is a wheel-lock pistol, and finally a small crossbow. The pistol is noisy and inaccurate, and not really something you would recommend using. The crossbow has a wider variety of uses, with different darts for different uses (normal, sleep, incendiary). At various points you can buy upgrades for all of these (and for other equipment too), which makes them more useful to use.

21st Century Gaming: Dishonored (part 2)

I mentioned last time that the game draws from a variety of other games in terms of it's general aesthetic and mechanics. But which games?

Metal walls enclose areas

Oddly enough, it wasn't Thief that I thought of first, it was Half Life. The opening boat ride is vaguely reminiscent of the tram ride in the first game, and the initial exploration and exposition is similar to the initial areas of the second game. Dishonored is a game that wants you to look around, and see the effort they've put into the world. Upon entering the Hound Pits, the pub that is your base of operations, you also get time to look around at your leisure.

The Wall of Light, futuristic security in an industrial era

21st Century Gaming: Dishonored (Part 1)

Generally, this blog is about old games, as I revisit classic games from my past or play through ones that I missed the first time around. However, I'm not just interested in old games! There are amazing new games being made all the time, and so I'm going to devote a little time to the ones that I've been playing. First up: Dishonored.

Dishonoured

Dishonored is a first-person game, with a focus somewhere between exploration, stealth and combat. From what little I had read about it before purchasing, it seemed to be heavily influenced by the Thief series. After a few hours of play, I find it's influences are far more broad than that. But first: what is the game actually all about?

The boat ride, showing off the art department's handiwork