Dishonored 2 honors its roots

Players are finally given the chance to sneak and slash their way through another adventure, courtesy of Arkane Studios. On Friday, November 11th, the sequel to Dishonored, Dishonored 2, was finally released.

Players once again take the role of Corvo Attano, the Royal Protector turned assassin, and protagonist of Dishonored. However, this time players can also take control of Emily Kaldwin, the current empress and the daughter of Corvo. Who the player chooses to take control of will impact their narratives and gameplay experiences.

The opening of the game is a tad rushed. A large pool of information is presented to the player right at the game’s opening. After Emily became the empress, those who openlyopposed her were quickly assassinated by a mysterious entity called, the “Crown Killer”, in an attempt to make Emily lose support from her followers. This is a somewhat lazy approach but it certainly didn’t derail the story.

The story begins with a mysterious witch, Delilah, overthrowing Emily with help from the Duke of Serkonos, a foreign nation. After the player chooses who they wish to play as, Emily or Corvo, the other is turned to stone and the player is locked away in the royal palace. After escaping, the player takes a ship to the city of Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos, in order to track down the Crown Killer and restore Emily to the throne.

The most important thing about this sequel is that the gameplay has remained largely untouched. The supernatural powers of the original game are back, with an entirely new set of powers available to Emily. This time around, however, there is greater customization available for the powers, creating a greater variety for players to take advantage of.

Unfortunately, the original game's emphasis on choosing either stealth or combat has been largely abandoned. Dishonored 2 leans itself towards a combative approach. The stealth aspect is still present but feels less reliable and ultimately underwhelming. In the perspective of a player who prefers a stealthier approach, this is disappointing.

“Dishonored 2 isn’t bad, but it’s not as good as the original, too much was changed” senior Nazeer Hashimi said.

In conclusion, Dishonored 2 is a faithful sequel that unfortunately does fall short in some aspects.