[Juan Suarez]

Too many games these days forget about quicksaving because all the effort on consoles goes into foolproof autosave checkpoints (or whatever the real reason may be). Human Revolution does this right and past Arkane games have also but after reading this multiple choice thing I was reminded of how often I used to replay certain segments of Dark Messiah (trying to complete an area taking the least possible damage, killing in the most heroic, choreographed way possible etc.) and I realized that it was a make or break element of the game for me. I wouldn't have had even HALF the fun without all the experimenting!

Yeah. I liked to replay ogre-fights.

I think Harvey mentioned "efficiency fantasies", which I would assume includes a quick-save function.

[Daniel Holgate]

Best part: As you crouch at the end of the walkway, he pulls his sidearm. Things look dire, but you've got an idea. You'll only get one shot at it, though. He pulls the trigger. There's a puff of smoke. You freeze time. The bullet halts in mid air, hanging suspended only feet in front of your chest. Next, you possess the man who just fired - your body disappears while your spirit is elsewhere. Once he's in your control, you can make the man move again. You do just that, stepping him around and into the path of the bullet he just fired. As time threatens to once again speed forward, you slip out of the guard's body and away down the walkway. You don't even turn around as the man's own bullet takes his life.

You know, after reading the possible scenarios as consequences to your decisions based on your skills and the above quoted part, aren't those giving you a bit of an overkill god status? I don't mean to sound all critical, it is just a question that popped up in my mind instantly. I'm sure the game will be well thought out, but for example in Thief, the only extraordinary skill of the protagonist is the fact that he is not to be seen if he doesn't want to, which makes the game simply more forgiving, because even if you make a risky move, you're not awlays to be spotted like a shining figure. Aside this, you had no god like powers and this made gameplay so immense thrilling, it was all about thinking, weighing and patience.

As said, I'm sure Dishonored wil be well balanced out, but it just seems "to sweet" to be good. Personally it sounds a bit like a god-game.

[Honey Suckle]

You know, after reading the possible scenarios as consequences to your decisions based on your skills and the above quoted part, aren't those giving you a bit of an overkill god status? I don't mean to sound all critical, it is just a question that popped up in my mind instantly. I'm sure the game will be well thought out, but for example in Thief, the only extraordinary skill of the protagonist is the fact that he is not to be seen if he doesn't want to, which makes the game simply more forgiving, because even if you make a risky move, you're not awlays to be spotted like a shining figure. Aside this, you had no god like powers and this made gameplay so immense thrilling, it was all about thinking, weighing and patience.

As said, I'm sure Dishonored wil be well balanced out, but it just seems "to sweet" to be good. Personally it sounds a bit like a god-game.

I also thought of this, seeing as there was only ONE approach where the player died. But you have to consider that the devs were playing and the level was probably sort of a concept area where every approach is offered to experiment with combinations of them and to tweak enemy awareness etc. - would be my guess. In most situations in the final game I don't think ALL approaches would be useful. Also things like the duration of time-stop or how often you can "blink" in a row will probably be reduced on higher difficulties and I know I'm going to play this on hard right away - DM never felt like a walk in the park on hard, this won't either.

[Marie Maillos]

I also thought of this, seeing as there was only ONE approach where the player died. But you have to consider that the devs were playing and the level was probably sort of a concept area where every approach is offered to experiment with combinations of them and to tweak enemy awareness etc. - would be my guess. In most situations in the final game I don't think ALL approaches would be useful. Also things like the duration of time-stop or how often you can "blink" in a row will probably be reduced on higher difficulties and I know I'm going to play this on hard right away - DM never felt like a walk in the park on hard, this won't either.

Guess you're right and after all, the devs stated that you are free to choose how you want to play. If you wish to play "Thief", go ahead and do this (well, as far as it can go). If you're less into creating your own game, but into competitive beating the game in the "leetest" possible manner, you can use every ability that are given to you.

[Nana Samboy]

I see no reason why, if you wanted to, you couldn't try to play the entire game using no god-like powers. Say you reject magic? Then just don't play with it. Beat the game without it.

With games like this, if you pull off a well executed plan you are going to come through unscathed and "god-like".

But you...
A. have to come up with a good plan and
B. pull it off.

Also, you are sure to run into situations where you have no chance to plan adequately and have to adapt on the fly.

And what happens when your "well-thought" plan turns sour? Then you're in the hole.

I love games that allow you to come through tough situations unscathed with a well thought plan and execution. The game I'm most reminded of is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.

Don't doubt that the game will throw situations at you that push you to your limits.

The abilities are sure to take some form of "mana" or cool-down timer.

Sure, one man? Stop time, move him in front of bullet.

But 2 enemies? Well, maybe stop time, move between them... wait for them to shoot. Then blink out as they kill each other.

But 10 enemies? That's going to be much more difficult. Summon rats, put out lights, blink to other side of room, kill one of the two in the back, possess the other. Mow down three. Pop out. Freeze time. Position explosive. Resume time. Blow explosive. Possess rat. Leave.

[Baby K(:]

Sure, one man? Stop time, move him in front of bullet.

But 2 enemies? Well, maybe stop time, move between them... wait for them to shoot. Then blink out as they kill each other.

But 10 enemies? That's going to be much more difficult. Summon rats, put out lights, blink to other side of room, kill one of the two in the back, possess the other. Mow down three. Pop out. Freeze time. Position explosive. Resume time. Blow explosive. Possess rat. Leave.

You put some thought into this, nice read. It really got me closer to imagine the final game. I started by thinking of Dark Messiah, maybe lurking in a corner with dual knives or a longsword.

Instead of fire&ice-type traditional magic you now have more options to move around which is always good (Crysis, Deus Ex, Mirror's Edge). I like how the time freezing is basically IDENTICAL to a blink if you choose to use it that way. But it allows you observation and freedom, once again, of movement - use the seconds of pause to destroy and/or prepare! I guess it will have to drain more energy/mana/whatever. And I'm sure there will be less light than in DM.

As I read that demo/interactive-story thing you also don't have bows or the kick - sad if the kick is really out of the picture. The rope bow on the other hand can be partly replaced by the blinking ability, I guess.

[Joie Perez]

This game looks sick i read the gameinformer and had to get more about this game can't wait intil this game is out

[Karl harris]

You know, after reading the possible scenarios as consequences to your decisions based on your skills and the above quoted part, aren't those giving you a bit of an overkill god status? I don't mean to sound all critical, it is just a question that popped up in my mind instantly. I'm sure the game will be well thought out, but for example in Thief, the only extraordinary skill of the protagonist is the fact that he is not to be seen if he doesn't want to, which makes the game simply more forgiving, because even if you make a risky move, you're not awlays to be spotted like a shining figure. Aside this, you had no god like powers and this made gameplay so immense thrilling, it was all about thinking, weighing and patience.

As said, I'm sure Dishonored wil be well balanced out, but it just seems "to sweet" to be good. Personally it sounds a bit like a god-game.

It really depends how intelligently they design the levels, the encounters, and what kind of trade-off there is for choosing to spec out your character in powers. Bioshock was a game that tried to do a similar thing, but in my opinion it failed dismally at it because the levels were basic corridors, the enemies had very little variety requiring minimal combat tactics, and anybody could switch their character build with almost no consequence.

And I have an important request of information: In the PC version will there be a fully functional quicksave system again?

Too many games these days forget about quicksaving because all the effort on consoles goes into foolproof autosave checkpoints (or whatever the real reason may be). Human Revolution does this right and past Arkane games have also but after reading this multiple choice thing I was reminded of how often I used to replay certain segments of Dark Messiah (trying to complete an area taking the least possible damage, killing in the most heroic, choreographed way possible etc.) and I realized that it was a make or break element of the game for me. I wouldn't have had even HALF the fun without all the experimenting!

This Eurogamer preview suggests that there is a save-anywhere function even on consoles.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-05-dishonored-preview

[Nadia Nad]

Julien Roby from Arkane was part of a First Person perspective panel at QuakeCon2011

[media]http://www.gametrailers.com/video/first-person-quakecon-2011/718821[/media]

[Chris Cross Cabaret Man]

I've looked around and didn't see anything about mod tools. With a new IP (especially one published by BGS) I'm wondering if this game with be modable... anyone know?

[Rachael]

+1 on the mod tools question. I feel like this has been answered before, but I can't remember what was said or where. So maybe it hasn't.

Judging from some of mod communities surrounding games like this (Nameless Mod, Thief 2X, anyone?) I think mod tools are a must-have if at all possible.

[daniel royle]

Also make sure to check out the http://dishonored.wikia.com/wiki/Dishonored_Wiki! It is very basic right now, but you can help out by adding and editing content.