Will Dishonored areas be like the Deus Ex areas? More specifically: will there be city areas where you can roam freely and find side quest and other things, or will each location serve a single purpose? I know that there's a safe house like area that Corvo goes to between missions, but I'm wondering if there are locations like Hell's Kitchen in the original Deus Ex. Do you get what I'm asking?

My understanding is that the game itself is not open world. Every level, however, is quite large which gives the players the abilities to complete missions how they see fit (i.e. jumping on roof tops to avoid guards and rioters or possessing a fish to swim under fences or into sewers). I'm not sure what extent of side quest there will be, but they did explain that there would be events, such as a woman who might get mugged by a group of thugs, though you could meet the thugs before they ever meet the lady and the mugging would have never happened.

So in a sense, yes, you could say you can free roam within each level.

I understand that it isn't a sand box. To be honest I'm happy it isn't. I just don't want it to be like Alpha Protocol: waist time in a safe house until your ready to walk to the door and go to complete your objectives in a location where all there is to do is your objectives and you'll never go back.

Same here, I'd imagine it's a bit more like Fable 3, where you go to the safe room where you customize your character and see all your trophies etc. only better haha.