A Way Too Late Game Review: Dishonored 2

Welcome back Blerders and Nerders! Another day, another chance to be great. I hope everyone is continuing to be safe during this pandemic. Thanks to this pandemic, I was let go from my job a at the beginning of this pandemic and have been applying and studying (for IT certs!) but sometimes I have free time. I got a new job recently but I still have free time and with that free time, I’ve been able to play and FINALLY beat some video games.

I meant to play this game directly after I finished the first Dishonored game (I played that late too, sue me) but now I had time and I had to give Spiderman a break. Dishonored 2 is a direct sequel to it’s predecessor Dishonored with some great improvements. So lets get into this review!

The Good:

Game improvements: This game really improved on the success from the first game. They kept what worked and essentially made it better and added more depth. Have you ever played Mass Effect 2 (game review here)? If so, you would appreciate the fact that your decisions affect the world around you and ultimately the ending of the game. The stealth has improved greatly from the first game which is basically a case of “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”. Like it’s predecessor, you can play it your way…meaning you can either be a homicidal maniac (Chaos) or go full Metal Gear Solid stealth (Low Chaos). When tasked with a mission to eliminate someone, you can either kill them or find another way to stop them from doing their ongoing evil intent. 

One thing that they improved on is the main character(s). Corvo, the main character from the first game now has a voice and still plays like the first game. He also has an identical move-set from the game as well which bodes well for older players. The second character, Corvo’s daughter Emily, has moves similar to her father but different. Having these two character with very different play styles gives the game a type of depth that you don’t get too often. 

Wonderful AI: AI is usually wishy washy in a lot of video games. Sometimes it’s so sensitive that you can’t complete a mission or not sensitive enough where the enemies basically let you move throughout levels freely. Is the AI in this game perfect? No, not at all. But they are pretty interesting to watch. For instance, when you kill a soldier and don’t move the body, they search for you. If you kill a civilian, a once neutral area becomes hostile and you will be attacked by citizens and officers alike. Enemies also follow predetermined paths that makes sense. For a stealth based game, this makes things a lot more challenging. It makes you really think about the various paths you can take to either avoid enemies altogether or engage as little as possible. 

Replayability: This aspect of the game reminds me of Spider-man when it comes to the things to do and Mass Effect 2 when it comes to the “play your way” model. There are more than one way to play and beat this game. There are the usual “Good” and “Bad” (High Chaos, Low Chaos) paths you can take and then everything in between. One thing I love in a game is multiple endings (see. Star Ocean: The Second Story). The way I take on missions can change as often as I want to play them. I can go straight stealth and not harm or kill people or be a complete ass and cause trouble where ever I go. It’s fun playing missions over again in different ways, discovering ways to get items you missed, and using powers and weapons you haven’t yet.

The Bad:

Story gets lost fast: The ability to do so much is both a gift and a curse. While the story is pretty linear even with the option to play different ways, one can get carried away with side missions. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it can creep up on you and cause you to lose time. You can talk to citizens and obtain random missions along with searching the offices/homes within the game and finding clues for the main mission or another side missions. Sometimes finding a note in a home will lead you to a trove or loot that will help you increase your powers which could prove to be beneficial. I spent two days on a side mission because I just wanted to see what would happen when I completed it…I didn’t care about the main mission or even the side mission directly tied to the main mission. 

Some decisions affect gameplay….badly: This goes as sort of a counter to the wonderful AI. There are instances right before missions that if you accidentally press a button and threaten or harm the person that you are getting the mission from, that mission disappears. Like in a way where it would not be available until you restart at a checkpoint.

Complicated side missions: Most games have complicated side missions but some of the missions in this particular game are totally inconvenient. None of the missions have a set of skills or items recommended needed for each one, just a list of goals you would need to complete. I guess complicated wouldn’t be the word I’m looking for…maybe cumbersome? The missions tend to be lacking details which in turn forces you to think outside of the box during the missions. Sometimes the side missions will affect the main story mission(s) in a positive or negative way.

The Conclusion

Overall, this is a fun and challenging game. Some interesting characters along with some very interesting lore makes this game a fun replay. Dishonored 2 is an appropriate sequel to it’s first game and an improvement on everything that went right in it too. There is an expansion to this game that I have not played yet but when I do, I will review that as well. Overall, I give Dishonored 2 ….. 7 stealth kills out of 10.

Have you played Dishonored 2? What did you think? Would you play this game after this review? Let us know in the comments! If you are want to play this game, click here on our affiliate link from Amazon (helps us out a bit!). Until next time, Nerd Out!!