Majority of the action games out there provide a game-play which requires the gamer to engage in combat and cause high chaos in order to make in-game progress or win a given multi-player combat match. This is the reason why games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds have become so popular.
What if you had to choose between high chaos (violence) and low chaos (stealth) game-play?
Dishonored is an action-adventure game which offers the player a choice to either wreak havoc (high chaos) or ghost (low chaos) through the story set in the plague ridden City of Dunwall. Supernatural abilities such as blink, a weapon to shoot tranquilizing darts and, an option to choke an enemy unconscious by sneaking up from behind form the core elements of stealth in the game. I like violent action when it is necessary for the way forward. But when I am offered a choice, I will choose sneaky over action every single time.
Contrary to my statement above, I played Dishonored the first time like a tornado (high chaos) and wreaked havoc across Dunwall. As the missions progressed, my slaughter levels also progressed from very high to extreme and eventually completed the game.
However, going through the reviews for the game on Steam, I came to know that I would have encountered a different ending if I had opted the stealthier route. So, I set out to play the game for the second time in low chaos mode. I refrained from using my sword-pistol combo and preferred tranquilizing darts or sneak-and-choke. I tried to sneak past guard-posts and engaged in combats when violence was the only option left to survive.
What did I find? Were the final outcomes less harsh? Was Dunwall slightly peaceful?
And boy, there are differences. In the medium-to-high-chaos mode, the world of Dunwall becomes livelier and unpredictable. Targets to be neutralized retreats to safe-houses, making it more challenging to reach them. The most remarkable difference which made me feel guilt was when Samuel (non-player character who helps me from start till finish) expresses dissent over my violent approach by saying — “Then there is you. I’m a little disappointed, Corvo… It is almost like you have gone out of your way to be brutal. My only hope is that the little lady Emily makes it out of this all safe and sure. This will be the last time you see me, sir. Goodbye.”
Playing the game in high chaos is like enjoying a work of art by setting it on fire. After having played the entire game twice, when I started playing it for the third time, I did not expect to come across any new details. But here is where the developers make Dishonored their own. I noticed entirely new things third time around like — whiskey bottles carried by street thugs explode when shot at, Overseers whistle at their dogs if they spot you and your posters are pasted across walls of Dunwall if you are causing higher chaos. My excitement and appreciation for Dishonored only increases each time I encounter it. The sandbox of Dunwall might be small. But it is beautifully constructed with intricate mechanisms resulting in a timeless and ever-changing game. It is a game which breathes fresh life each time you play it, not through an algorithm but through pure human craft.
Currently playing the sequel — Dishonored 2 and, I can confidently say that the graphics have improved by leaps while the story just got even better!
