3.5/5 ★ – Rig2Big's review of Dishonored.

At the very least, Arkane Studios’ Dishonored offers an inspired bay-side city environment, ravaged by a bubonic plague. Where the poor walk dead among the rats, and the rich throw extravagant costume parties for their fellow kings & queens of industry. Within that background is an undeniably excellent stealth sandbox. The combat mechanics are balanced and fun to experiment with, the player-movement is as striking as it is flexible, and there is a surprisingly dynamic structure in terms of gameplay options—the route of pacifism not being just a possibility, but one that is equally defined, and thematically encouraged. That right there is where I’m cut by a double-edge. The system of ethics in Dishonored is gimmicky at best, and a tonal flatline at worst. I might feel differently had the missions tasked you with targeting people of some moral ambiguity, but they do not. These characters are all fucking despicable. So, despite whatever way this game wants you to believe it determines morality, the actual way is just based on how many grunts you eliminate before “neutralizing” (or putting a bullet in) the target. What’s funny is that, for the first 2 acts, Dishonored seemed to give even less of a shit about its code of ethics than I did. That is until the final bout of missions, where the consequences of every decision circle back to bite you in the ass, and all the decent characters decide to abandon-ship like fucking rats. Even Samuel the riverman, who has knowingly brought you to every hit for the entire game, suddenly finds you morally reprehensible… AND (if you were as “evil” as me) he will basically say “fuck you buddy, seeya never” and SHOOT OFF A FLARE TO ALERT THE ENEMIES. WELL… FEELING IS MUTUAL, SAM, you dickless holier-than-thou plebeian fuck. Anyway, gud game, do play.