Dishonored: One Game To Watch For PC

E3 came and went and for PC gamers there wasn't too much in the way of overly huge announcements. Certainly there are plenty of games to look forward to, but most of these are not PC exclusive. Our biggest hope, a reveal of Half Life 3, didn't come to pass, sadly.

One game that is looking ever more interesting is Dishonored. Technically not a PC exclusive as it will be coming to the two major consoles, Dishonored is still obviously optimized for PC, and should have good DX11 support.

It's being developed by Arkane Studios out of France, who should be familiar to people who've played Bioshock 2, since they did much of the art for that game. The publisher is Bethesda, and these two facts may explain why Dishonored sort of looks like Bioshock getting together with Oblivion/Skyrim for a party. It also has a strong Half Life feel to it, plus a touch of maybe the new Deus Ex, and the Thief series from Eidos.

Dishonored is a first person shooter/melee actioner. The main character has been, well, dishonored, which may be a step better than disavowed (Modern Warfare 3's favorite word, BTW). The guy has to reclaim his place in the world and clear his name, fighting through government forces and probably a few mutants along the way. The world looks nice and dark, with a steampunk vibe. In addition to traditional ranged and melee weapons, you can utilize powers and magic, an obvious allusion to the Bioshock franchise.

The plot is still kind of vague, but it looks like the world you inhabit is going through some sort of upheaval, not helped by the collapse of the traditional government and a mysterious plague ravaging the populace.

To me this is one of the most interesting games to emerge recently, mostly because the developers are openly putting the PC version first. Just look at the official site, and you'll see the PC box up front, ahead of the 360 and PS3 boxes.

Dishonored is one to watch. Sure, it may have a lot of elements vying for space, which is always risky, but with the level of game design acumen most developers have been able to attain over the last decade, and with the more than ample power of even a garden-variety gaming PC, it has an equal chance to really shine and bring something new to the gaming scene.

And here's the gameplay video:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XbQgdSlsd0&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT BETHESDA/ARKANE STUDIOS