Bethesda announces “Dishonored,” a first-person action title under direction of Deus Ex lead designer

News
By published

Thief + Deus Ex + Half-Life 2 + Hitman? Good lord, Bethesda's new game is the most exciting thing ever

Bloody hell, this a big bundle of excitement from out of nowhere. In fact it's like waking up in mid-August to find out that it's Christmas and Santa Claus has delivered robo-dinosaurs. Rumoured last week, but now confirmed, Bethesda's new game, Dishonored, is not only a brand new IP, but it's one which seems to take some of the best elements from some of the finest and most revered works in gaming to date, blend them up, and cover them in sexy current-gen icing. Oh, and the blender and icing application are being conducted by a couple of the men responsible for some of those finest and most revered works in the first place.


Above: Yep, that's a steampunk Half-Life 2 alright. You can visit the recently launchedofficial sitefor Dishonored, but there’s little there now except for a game logo

Bloody hell, tasty good? I'll take a dozen slices please. And what makes Dishonored an even tastier prospect is the talent involved. Co-Creative Director is one Harvey Smith, who's rather spectacular CV covers Wing Commander, System Shock, Deus Ex and Thief. The game's steampunk world is being visualised by Viktor Antonov. He was production designer on a game called Half-Life 2. It was pretty good.

As exciting as they undoubtedly are, I can now imagine Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Thi4f looking around and the spot where their pile of thunder once was and wondering who stole it. Between this and Bioshock Infinite, I currently could not be more excited about the near future of intelligent first-person gaming without dying in embarrassing spasms on the floor.

What do you reckon? With me, or needing to see more before you commit your hysterical giggling along with me.

July 07, 2011

Sounding, in terms of game mechanics at least, like a blend of Thief, Deus Ex and Hitman, Dishonored is (according to a recent tease by GameInformer) "a game about assassination where you don't have to kill anyone". It's "a game about infiltration where you can set up traps and slaughter the entire garrison of an aristocrat's mansion rather than sneak in. It's a game about brutal violence where you can slip in and out of a fortified barracks with nobody ever knowing you were there. It's a game about morality and player choice where the world you create is based on your actions, not navigating conversation trees."


Above: Yep, that's a steampunk Half-Life 2 alright. You can visit the recently launchedofficial sitefor Dishonored, but there’s little there now except for a game logo

Bloody hell, tasty good? I'll take a dozen slices please. And what makes Dishonored an even tastier prospect is the talent involved. Co-Creative Director is one Harvey Smith, who's rather spectacular CV covers Wing Commander, System Shock, Deus Ex and Thief. The game's steampunk world is being visualised by Viktor Antonov. He was production designer on a game called Half-Life 2. It was pretty good.

As exciting as they undoubtedly are, I can now imagine Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Thi4f looking around and the spot where their pile of thunder once was and wondering who stole it. Between this and Bioshock Infinite, I currently could not be more excited about the near future of intelligent first-person gaming without dying in embarrassing spasms on the floor.

What do you reckon? With me, or needing to see more before you commit your hysterical giggling along with me.

July 07, 2011

David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.