Renault on 10/10/2012 at 15:53
Moved this over here from the main Dishonored thread:
Initial Thoughts, only played through the first few tutorial type levels and maybe halfway through the first real level:
Love the fact that you can turn off just about all of the on-screen prompts and notifications. The health/mana meter in the upper left is kind of honking huge, but no big deal. When being stealthy, it drove me crazy initially that I didn't have a light gem, but that's just programmed into me from years of Thief. It doesn't take long to adapt and realize how you have to handle stealth here though, it's mostly line of sight. Controls are tight, movement seems natural, the only thing I noticed if you can't set Corvo to "always run." That's probably intentional.
The world Arkane created here is awesome, I've caught myself just stopping, looking around at the scenery often, checking out every little detail. It feels both familiar and completely new at the same time. Even the stuff you can't get to is fun to stare at. The levels seem to be good size, I've played for a while and haven't yet finished a real level yet, so it's hard to say for certain, but it looks like a nice big playground so far. Lots of nooks and crannys to explore, plus rooftops! Tunnels, underwater areas, hard to reach locations, lots of places to go in general. The level design was simple to start, but now that I'm on the first real mission, it's all opened up.
Replayability factor is super high, this isn't going to be a game you play once and put away. Between stealth, tools, and firepower, I'm seeing 3, 4, 5 different styles (at least) for getting through each level. Should be fun to experiment with. Over and over.
I'm running on a 3 1/2 year old PC (which was fairly high end at the time) and everything is running super smooth. I haven't tweaked or played with options yet, but all looks good to me as is - granted, I'm not a supreme graphics whore. Loading times and all that are minimal to the point of not noticeable. I'll have to play more with options to see how far I can crank it up before it affects the game.
Funny thing is, these types of games don't come around often, so I'm trying to savor it a bit and not rush through, but yet I can't wait to get back to it. Can I call in sick today when I'm already at work?
Edit: @Schwaa - although there's a lot of similarities with Thief, I wouldn't just declare this as Thief 4, or even the closest thing to it. Dishonored gives you a lot of options on how to accomplish your goals, stealth being only one of them, but I think a true Thief game will be 80-90% stealth. You need a lightgem, you need specific stealth tools like water/moss arrows. Dishonored doesn't factor in the surfaces you walk on or the sounds you make (at least I don't think so, at least I haven't noticed it yet). It doesn't penalilze you for being unstealthy. Not to mention that obviously, half of the fun of Thief is the world of Hammerites/Pagans/Keepers, etc. This game is a lot of fun, but I'll have higher expectations for the real Thief 4, specifically in regards to stealth.
fett on 10/10/2012 at 17:39
What dethy said. IN MY PANTS. I actually put the box on my bedstand when I finally turned in at about 5 this morning. Literally have not had this much fun with a game since TDP.
zajazd on 10/10/2012 at 18:09
Quote Posted by fett
Literally have not had this much fun with a game since Batman Arkham Asylum.
behehe
fett on 10/10/2012 at 18:29
I will kill your pregnant dog with my bare hands.
zajazd on 10/10/2012 at 18:35
Too late, I upgraded my superpowers and now I can replace my pregnant dog with big pile of horsechit while you're reaching for my dog.
june gloom on 10/10/2012 at 18:40
Shut up. You're dumb. Get out.
Ulukai on 10/10/2012 at 18:40
Stop posting Z, I insist.
Dresden on 10/10/2012 at 20:12
I love how they added a slide into the game for no real reason other than it's cool. Sliding into cover makes you feel like a ninja.
This has to be what Harvey Smith wanted Thief 4 to be. Both Garrett and Corvo have runes on their hands. A plot about swarms of rats. Come on man. :D
june gloom on 10/10/2012 at 20:23
I'm actually hoping Square takes note of this game and applies the philosophy here to the actual Thief 4. Perhaps the single biggest point is the sheer customizability of the handholding -- just about anything can be turned on or off as you like it, even the crosshairs. Create your own level of accessibility! That's a compromise I can get behind.
Phatose on 10/10/2012 at 20:51
That's a good idea, but as noted in the other thread Dishonored doesn't do it perfectly. There is at least 1 time when the objective is too vague to be solvable without lots of luck or the markers turned on.
Oh, on that poll: If you haven't bought it already, you're doing yourself a disservice. Really, go buy it already.
