# Dishonored - The bastard love child of a Bioshock, Thief and Deus Ex Menage a trois **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 8, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093 "2012-10-08T15:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/21 "2012-10-12T12:56:05Z")
Picked this up last night for my beloved PS3. It’s new and fun, but I’m not enthralled. The plot is lame, the voice acting is just passable, and the learning curve is extremely steep. The combat is good fun, but if you suck at FPS’s like I do, you’ll find yourself often spinning around trying to find the guy who’s hitting you. It’s difficult to tell the difference between hostiles and civilians without getting close enough for them to spot you. This is my 3-hour playtime assessment. It’s engaging enough that I’ll keep playing it, but hopefully some surprise plot twist or something will grab me more than it currently has. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/22 "2012-10-12T15:05:48Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’ve got to say I am pretty disappointed in this game. > > It is good but nowhere near as good as I expected and I believe the reason is the PC version is basically the console version with all the limitations that implies. > > To be sure the PC port is competent. Game controls work smoothly and allow you to take advantage of a mouse/keyboard setup but that is about where it ends. Some few minor graphic enhancements that are barely noticeable (I have seen a side-by-side comparison of PC and XBox for this game and they are indistinguishable). > > Which is sad really. The art direction is very cool. The environment begs for the graphic goodness a PC can offer. Screenshots are misleading since most give a view from some distance. When you are closed to something the bland textures are all too apparent. > > It is more than the graphics though. The environment can only partially be interacted with. Some things you can pick up but most things you can’t. The lack of life in the city (not many people walking around…some but very few). > > It is hard to put your finger on any one thing but all of it screams as being built to run on the lowest common denominator and then made to work on multiple systems. That may be fine for some games but you cannot help but feel a great deal of potential is lost in the PC version. > > The writing is ok. Not great but not bad. So too the voice acting. It is certainly respectable (which is good…this gets overlooked all too often) but nothing to write home about either. Things like reading the books you can find all over repeat after not too long. > > Many people are crowing about being able to progress through the game via a number of approaches (kill everything vs. stealth and so on) which is good but hardly new (reading about it from some reviews you’d think this had never been done before). Allowing for different play styles is cool and good to have but it is not the end-all, be-all for a game either. As a hybrid it does not do each of its parts as well as other games have (e.g. Thief did stealth much better IMO). > > At 15(ish) hours play time it is fairly short as well. > > In short, for the PC, I’d rate this game as adequate. It’s good but not great. Maybe 80 out of 100. Perhaps on a console it is much better by being a good example of what you can do on 7-year old hardware. > > Personally I wish I had bought XCom instead. If this goes on sale for $20 it might be worth picking up if you like this style of game on the PC. I played through the first mission… and then I went crawling back to Xcom! I’ll come back to it, but it’s infidelity not worth the $60 price tag, the $35 I payed is about right. I do think I’ll enjoy playing through it during the holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/23 "2012-10-12T15:07:46Z")
Eh, definitely not worth, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/24 "2012-10-12T16:59:21Z")
Freudian slip caused by guilt over stepping out on Xcom? ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/25 "2012-10-12T17:52:53Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > When I first saw the commercial, the first thing that popped into my mind was Assassins Creed set during the American revolution. I think you’re talking about the commercial for Assassins Creed 3 which is set during the American Revolution. > **[Assassin's Creed III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin's_Creed_III)** > > Assassin's Creed III is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and a direct sequel to 2011's Assassin's Creed Revelations. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, beginning in North America on October 30, 2012, with a Wii U and Microsoft Windows release in November 2012. A remastered version of the game was released in 2019 for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One ... ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/26 "2012-10-13T02:57:02Z")
Right, this is more like Assassin’s Creed\* set in the Industrial Revolution. \*And first person. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/27 "2012-10-13T03:11:04Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I’ll come back to it, but it’s infidelity not worth the $60 price tag, the $35 I payed is about right. I do think I’ll enjoy playing through it during the holidays. Oh man, I’m telling a certain someone’s wife about their fruedian slip. I can be bought off though ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/28 "2012-10-13T03:25:23Z")
Not worth retail. It’s solid, but massively derivative. Wait for the bargain bin. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/29 "2012-10-13T12:24:30Z")
Damn. That sucks. I find it surprising that IGN and Gamespot rated this game so highly given everyone’s reaction here. Generally speaking when they rate a game this highly, its a very good game, at least to me. I can’t think of another instance where they raved about a game like this only to have it be pretty disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/30 "2012-10-13T13:25:00Z")
I’ll be the naysayer on the hatred. I got it, and I’m liking it so far. The graphics are good enough - I’m not picky on that part. As long as they don’t look horribly dated I’m fine with it. Controls are about the same as any game nowadays, better than some. I like the story, and the powers are pretty cool. Blinking around is fun. I’m trying to stealth-knock out and/or kill rather than fight, and it’s not a fast-paced game when you do that (which is a plus for me; if I wanted an FPS, I’d’ve bought an FPS). I’m currently lurking about on the rooftops doing jump-assassinations, and that’s WAY fun. So far, I agree with **Whack-a-Mole** in that Thief did stealth better, but this game does stealth OK. You can definitely sneak around to get through things, at least in the first few hours that I’ve played. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/31 "2012-10-13T15:29:14Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Damn. That sucks. I find it surprising that IGN and Gamespot rated this game so highly given everyone’s reaction here. Generally speaking when they rate a game this highly, its a very good game, at least to me. That’s why I bought it, actually. Its metacritic score is (was?) an 89 and all the game mags I generally enjoy rated the game highly. But, honestly, its stealth system is less robust than the Thief games, its ‘non lethal’ and ‘powers’ systems pretty much is the most recent Deus Ex game with a different skin or mildly different powers, and while its atmosphere sure is, erm, atmospheric, it just doesn’t bring the whole package together. (Lethal combat is okay but, again, nothing all that impressive). The game is certainly serviceable. It’s a decent game. But it’s not much more than decent and it certainly doesn’t merit the full 60 dollar price tag. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/32 "2012-10-13T17:11:53Z")
Yeah, just beat the game… play time was okay on a stealth/non-lethal playthrough. Probably roughly 15-20 hours. Which I guess isn’t bad for single player games these days, but it’s no Skyrim. I feel… unfulfilled. I should’ve spent the 60 bucks on amaretto and ginger ale. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/33 "2012-10-25T14:45:16Z")
On around 21 hours of playtime. I like this game less the more I play it. I’m trying to kill as few people as possible, but it’s become far more frustrating than fun. I think I just might hack my way through the rest of the game since the combat is the only part I really have any fun with. The plot is uninteresting, as are the characters. Maybe the Assassin’s Creed and Metal Gear Solid series have ruined me for other stealth-based games. I’ll be selling this back to GameStop after I beat it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/34 "2013-01-17T13:40:45Z")
So I finally got around to playing this. I’m nearly done with a stealth-based run, and have so far enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ll probably replay it with an aggressive run in the spring. BTW, did anyone else think that Granny Rags looks and sounds an awful lot like Susan Sarandon as soon as you met her? And damn if it isn’t her! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/35 "2013-07-09T15:29:01Z")
Okay, I just picked this up used, and am playing it on the Xbox 360… is there seriously not a way to increase the text size? Because this is unplayable. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/36 "2013-07-09T15:58:47Z")
Never finished this game, and I think my title WAY oversold this thing. It ain’t no Bioshock. Thief and Deus Ex feel insulted being used in the same sentence too. The world had a lot of promise, but it hang, like a painting in the background. Lifeless and still. I Didn’t care about it or anyone in it enough to bother going much further than the second or third mission. I believe these are the same guys working on the Thief reboot, which has me a bit worried. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/37 "2013-07-09T16:16:04Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Okay, I just picked this up used, and am playing it on the Xbox 360… is there seriously not a way to increase the text size? Because this is unplayable. My guess is that you have a non-HD TV? I had the same problem on a lot of XBOX games before I upgraded to HD. If that’s the case for you, then no, there is absolutely nothing you to do to increase the text size. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/38 "2013-07-09T17:10:27Z")
No, it’s a great big HD TV. I’m sitting like eight feet away from it with my glasses on and I can’t read this shit! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/39 "2013-07-10T13:30:54Z")
Ah, SOL, in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093/40 "2013-07-10T13:59:56Z")
But I have to wonder if it’s a setting or something, because when I Googled it I expected it to be the first suggestion, you know? That’s what usually happens if something’s an issue for a lot of people. It can’t be that I’m that old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishonored-the-bastard-love-child-of-a-bioshock-thief-and-deus-ex-menage-a-trois/637093.md?page=3)