Welcome to Karnaca, the jewel of the south.
Fans of the Dishonored series that were lucky enough to live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York City were able to attend an event to play Dishonored 2. Attendees of the event were able to play the game about a month before its release in November.
There were theme meals and drinks there as well as being able to meet the Duke of Karnaca. The Duke is a gracious host who hasn’t let the power go to his head. Our conversation turned to how we like the New York delicacy, pizza but I’m getting off topic.
The Jane hotel in New York City was our setting and this was the perfect location for the event. Dishonored 2 gives off a future/steam punk style with puzzle solving and adventure elements. The Jane looked like it could be an actual level in the game where a pulled lever could have the stairs move somewhere, like they do in the game.
Graphically, Dishonored 2 looks fantastic and so realistic. It looked like it was a television program being filmed in front of you, that’s how realistic it looked. Combine that with the carbon copy like look of the Jane hotel to levels in Dishonored 2 and people might think they actually were in the game.
There were other things to do at the event such as partake in the scavenger hunt to win a Dishonored 2 PS4 or Xbox One. There were several photo opportunities throughout the course of the evening as well.
Dishonored 2 plays like an adventure game with several puzzle elements mixed into it. You’ll have to discover the right tools and items needed to solve a puzzle to advance in the level. Long story short, you have the option to play as either the empress who has lost her throne, Emily Kaldwin, or her royal bodyguard, Corvo Attano. Travel to Karnaca from Dunwal to figure out how to regain the throne.
During your quest, you’ll have to use your “supernatural powers” as an assassin to get the job done. That could mean using your dash jump to get out of a room for an example. However, you decide how to achieve your goals and that means killing or deciding not to kill. At times it will be beneficial to be a stealth ninja and then there will be times to go in guns-a-blazing and kill everyone in the room, it’s up to the player. One word of advice is that the game is affected by your choices so who knows how killing a whole room of innocent people will reflect later on in the adventure?
The controls for the demo were easy to pick up but will be a challenge to master. It was relatively easy to aim your weapons as I was achieving headshots on the enemies that were attacking me. Items and weapons were at a premium so you’ll have to learn how to ration your inventory so you don’t run out at an inopportune time, like when a enemy comes at you and the only way to kill it is with a certain bullet but you don’t have any left.
At times during the gameplay it was tough to see what you were doing since the camera wasn’t as tight as you would hope it would be in the final build of the game. There was another segment of the game where you had to traverse through water and it was easy to get trapped in the water. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a way out of the water and the level had to be restarted.
At the end of the day, Dishonored 2 looks like it could be a game of the year candidate. It looks so real and plays like a “puzzle solver” similar to the Legend of Zelda. Throw in meeting the Duke of Karnaca and getting some swag (t shirt and poster) and you can call the Dishonored 2 event at the Jane hotel a complete success.
Dishonored 2 releases on November 11
