Dishonored 2 Previews
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It looks like GameInformer's exclusive on Dishonored 2 content has expired by now, and a few other outlets have chimed in with their previews of the game, based on a hands-off demonstration of the title. We'll have to wait until E3 to see gameplay, but at least we now have some screenshots and write-ups. So far, Dishonored 2 sounds like a sequel indeed.
The mission I saw took place in the Dust District, a poor area of Karnaca in the shadow of a mountain cleft called the wind corridor. Massive overhead pipes funnel waste from silver mines out over the city, but excessive industry has buried this particular district in thick silt. Wind will be a factor all over Karnaca you'll find turbines powering alarms and defenses just as often as whale oil canisters but it's key to this particular mission.
Every so often, a horn heralds a dust storm that blows through the district, obscuring sight and sound for a few key moments. The first time this happens, Bakaba takes advantage by moving Emily up to a rooftop where she's able to discretely murder a number of distracted guards before disabling an elevated wind turbine.
The objective, in this case, is information. Two characters can tell you what you need to know an Overseer and a gang leader and they're at war with one another, with a neutral zone between them. As in the first game, it's up to you to decide how you want to unpick this situation. As Emily, Bakaba infiltrates the Overseers' headquarters, isolates his target, and rips him asunder using Shadow Walk. He then takes the corpse to the gang leader, who provides the needed information in return. The opposite approach also works, as does a head-on-assault: I saw Corvo lead a violent charge through a bloodfly-infested building, using an offensively-enhanced Blink to gain an edge in combat.
IGN:
Corvo has all his powers from the original Dishonored, but they can now be tailored more specifically to the player's own tastes. Consequently, his powers are familiar, but different. (This time it's a big upgrade tree,) says Smith. (You can take Possession at level 1, you can upgrade it to possess animals, you can upgrade it to possess corpses.)
We see Corvo's rebooted abilities in action as he enters a derelict house, infested with swarms of (blood flies) and their rabid human keepers (these insects lay eggs in corpses, so the more murderous you are, the more infestations you'll find). Corvo interrupts the scene by sending a blanket of rats into it with Devouring Swarm, before bringing the action to a dramatic halt with an upgraded version of Bend Time.
(You can still hold a key and advance [time] a little bit,) says Smith.
From here, he uses Possession to jump into a rat, jumps from the rat into a bloodfly, and flies out of the room as time speeds back up to normal. It all happens dizzyingly fast.
(We've had time to really think about our game mechanics and add lots of little improvements,) he says as the demo ends.
If Harvey is the body of Dishonored 2, art director Sebastien Mitton and his unbelievably detailed and unique artistic vision is its beating heart. Mitton, who lives in the middle of Lyon, explains how he is surrounded by reference points and inspiration that helps him create the game's multidimensional world. However, he didn't want to be lazy while creating the art for the sequel and that's why he went around the world in search of the carefully selected details. Mitton mentions that he found architecture in England, clothing and style from Mexico, and lighting from California for example. The handpicked art development team didn't have an easy job, though. For example, all of the main characters were moulded from clay to get the measurements just right, even characters on the periphery are filled with detail. In order to combine the artistic look of the game with realistic lightning so they could achieve the best possible outcome, a new game engine - Void Engine - was built. Mitton who already made an impact with the art in the first Dishonored, points out that the goal of the visuals in Dishonored 2 is to stab generic sequels to the neck with a dagger and make some waves. Based on what we've seen so far indicates that the dagger will sink deep, and the waves will be like a tsunami.
