In his hands-on yesterday, Shaun explored Dishonored 2's lethal Clockwork Mansion in search of Anton Sokolov, before laying waste to its treacherous contraptions and awful owner Kirin Jindosh. While boasting some killer gifs, our write-up is best-served with the following eight minute developer gameplay video that augments Shaun's words with moving images.
Naturally, spoilers afoot. Look, see:
Filling the shoes of co-protagonist Emily Kaldwin, the above tracks the Empress of the Isles as she infiltrates inventor Jindosh's twisted home. Before long, she goes toe-to-toe with its automated inhabitants which has her showcasing some impressive close-quarters combat, not to mention a range of her supernatural powers.
As we already know, Dishonored 2, like its forerunner, can be played without confrontation whatsoever—instead reliant entirely on stealth. Speaking to that possibility, I found this section of Shaun's hands-on most interesting:
"The layout and mechanisms of the mansion can be used stealthily, and while its many layers and maintenance shafts were utterly confusing on my first playthrough, logic emerged on my third run. Arranged into three major floors, all of which connect to a large performance space in the centre, it’s an immaculate example of interconnected level design—and there is not a single air duct in sight.
"As one of the mansion’s butlers can be overheard saying, there are parts of this house that he will never know are there. After my third playthrough of this mission, there were at least two additional areas I wanted to pursue but didn’t—and I barely explored the third floor. This mansion doesn’t just sprawl outwards, up and down: it sprawls inside itself."
Furthermore, Bethesda is set to publish a "low chaos stealth and non-lethal" playthrough tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.
Dishonored 2 is due November 11.
