Free Dishonored 2 update will add New Game+ mode and adjustable difficulty

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Bethesda says a planned free update to Dishonored 2 will expand the game with a "New Game+" mode, and a slate of custom difficulty options. The announcement came as part of a five-minute video in which various members of Arkane discuss the "play your way" approach to making the game.

The video doesn't really say much that we haven't heard before, and the original Dishonored is well-known for giving players flexibility in how they approach problems, too. But lead designer Dinga Bakaba makes an interesting comment near the end about giving players the option to pass up the Outsider's powers entirely, something that wasn't an option in the first game.

The decision to build all those complex systems and then include an option to "lock them away," he said, came about "because we are confident that our core gameplay is interesting enough, and we are confident that the player who makes that choice wants that kind of experience. He wants to be a human being among human beings, and feel like he's the best. He wants to be Batman and not Superman."

A Dishonored 2 performance patch, currently still in beta but apparently working well for at least some players, is now available on Steam. Another patch, which "will address a broader range of issues" and (hopefully) continue to improve the game's performance is expected within the next week. We're tracking the updates and how they impact the game's playability in our Dishonored 2 review-in-progress, and should post the final score later today. 

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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