Dishonored Review

 

Dishonored. A game that received nothing but praise when it first hit stores in 2012. A brand new IP that seems to want to be a spiritual successor to the legendary THIEF series. So how is this game as a stealth game? How does it measure up as a spiritual successor? Well....if you like this game you may not like what I have to say.

 

 

First and foremost, is Dishonored a good stealth game? No. It is not. Every good stealth game relies on its player feedback system. The ability for the player to know the layout of enemies in a level, understand their patterns and adapt accordingly. Ex. Metal Gear Solid has a radar, Splinter Cell has infrared, THIEF has audio [you can hear enemies footsteps.]. Dishonored has no such system. The audio engine isn't powerful enough to let you hear your enemies footsteps, and the only way of reliably knowing your enemies location is one of two choices. A.) Being in a large open area and looking down on your enemies, or B.) Using the Dark Vision ability which is essentially x-ray vision, allowing you to see through walls, the level of noise your actions do [ironically enough you can't hear these noises]. The Dark Vision upgrade is the only actual way to know the layout of enemies though, but its so over-powered that with it, there is no reason you should ever be detected. Without the x-ray vision you'll never know where enemies are and since there is no alternative to detecting enemies, you'll get caught. A lot. Also, stealth is completely binary in this game. Either enemies have no idea you exist, or every single guard in the level knows where you are. And the way enemies detect you isn't very well done either. Light and dark have no impact on stealth whatsoever, there is no point in snuffing out candles since enemies can see you just as well as in dark as in light.

 

Gameplay wise, not counting stealth there are some fun aspects to it but those fun aspects come from utilizing the supernatural abilities you have in the game like teleporting, summoning ravenous hordes of rats, and launching tornadoes from your hands. There are two play styles for this game that results in different endings, playing non lethal, and playing lethal. Non lethal involves knocking people out, trying not to be detected whatsoever, and instead of killing your targets performing more creative ways of dispatching them. But the thing is, the lethal play through is much more fun since you have many fun methods of dispatching enemies. What sounds more fun to you? Teleporting behind cover more convenient than the waist high walls of debris in Gears of War to evade enemies, moving through large hollow areas to get to your target, or sneaking through an enemy, killing enemies, when detected summoning rats to devour those who saw you, and when the odds are overbearing possessing one of the summoned rats to escape the scene? I pick the second one.

 

Aside from gameplay though..... Dishonored for me holds the dubious distinction of having the most yawn inducing lore and story I've seen in a video game. There was not a single point where I was interested in what was going on in the story aside from two stand out locations in the entire game. And this is not helped by the fact that Dishonored's art style and graphics are downright ugly to look at. I'm not one to rate graphics in a game unless they're either extremely good or ugly as sin, so believe me when I say that Dishonored has the worst PS3-Xbox 360 era graphics you could ever see....even on a high end PC. In addition the brown grey blue, gloomy color scheme only adds to the feeling of boredom, again aside from two standout locations.

 

Overall, Dishonored to me seems like a game that deserves some praise as it can be fun at times, but that's when its more like an RPG action hybrid with some stealth elements rather than a fullblown stealth game. But aside from its fun gameplay, its story and lore is completely forgettable. A solid 2/4, a good rental and a good buy since its gone down in price, but if you're looking for a memorable stealth experience, look elsewhere.

 

2/4

 

 

Red Vulture Out

 

 

 

South Park The Stick of Truth Review

 

The Stick of Truth was a hard game to review. On the one hand, its a relatively shallow turn based RPG akin to Paper Mario with timed hits, on the other hand its probably the best television licensed game ever made, and the best South Park game to date.

 

Like in most RPGs, you start off by creating a character with a creation system that doesn't really have many options, and are then thrown into the world of South Park as the new kid. Making friends with the boys, you join them in a massive LARP session where the boys are split into two factions, the humans and the elves fighting over the Stick of Truth. While I said the character creation system is somewhat shallow, there are more customization items later on in the game like dyes to make your equipment whatever color you want, as well as make up and facial hair. Its just a shame that your character never talks [aside from the closing scene at the end of the game] and that you cant pick between a boy or a girl.

 

Gameplay wise, the game is very much like Paper Mario. Its turn based combat where you have to press a specific button or mash a button at a certain time to inflict bonus or massive damage against a enemy. There are status ailments like burn, gross out [poison basically] slow, and bleeding, but these ailments are a bit broken in that I never encountered a boss that was immune to these effects, meaning I could just inflict gross out and bleed [which are very easy to inflict if you're a warrior, which I was] and the fight would be pretty much over. That being said, combat is fun since you're always involved in it, trying to get damage bonuses and performing certain attacks [Roshambo]. In addition you can have a buddy fight with you, like Cartman, Butters [my personal favorite] Stan, and even Jimmy. They each have their own unique attacks and special abilities, Butters can heal you, Stan can debuff enemies, and Cartman can gross out enemies. Classes consist of warrior, mage, thief, and Jew. And it is just as offensive, yet oddly entertaining as it sounds. Aside from combat, gameplay also consists of exploring the town of South Park [a very well done recreation I might add], finding collectibles like Chinpokemon, exploring the houses of the characters [Cartman's mom's room.....ugh]. While the open world aspect is rather small when compared to other open world RPGs like the Elder Scrolls though, it works because the town of South Park is small in the show. Everything important from the show is in the game. Even some places that I would rather not have visited. [Anyone else remember Lemiwinks? And where he went? Its a level. Just absorb that for a moment. ]

 

But what about the most important thing aspect of South Park? The humor? Is that in the game? Is it authentic South Park humor? Well allow me to answer this question with another question, does Cartman hate hippies? This game is like playing an interactive episode of South Park, every single thing is geared towards making it feel like the TV show as much as possible and on that note, it succeeds easily. If you are a South Park fan, you will be laughing out loud the entire time you play this game and especially when you see all the hidden easter eggs and references to specific episodes [Let's Fighting Love] And on that note I must mention, this is the most shocking and disgusting game I've ever played. And while I may have outgrown South Park and found myself yelling "what the fuck" most of the time while playing [especially during one quick time event involving your character's parents] I did find myself laughing or at the very least chuckling during certain moments [The Al Gore fight specifically.]

 

Also, I must say this, THIS IS THE MOST COMPLETE OBSIDIAN GAME EVER MADE. I encountered no game bugs, no crashes, and no incomplete quests or dialogue between characters. Although the game is on the short side, it only took me 12 or 15 hours and I did everything in the game.

 

Overall this game is difficult for me to judge. On the one hand, its a very shallow RPG with somewhat entertaining content but no real reason to play more than once, on the other hand its every South Park fan's dream come true, and something that every South Park needs to play at least once. With that said, I will give this game two scores. As a game meant for South Park fans, it earns a perfect 4/4. As a game for people who like RPGs but don't like South Park, its a 2/4.

 

South Park game: 4/4

 

RPG for non South Park fans: 2/4

 

 

So screw you guys, I'm going home. Red Vulture out.