Dishonored - Previews

Here are two previews of Dishonored from a hands-on session at Gamescom.

Videogamer:

Right from the start of the demo, it's clear that we're playing a game with whopping ambitions. We enter the level by boat, a moody opening that quickly segues onto your first problem: how best to infiltrate the party. After a few unsuccessful attempts at freezing time and sneaking past the guards, I end up possessing one of the watchmen and walking him up to a convenient spot near the front gate. As he regains control of his body, he has just enough time to vomit his guts up (possession does this, it would seem) before I ventilate his neck. After this, I use the Blink power to teleport over the fence. Shortly thereafter I manage to find myself an invitation, and stroll in the front door.

CVG:

The level is also full of ways to infiltrate the party itself. Our method was picking up an invitation that a guest dropped, but we could have possessed a fish in the river and swam up a drainpipe, or entered through the sewers. The sheer amount of freedom, and ways to complete your objectives, is dizzying. Arkane have cited Deus Ex and Thief as reflecting Dishonored's 'core values', and it shows. It feels like a spiritual successor to both of those games, with a little bit of Hitman and BioShock thrown in - but it still has a totally unique identity of its own.