To put it mildly..this game rocks. Its very versatile. You play as Corvo,citizen of Dunwall, the empresses bodyguard...problem is she was just assassinated and her kid kidnapped. Guess who they blame for it??????That;s right..Corvo did it!!!Good news is there are people who know you didn't do it. They assist you in making things right, and looking for the kid and determining the fate of Dunwal...nothing too new here
The graphics are decent. Dunwall really does look like a hopeless place, full of despair and being overrun by plague bearing rats. The corpses lying around add to that plaguey feel. No, that's not a word, but I just made it one. There are plenty of areas to hide in the shadows, kill from cover and explore. There are plenty of characters to interact with, Some of the ones who look the most out of place will give you missions,
Its important to remember that the two main concepts to start are, recover the kid and avenge yourself. How you go about it is up to you. The game makes it really easy to go through entire levels undetected and stealth kill when needed. Depending on the game,I prefer high kill rates. This game satisfies that. You can go through a level and kill everything in , though there is an achievement for minimizing killsl. Its all about how you want to achieve your goal.Tn stealthe rune and bone charm system are great. The powers you can acquire either help you stay in stealth mode or they help you get a million kills. Blink and Swarm are my favorites. Blink teleports you short distances vertically or horizontally so you aren't seen.Swarm calls a group of plague infested rats to devour your enemy. The swarm also eats corpses so you don't get discovered because of that dead body you left laying. around. The mask Corvo uses to hide his identity is upgradeable and a great tool for distance kills.
I don't have many complaints. The dialogue could be better. More backstory on Corvo and the Empress, though some does come out through DLC. There have been reports of occasional glitches causing the killing of a main target not to register and you can't complete the level. Small stuff, but it doesn't take away from the game much.
I really hate giving away major details of a game but this was probably one of the best thought out plots I've seen in a while. Its common for games to use the rescue the princess theme, but props to them for making it an empress, not a king who was assassinated and some of the methods to kill are fascinating. Drop Assassination is top 5.
The ending comes down to your choices. I don't have a preference. The journey did it for me. 7/10
