Flooded District

Lore & Background

The source describes the city of Dunwall as being modeled on late nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh, centered around fishing and whaling. Whale oil serves as a valuable resource for power and weaponry, leading to government corruption. A plague spread by rats kills the poor while isolating the rich; infected citizens known as "weepers" cry blood and may turn violent. The government uses this crisis to purge citizens at will. Order is maintained by heavily armored Tallboys on mechanical legs, while energy barriers called "Walls of Light" disintegrate unauthorized crossers.

In Their Own Story

The narrative follows Corvo Attano, who is framed for the Empress's murder and forced to become an assassin. Aided by the Loyalists—a resistance group fighting to reclaim Dunwall—and the Outsider, a powerful being who imbues him with magical abilities, Corvo seeks revenge on his conspirators. The story changes in response to the player's violent actions or lack thereof, tracked by a "chaos" system that records friendly fire, violence, and deaths. This system alters dialogue, increases the presence of rats and plagued citizens, and influences which of the game's two endings is reached based on who lives or dies. The source notes that several actors, including Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, Michael Madsen, John Slattery, Lena Headey, and Chloë Grace Moretz, provided voice work for these characters.

Reader's Guide

Dishonored is played from a first-person perspective with an emphasis on stealth action. Players undertake missions in self-contained areas designed for multiple avenues of exploration using movement and powers. Between missions, players return to the Hound Pits pub hub to meet allies, receive briefings, and convert loot into equipment. The game includes four difficulty levels that modify health and mana potion effectiveness, enemy awareness, and damage. In the easy setting, health regeneration is possible. Players can complete all missions without killing any non-player characters, including targets. Specific mission elements, such as a target's clothing color or mask, are randomized, requiring exploration to locate them each time. The chaos system dynamically reacts to player choices, affecting future missions and story outcomes.

Did You Know?

• Before the game was set in Dunwall, inspired by late nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh, it was planned to take place in medieval Japan and seventeenth-century London.
• The Outsider is a powerful being who imbues Corvo with magical abilities such as 'Dark Vision,' 'Blink,' and 'Possession.'
• Dishonored won the 2013 BAFTA award for Best Game and was recognized as one of the greatest video games ever made.
• Test players discovered methods to exploit powers during development, leading designers to redesign levels to accommodate these unexpected outcomes rather than restricting them.