Dishonored

Lore & Background

Dishonored was developed over two and a half years, with several versions created before the final setting of Dunwall, which was inspired by late nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh. Earlier concepts placed the game in medieval Japan and seventeenth-century London. During development, test players discovered methods of exploiting powers and abilities to achieve unexpected outcomes; rather than restricting these techniques, the designers redesigned levels to accommodate them. The music score, composed by Daniel Licht, was intended to represent London in the nineteenth century. The game's story and missions change in response to the player's violent actions or lack thereof, tracked by a chaos system that modifies dialogue, the presence of rats and plagued citizens, and the game's two endings.

Reader's Guide

Dishonored received positive reviews, with praise focused on the missions' individual narratives, the freedom available in completing them, and the game's art direction. It won several awards, including the 2012 Spike Video Game award for Best Action-Adventure Game and the 2013 BAFTA award for Best Game, and was repeatedly recognized as the best action-adventure game of 2012 and one of that year's best games. It has also been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. The game was initially released in October 2012 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360, and was later supplemented with additional content focusing on the assassin Daud and his quest for redemption. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in August 2015. Two narrative sequels, Dishonored 2 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, were released in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and the 2021 game Deathloop takes place within the far future of the Dishonored universe.

Did You Know?

• The game's setting, Dunwall, was inspired by late nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh.
• Players can complete all missions, eliminating all targets, in a non-lethal manner.
• The chaos system tracks friendly fire, violence, and deaths, affecting the story and world.
• The game features six active powers, including Blink, Possession, and Bend Time.

The World of Dunwall and Its Framed Bodyguard

Dishonored, crafted by Arkane Studios and released by Bethesda Softworks in 2012, drops players into Dunwall—a plague-stricken industrial metropolis where political intrigue and supernatural power collide at every corner. At the heart of the story is Corvo Attano, the trusted bodyguard of the Empress of the Isles, who is publicly blamed for her assassination and thrust into a life of vengeance. His quest to dismantle the conspiracy that destroyed his world is not a solitary one: the Loyalists, a grassroots resistance fighting to wrest control of Dunwall back from its oppressors, serve as his ground-level allies, while the Outsider, a formidable otherworldly entity, grants him the magical powers that make his revenge possible. The game's narrative is brought to life by a remarkable ensemble of voice talent, including Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, Michael Madsen, John Slattery, Lena Headey, and Chloë Grace Moretz, lending gravitas and personality to a cast of conspirators, allies, and victims. The result is a story that feels both deeply personal and politically charged, grounded in a city that breathes with the decay of its own corruption.

A Philosophy of Choice and Consequence

Dishonored's design philosophy centers on radical player agency. Played from a first-person perspective, every mission can be approached through stealth, open combat, or any blend in between—and crucially, the entire game can be completed without a single kill, including every boss and named target. The levels themselves are built to support this freedom: movement and exploration are shaped around the player's available abilities rather than funneled into a single intended path. Even small details, like the randomized color of a target's clothing or mask, force genuine exploration on repeat playthroughs. What makes the system truly distinctive is the chaos mechanic. Rather than labeling actions good or evil, the game quietly tallies the violence, friendly fire, and deaths the player inflicts. That accumulated chaos reshapes the world in both scripted and dynamic ways—dialogue shifts, rats and plague-stricken citizens multiply, NPCs who distrust bloodshed may refuse aid or even turn against Corvo, and the final ending itself branches based on how much destruction was wrought. Violence can finish a mission faster, but it burns through health and mana potions at a rate that stealth never demands, creating a subtle economic tension that rewards patience.

From Medieval Japan to the Streets of Dunwall

The road to Dishonored was anything but linear. Over two and a half years of production at Arkane Studios, the project cycled through multiple conceptual settings before landing on its final identity. Early iterations placed the action in medieval Japan and later in seventeenth-century London, neither of which survived to the finished product. The Dunwall that players eventually explored drew its visual and atmospheric inspiration from late nineteenth-century London and Edinburgh, a choice that composer Daniel Licht echoed in his score, which was crafted to evoke that specific era of industrial England. Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the development process was how the team handled player creativity. During testing, players discovered ways to chain and exploit the available powers in ways the designers had never anticipated. Rather than patching these emergent strategies out of existence, the design team chose to reshape their level layouts to accommodate and even celebrate those unexpected interactions. Co-creative designer Harvey Smith and Raphaël Colantonio also acknowledged that no single playthrough could unlock all six active powers, four passive enhancements, and the full set of forty bone charms, ensuring that every run through Dunwall would feel distinct.

Awards, Sequels, and a Living Universe

Dishonored's critical reception was immediate and sustained. Reviewers singled out the individual narrative arcs of each mission, the extraordinary freedom in how objectives could be achieved, and the game's striking art direction. It took home the 2012 Spike Video Game Award for Best Action-Adventure Game and the 2013 BAFTA for Best Game, and was repeatedly named the best action-adventure title of 2012 while also landing on numerous best-of-year lists. In the years since, it has been cited among the greatest video games ever made. The initial October 2012 release covered PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports arriving in August 2015. The franchise expanded well beyond the original: additional downloadable content followed the assassin Daud on his own path toward redemption, and two narrative sequels—Dishonored 2 in 2016 and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider in 2017—extended the story in new directions. The universe's reach continued to grow with Deathloop, a 2021 title set in the far future of the Dishonored world, proving that the foundations Arkane laid in 2012 still resonate across the medium.