Flooded District

A submerged section of Dunwall's industrial underbelly.

Dishonored, developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks in 2012, centers on Corvo Attano, the Empress's bodyguard framed for her murder. The game takes place in Dunwall, a fictional industrial city stricken by plague. Missions allow players to explore these varied areas, uncovering paths through stealth or combat in a city where technology and otherworldly forces coexist.

Quick Facts

Location: Dunwall
First appearance: Dishonored (2012)
Key figures: Corvo Attano

Lore & Background

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.

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.

What players say: Player verdict on Dishonored — Rotten Tweets