Arkane Studios is a developer who, sadly, isn't as recognized as they should be. For whatever reason, their Dark Messiah (of) Might & Magic hasn't been so fondly remembered, and Arx Fatalis, one of the finest dungeon crawlers ever made, is rarely even mentioned anymore. Dishonored is their first game in many years, and, led by Harvey Smith of Deus Ex fame, it's promised to combine the best of those first-person stealth-action/RPG hybrid games with the brutal first-person combat Arkane are known for. Sounds like a match made in heaven for someone like me.
For the most part, it is. Dishonored is a finely-crafted, smart, well-written, expertly-designed game which takes inspiration from some of the best games of all time and, in a few places, even improves on them. The game does have its issues - namely in character progression, underwhelming stealth gameplay, lack of deeper RPG elements, and a slightly "two-dimensional" game world - but makes up for it with some of the best level design I've seen in a game, along with stunning art and audio direction. While it doesn't quite live up to its forefathers, it is the best game of its type made in nearly a decade, and highlights just about everything wrong with modern big-budget games today.
