Dishonored 2 released in the first half of November 2016 as a sequel to the highly popular Dishonored launched quite a while ago.
The game can be played on PS4, PS4 Pro and Xbox One. However, reports indicate that there is nothing spectacular worth noting when the sequel is played in PS4 Pro. Moreover, the PS4 variation shows better performance than the Xbox One counterpart. Dishonored 2 has a gamut of frightening collectibles for players to tackle, as well as multiple chaos of varying intensities depending on your body count. As a player, you can either opt to step into the shoes of Corvo Attano, the protagonist in the first part or role play his daughter Emily Kaldwin. Throughout the sequel, you will find a slew of women holding different positions of authority. One noteworthy difference between this game and the prequel is that the setting in Dishonored 2 is Karnaca, a tropical and sunny place. However, Dishonored opts for an imaginary English setting.
Theme of Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 draws its inspiration from the 19th century British cities with specific reference to the Victorian Era. Class divisions play a very important role in the game. The elite classes compete with one another for power over the other, while the lower class people earn their living by serving the upper class. The game begins by showing Emily Kaldwin as an empress of Dunwall who has lost her crown to an evil imposter. She is shown to take over the kingdom after her mother was murdered. As she focuses on working her way to winning her crown back, she happens to visit Karnaca, a Mediterranean city and crosses path with its citizens and their strata.Emily represents a symbol of righteousness with continuity and order being her marked traits. This makes her the rightful heir to the kingdom. But in reality, like Delilah she has no rights over the empire because her mother is unmarried and her father is a bodyguard. Emily is against the ingratiating treatment meted out to the elite class. While this makes her appear understanding to the downtrodden class, she is soon considered to be incompetent to rule the kingdom.
Another aspect that Dishonored 2 lays emphasis on is Emily’s relationship with Delilah Copperspoon. Delilah is portrayed as a temptress who is also a liar and a cheat. She was born as an elder kid of Emily’s grandfather Emperor Euhorn Jacob Kaldwin. But she will have no claim to the kingdom as she is considered an illegitimate child because her mother was a castle maid. Although Delilah and Emily’s mother are shown to be good playmates during childhood, the former is always blamed for any misfortune faced by the latter. This eventually leads her to being thrown out of the palace into a world of rejection and poverty. This develops a sense of resentment and revenge growing within her that in turn makes her master the occult powers following which she makes her reentry into Dunwall.
Once she sets foot into the kingdom, Delilah is on a massive execution spree. She begins her mission by killing Emily’s rivals. Soon, everyone start believing that Emily is behind the murders and she earns the wrath of the most influential people in the kingdom. Slowly but steadily, this becomes the cause for her downfall.
Choosing between Emily and Corvo Attano
One vital aspect to be kept in mind when you try your hand at Dishonored 2 involves making a lot of decisions, which in turn have an impact on the outcome of every mission that you undertake and the entire game. As you take up a mission, you will encounter new blueprints and opportunities, as well as symbols to enhance your supernatural abilities.
Like we mentioned earlier, you can choose the role you wish to be before you commence the game. Both Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin have their own distinct set of abilities. However, they have the dark vision ability in common. Corvo has a Blink ability that transports him to his preferred destination immediately, whilst Emily relies on her Far Reach ability to get herself hurled over to where she wants to go. With Blink, you will not be able to see the path traversed. However, this is revealed from the start to the end using Far Reach. Over a period of time both these abilities get upgraded. Blink becomes more precise than before and helps in stopping time when plotting quick movements though its reach becomes limited. Far reach transforms itself into what is referred to as gravity gun shadow whip. Even as this can still toss Emily to wherever she desires while being able to pull people and objects towards her.
Another ability of Corvo worth mentioning is his bend time that he uses to attack guards in ingenious ways. For example, when an opponent guard opens fire at you, Corvo can use this ability to freeze him and place him in front of his own bullet. In contrast, Emily trusts her Domino ability for a streamlined action. With Domino, she can attack multiple guards in just one move and choke all of them by choking just one of them. She can also cause more chaos by linking various guards and pass one into a wall of light. This will result in dissolving all the linked soldiers.