Dishonored allows for no-kill playthrough

Dishonored will allow you to play through without killing anyone, co-creative director and Deus Ex alum Harvey Smith has revealed.

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The no-kill playthrough is a way to challenge yourself, brag to your friends, and earn some Achievements or Trophies in the process. If you're a stealth-loving challenge seeker, you may be pleased to know that Dishonored will let you sneak your way through the entire game without killing a single hapless guard. And thank goodness, because that guy was just one day from retirement.

"Our goal is to let you ghost the game. The extreme extremes are slaughter everyone, high chaos, or ghost the game. You can actually complete the game without killing anyone," said co-creative director Harvey Smith.

This seems incongruous with the fact that the protagonist Corvo is a former bodyguard turned assassin, a profession that lends itself to killing. But apparently, even assassination scenarios have alternate paths. "For all the key targets, all the assassination targets, there are more thorough behind-the-scenes alternate ways to eliminate them," Smith told IGN. "Very few people will be at either extreme. Most will be somewhere in the middle, trying to set up a plan, trying to be sneaky then it all goes to hell. It gets messy for a while but then they try to rein it in. Whether they care about keeping things precise and surgical or not will probably dictate whether they're high chaos or low chaos."

Smith was the lead designer on Deus Ex, which also lets you solve problems through non-lethal means. The series name-sake got its long-awaited sequel Human Revolution recently, which also allows for a no-kill playthrough.

If you do choose to go chaotic in Dishonored, the rating will depend on how innocent your victim is. "Killing a guard is chaotic, but not very chaotic," said co-creative director Raphael Colantonio. "Killing a maid, this creates more chaos." Occupational hazards are apparently in play. The chaos rating can effect the number of guards, the atmosphere, or how much allies trust you.

Dishonored is due for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2012. Colantonio said that "at this point," the developer has no plans to release it on Wii U.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 30, 2011 3:00 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Dishonored allows for no-kill playthrough.

    Dishonored will allow you to play through without killing anyone, co-creative director and Deus Ex alum Harvey Smith has revealed.

    • reply
      August 30, 2011 4:08 PM

      Since that guy screwed up deus Ex 2 i don't really care for any of his project.

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        August 30, 2011 5:08 PM

        He has already gone over how they "fucked up" Invisible War in this enlightening Post-Mortem video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGIdYl2oN74&feature=related).

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          August 30, 2011 6:12 PM

          yeah but he's talking about blacksite: area 51 in there too, which was also terrible.

          I'd be willing to give the dude another chance though.

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            August 30, 2011 6:31 PM

            He's also confused how so many could ignore, or not appreciate, the satire. After describing one scene in which the player fights back a horde of military veterans turned to monsters by the United States, all of them under a banner reading, "Veterans Memorial," Smith asked, "how can you look at all these elements and not think this is super fucking subversive?"

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            August 31, 2011 6:30 AM

            Actually... Area 51 was pretty fun. The worst part was Duchovney's wooden V.O.

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          August 30, 2011 7:19 PM

          let me guess, he passes the blame on someone else, just like he did with all the other failed projects he was a part of like Blacksite.

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            August 31, 2011 12:05 AM

            Haha, he sort of does. He mentions designer friends whose advice they acted on. But to be fair, he also just outright says 'we' didn't listen to the players who liked Deus Ex.

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        August 31, 2011 6:14 AM

        Uh didn't he also design Deus Ex? Bizarre Logic.

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          August 31, 2011 8:53 AM

          he was a designer on Deus Ex. Deus Ex 2 he was the lead designer on. there is a difference.

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            August 31, 2011 5:02 PM

            He's credited on mobygames as lead designer. I dunno.

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              September 1, 2011 7:55 AM

              He was the lead designer on Deus Ex, and project director on IW.

              Don't listen to the other guy.

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      August 30, 2011 5:05 PM

      Games are just boring if you ghost them. The 7.235% of people enjoy it though.

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        August 30, 2011 5:09 PM

        Better count me in that 7.235% then. I've killed more than enough people/bugs/aliens/robuts in video games. I love having the option of non-lethal and stealth.

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          August 30, 2011 5:15 PM

          The best gameplay comes from a mix of both, I think. Sneak and then when you get caught shoot the shit out of everyone instead of reloading a save.

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            August 30, 2011 5:33 PM

            Yes mix of both, I was just referring to full ghosting. In Dues ex HR, most ghost paths are to obvious and bug the shit out of me. I feel I can just cheat the ai, since they are dumb enough already.

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              August 30, 2011 5:58 PM

              Did you at least turn object highlighting off? That way the obvious routes aren't lit up like christmas trees.

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                August 30, 2011 7:02 PM

                Yeah I did. Its just vents are easy to spot. But its ok, like I said below, Im just trolling today hehe

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          August 30, 2011 5:35 PM

          And I agree with you as well. There isn't enough games out there with this ability in the level design. I just be trollin today I guess :/

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            August 30, 2011 6:00 PM

            Well ideally this will just be an awesome game and we can swap stories about face shooting and vent crawling.

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              August 30, 2011 7:03 PM

              Hahaha, damn straight; and who knows, maybe they will have something new in store for people.

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        August 30, 2011 5:36 PM

        [deleted]

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        August 31, 2011 6:26 AM

        My first playthrough of MGS4 I went no-kill, it was challenging and fun. I wouldn't mind playing through again, but destroying everything this time.

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      August 30, 2011 6:20 PM

      This is the one thing I've liked about MGS and SC. The fact that I could go through a vast majority of either game without killing anyone is the real draw for me. Every room/map feels like a chess game where I must move in a very specific order.

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      August 31, 2011 1:30 AM

      Wait how is it no kill play through if you have to fight bosses and kill them in Dues Ex?

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        August 31, 2011 5:26 AM

        In DXHR they just exclude the bosses from the no-kill tally.

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          September 1, 2011 8:03 AM

          Which kinda defeats the purpose. This is why Deus Ex was so brilliant - collect kill phrases or even bypassing killing key characters

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