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Dishonored Dead Space

 

I’m glad to be making some progress off my gaming backlog. In a way, I feel like I’m going through a decent pull list of epic comic books that was calling to be caught up on. In the case for Dead Space 2, I’m continuing the story of Isaac, in which he/I am trying to correct a mistake that was made in the past to save the present. In the case of Dishonored, I’m exploring a new world and characters where my interactions with them will shape the future-- an interesting juxtaposition considering that both characters were somewhat responsible for the cataclysm in each respective world and are trying to correct their mistakes by taking on the dirtiest tasks on their own, but isn’t this the case with almost every adventure game?

 

Dishonored is much denser with narrative and exploration options. It is kind of ironic because while it is divided into re-playable chapter areas which offer multiple paths, Dead Space 2 is just one massive interconnected area that seamlessly blends into the next, but is completely limited in optional paths.  Both games offer some text/audio logs to fill in story gaps, but Dishonored offers up even more background story with “books” lying around to collect.

 

Maybe comparing the two is unfair because they have slightly different goals from their gameplay. Dishonored allows for a stealthy No-Kill gameplay as well as a Run-and-Gun option for the gun psychos, whereas Dead Space 2 is designed to box you in and won’t let you proceed until you clear out waves of enemies. It’s pretty unfortunate because both games are about the same in terms of length and level design. Dead Space does something different with its zero-gravity puzzles, but I feel like have an option to go underneath, above, or around an area or some other people to talk to would have been more interesting. At least give an option. The illusion of isolation in Dead Space is somewhat diminished with so many video logs and chatter from the few surviving NPCs in the game. Why not add more, and add some alternate routes to explore this world.

 

Overall, both games are short epics, but nicely condensed with action. There isn’t much of a reason to ignore either of the games because the game will be over before you have formed an opinion to love or hate them. I highly recommend both games!

It is also worth noting that the both games have very impressive visual and art design. Isaacs zero gravity gameplay scenarios are fun as well as using the teleport power and knife melee in Dishonored. 

Update:

I should mention about Dishonored something I commented on another blog here, that I think Dishonored does stealth games right. Usually in a stealth game, like Metal Gear or Assassins Creed, whenever you get caught, the fun just stops and what it comes down to is memorizing one specific path. Of course in the case of Metal Gear, you just need to be very observant of the surroundings and learn to avoid detection, but even still if you ever get caught, usually its back to the beginning to do it all over again. A similar sort of thing happens with past Assassins Creed games. But this game , Dishonored, basically lets you keep going forward and letting you get out of a situation by letting you use abilites like teleportation or getting down to a dirty knife fight in the slummy alley ways or corridors of the many buildings you sneak around. Doing so will alter your perception as a "chaotic" fighter and alter the ending of the game so there are consequences for choosing to do this. It's a nice evolution in this genre.