Out of the thousands of games I’ve played, a handful have worlds so vivid and memorable that I remember them straight away. The busy Holy Land of 2007 Assassin’s Creedthe industrial Midgar of 1997 Final Fantasy VII (and its solid 2020 remake), 2011’s mighty Tamriel The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. These are distinctive places full of iconic architecture and landscapes, environments that I have always enjoyed spending hours lost in. But none of them come close to the atmospheric coherence of Dunwall in 2012 dishonored, a whaling town so detailed, so environmentally and thematically intertwined that it gives me goosebumps. It’s a haunting backdrop for sneaking and stabbing that I still remember all these years later.
Developed by Arkane Studios and launched in October 2012 (making it 10 years old this month), dishonored is a stealth action adventure game in which you become a master bodyguard to a master assassin Corvo Attan. Blamed for a murder you didn’t commit, largely because you didn’t have the power or strength to prevent it, you find yourself imprisoned awaiting your execution the brutalist Coldridge prison. But just before it gets to your head, you break out of your prison cell (with the help of a shadowy organization) and are gifted with magic by a mysterious supernatural being known as The outsider To wreak revenge and thwart a hostile government takeover by tyrannical gits who shouldn’t be in power at all. That matters dishonored
Everything is threatening, even the architecture
There is an awkward coexistence between classes at Dunwall. The industrial city, stricken by a virulent and deadly contagion of the rat plague, shows that the proletariat suffers far more than the aristocracy, for obvious reasons. money goes a long way. But while the rich think they can escape death, Corvo and Dunwall have other plans. As the late Empress Jessamine Kaldwin said at the beginning of the game that everyone is trapped in the cursed city because of the virus and sentenced to death by either an infection in the body or a knife in the heart. It’s a tragedy deliberately made possible by callous government officials who (aside from Kaldwin himself) are too unwilling to grapple with the crisis despite having the resources to combat it. And you feel the weight of that inhuman decision across Dunwall, while the sickness that sweeps everyone and the callous indifference of the powerful lead to alleys inescapably lined with corpses. The soullessness of those in power is terrifying, especially when they hold your life in their selfish hands. At least the oppressors of Dunwall are suffering the same fate, for with the blockade ordered by the religious monarchy, all in the mostly walled city are doomed.
And those walls… They’re oppressive and intimidating in equal measure. This isn’t Remedy Entertainment’s claustrophobic brutalism controlbut dishonored‘s Dunwall strikes a similar chord. That buildings in this game are those massive, towering structures that soar into the sky and occasionally emit disconcerting creaks and groans, as if they’re feeling the weight of your footsteps. Some of them are extravagant, adorned with exquisite curtains and opulent vases. Many are Gothic, rusty, tired. But almost every building you come across, with the exception of a few heavily protected areas (such as the amusement house The Golden Cat), was somewhat decimated by the plague. The rooms remain empty, often with food still outside and fireplaces still on. Rats scurry across the floors and streets, munching on rotting flesh and bones. Humans are rarer and those who are still around because they have no choice but to stay are critical of the conditions they have been put under. Dunwall is a demoralized, dying town, riddled with the ever-present nightmare brought about by the rats.
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The decay, the plague, the rats… they’re everywhere
That’s because Dunwall’s collapse was intentional. The disease called The Fall of Pandyssia, emerged in the city’s slums and other slums before finding its way up the socio-economic ladder. You’d think a plague of rats would start infecting the people on the docks, considering Dunwall is a whaling town and rats love seaports. But because the power-hungry obsessive Hiram Burrows Craving ultimate control, he introduced the plague among the poor to end poverty – yes, by simply killing all the poor – and tame the city. It is megalomaniac enough to suppose that one can subjugate an entire population through illicit and unnecessary death. To think that you would be at the top and have the upper hand, unscathed by the repercussions of your malicious decisions, is tyrannical bullshit of the highest order. It’s that kind of heartlessness, that level of hostility towards the Commonwealth, that makes me cringe at the game’s elite but no less willing to put a sword in their throats.
I mean it’s the fault of the bourgeoisie that Dunwall fell into disrepair. I’m not going to pretend it’s a thriving city on the cusp of technological innovation or anything, although there have been some creative minds toiling in the city’s niches. However, it was the active decisions of powerful assholes bent on conquering authority for purely narcissistic reasons that drove the capital to its brink. The ego is a powerful, intimidating aspect of personality that can lead to terrible circumstances if left unchecked. In this manner, dishonored could be seen as an illustration of what happens when the ego has its way, and that allusion continues to haunt me.
I can’t forget the excellent score that underscores the unsettling tone of the game. A spooky set of songs The soundtrack, which consists mostly of sparse strings, discordant piano and swelling organs, would fit almost perfectly over FromSoftware’s bloodborne, or even a slasher movie like Halloween or a spoopy movie like The nightmare before Christmas. It’s a suitably chilling mix of music as you plan – and carry out – your revenge on those who have wronged you. There’s also each level’s sound design, which while mostly lacking, does a great job of solidifying Dunwall’s emptiness.
A decade later, I still shudder at the thought of wandering the area dishonored again. Not because the game is terrible, quite the opposite. I tremble at the empty city streets, the alarming plague of rats, the dying citizens, the callous aristocrats. This is a world that, while on the brink of death, still teems with so much life and fear. And it’s this dichotomy that makes me both fearful of the consequences of my actions and willing to deal with them as I hop from rooftop to rooftop stabbing rich asshole after rich asshole.
