Dishonored 2 (PlayStation 4) Preview

The demo of Dishonored 2 granted access to both playable characters in the game, either the returning star Corvo or a now all grown up Emily Kaldwin, each with their own arsenal of weapons and special abilities. Emily is brand new, so all of the time was spent with her. She had the usual familiar weapons from Dishonored, able to take out enemies quietly with swords and crossbow, or good old firearms for those who rather kick a door in and go in blazing.

Emily has a host of special moves to play with, too; there were three available in the demo. First up is "Domino." Here, Emily can mark enemies, and whatever fate befalls one, befalls them all. Marking the enemies, and then cutting the head from one, was a particularly cool looking kill. Secondly, is "Far Reach," which was kind of like a psychic hook-shoot, able to lash out and pull Emily to locations, or to pull things (or enemies) towards her. Finally, "Shadow Walk" transforms Emily into a creature made from a swirling pool of shadows. This monstrosity can grab enemies and throw them around like dolls before ripping them into pieces in an impressive graphic scene.

The demo gave a familiar and simple objective: get through a maze-like mansion and assassinate its owner. That may be the objective, but how to go about accomplishing that goal is left totally up to the player. Others at EGX were falling mostly into two camps. The first were those going for the no-kill, stealth approach, challenging to watch for gaps in patrols, learning patterns and using stealth abilities to slip through the shadows. Equally, there were just as many who just wanted to see how inventive they could get with their methods of murder.

The stage itself is like an intricate clockwork maze, filled with devices that completely transform rooms, with walls that can move and collapse, fake floors, and a masterpiece of complex moving parts. It's also filled with plenty of guards, both human and clockwork. There are so many options in each part of the mansion and so much opportunity to explore and experiment that it just begs for replays.