Dishonored

Dishonored is an action-adventure game played from a first-person perspective with an emphasis on stealth action and the use of gadgets and the environment to eliminate opposing forces. The game world is a series of self-contained, mission-focused areas designed for multiple avenues of exploration in terms of in-game movement and powers. Between missions, the player is taken to a central hub called the Hound Pits pub where the player character Corvo can meet with his allies, receive mission briefings and alternate objectives, and convert recovered loot into new equipment and upgrades. In-game areas include loading docks, royal estates, poverty-stricken streets, and a bathhouse.

The player can save their progress at any time (except for during combat), and the game includes a checkpoint save system. The game has four difficulty levels which modify the effectiveness of health and mana (magic) potions, and enemies' awareness, damage delivered, and responsiveness. In the easy setting, health regeneration is possible.

Dishonored takes place in the industrial city of Dunwall, where technology and otherworldly forces coexist. The city's design is modeled on London and Edinburgh between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. The capital of the Empire of the Isles, Dunwall is ruled by an oppressive regime that came to power following the assassination of the Empress and the kidnapping of her daughter. The city is a center for fishing and whaling; whale oil is a valuable resource which is needed to power the city.

After a natural philosopher discovered that whale oil can be used as a fuel, the government used it to develop powerful weaponry, which in turn bred government corruption. The city is stricken with a plague spread by rats, which is killing the poor and isolating the rich. The infected, known as "weepers", cry blood and can become violent. The government uses the plague as an excuse to take or purge citizens as they wish.

Bethesda Softworks first announced Dishonored as a first-person, stealth, action-adventure game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on 7 July 2011. Dishonored is the first Arkane Studios game Bethesda published after its parent company ZeniMax Media bought Arkane in August 2010. Arkane Studios founder Raphaël Colantonio and Deus Ex developer Harvey Smith were the game's creative directors, and Deus Ex designer Ricardo Bare was its lead technical designer. Visual design director Viktor Antonov, who designed Half-Life 2's City 17, and art director Sebastien Mitton led the art team.

Smith, Colantonio, Antonov, and Mitton spent three years in pre-production. Bethesda approached Arkane and asked them to develop a new game and a new intellectual property. The team already had ideas for developing a similar game, but until Bethesda approached them, Arkane had no specific ideas. Mitton contacted Antonov in May 2009 to ask for his help to establish an artistic identity for a new intellectual property.

Dishonored was displayed for the public at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and received four nominations from the Game Critics Awards for Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Console Game, Best Original Game, and the overall Best of Show award. The game was also recognized at the event for: "Game of Show" by GameSpy, and Joystiq Editor-in-Chief Ludwig Keitzmann, and was nominated by Destructoid and EGM; "Best Action Game" by GameSpy, and EGM, and nominated by Destructoid; "Best of E3 2012 Editors' Choice Award" by GameSpot; and "Most Original Game" by G4TV. Other recognition included: "Best of Show" by Digital Trends; "Best of E3 Selection" by Yahoo Games and Game Revolution; "The Best Game at E3" by CinemaBlend; and "Top 10 Game of E3" by Paste magazine and Stuff; Kotaku listed the "Blink" ability as one of the "Top 27 Game Ideas" at the event. Jurors from the Entertainment Software Association and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences selected "Regent", a piece of artwork for the game by artist Sergey Kolesov, to be one of 16 works for the 2012 Into the Pixel art exhibition.

At the 2012 Gamescom trade fair in August 2012, the game won the award for "Best of Gamescom" and "Best Console Game" for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. For the same event, Eurogamer named Dishonored as its "Game of the Show." Attendees of the 2012 Eurogamer Expo named it the number-one game of the show.