Dishonored 2

Dishonored 2 is an action-adventure game with stealth elements played from a first-person perspective. After playing as Empress Emily Kaldwin during the prologue, players may decide to play either as Emily or as Corvo Attano, the protagonist from Dishonored, the previous game. Side missions unlock alternate methods of assassination, non-lethal approaches and paths to navigate the main mission. Both characters wield a pistol, crossbow, a retractable blade, grenades and mines—all of which are upgradable.

Upgrades may be purchased at black market shops found throughout levels, and blueprints scattered throughout the environment unlock new upgrades. Coin is required to buy these upgrades, which can be found throughout levels or gained from other collectibles, like stealing paintings. Players can choose whether to play stealthily or not and can finish the game without killing anyone. Health elixirs and food consumables will restore health, while mana elixirs replenish mana.

The game takes place during the year 1851 in the Empire of the Isles, a union of four island nations under the rule of Empress Emily Kaldwin. While players begin and end the game in the capital city of Dunwall, much of the story takes place in the coastal city of Karnaca, a wealthy silver mining city and seat of power for the Duke of Serkonos, the southernmost region of the empire. Unlike Dunwall, which relies on whale oil for power, Karnaca is powered by wind turbines, though the winds coversely lead to frequent dust storms in the poorer districts of the city, especially the mining district. Additionally, while Dunwall's architecture and design is primarily influenced by Victorian-era London and Liverpool, Karnaka's aesthetic is inspired by various subtropical cities in the Mediterranean and the antebellum Deep South.

At the time the game begins, the extremist and corrupt Overseers of the Empire's state religion, the Abbey of the Everyman, are engaged in a violent conflict against the Howlers street gang for control of the populace, forcing the Grand Serkonan Guard, Karnaca's law enforcement and the Duke's personal bodyguards, erecting defensive barriers called Walls of Light in response to the disarray.

Dishonored 2 was developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. After having co-directed the first game, Harvey Smith worked as director of Dishonored 2. Though the first Dishonored was developed by both Arkane teams in Lyon, France and Austin, United States, its sequel was developed largely solely in Lyon as Arkane Studios Austin were focused on developing 2017's Prey. Both studios collaborated on the game, and playtested each other's builds.

The game runs on Arkane's "Void" engine, as opposed to Unreal Engine 3 that was previously used in Dishonored. The Void engine is based on id Tech 5, though the majority of the original engine was rewritten. Arkane removed unneeded elements from the engine like the mini open world and overhauled the graphics. The new engine is intended to improve in-game lighting and post-processing to help the game's visuals, and allows the game to visualize subsurface scattering.

Emily Kaldwin's reveal as player character at E3 2015 drew attention pre-release. GamesRadar called it one of the event's biggest surprises, noting the rarity of female protagonists. Both GameSpot and The Guardian commented on the prominence of female player characters in 2015's E3 expo. Game Informer called her one of ten "most promising" new characters revealed at the expo.

The game's appearance at E3 2016 gained accolades. IGN awarded it "Best Xbox One Game", and it was nominated "Game of the Show", "Best PlayStation 4 Game", "Best Action Game", "Best Trailer", and "Best PC Game", being the runner-up to the last of which.