Review: Dishonored Definitive Edition

G'day there guys and gals!

(Please note: the final score of this review will not affect the original scores of the original content/DLC present in the Definitive Edition. To read the original reviews, click here for the game review, and here and here for the DLC)

Since the very first reveal trailer, I have had a passionate love for Dishonored; the steampunk setting accompanied by a rich world full of lore, assassination and a brilliantly made storyline. I'll be the first to admit my disdain for HD remakes: the current standard of remakes is not one I would approve of in the gaming industry today, especially so as my University studies have opened my eyes to the process of how they come to be approved of and made. So far this year, there has been only one remake I have praised for being remade into the current gen consoles. Unfortunately, I would not add Dishonored Definitive Edition into that list.

For those who have never heard/played the game, the storyline goes as this: you are Corvo Attano, the Royal Bodyguard to the Empress, Jessamine Kaldwin. The story takes place in a Steampunk-like world called Dunwall, which is riddled with the Rat Plague, a plague where rats infect humans into zombie-like walking flesh, riddled with the plague. After searching for a cure known to the other kingdoms, Corvo returns to the Empress and her young daughter Emily. But upon returning, the Empress is assassinated by Assassins, lead by a man named Daud, who also kidnaps her daughter. In doing this, Corvo is left behind and is wrongfully blamed for the Empress' murder and the kidnapping of her daughter.
Left to rot in prison for six months, Corvo is visited by The Outsider, an all seeing god-like man who lives in the Void. In watching Corvo, he gives him the gift of his mark, which besets Corvo with abilities unlike any other. And thus, Corvo sets off to seek revenge against those who killed his beloved Empress.

The gameplay and controls are as good as ever (although strangling people only to block is still a massive annoyance), sound effects and the voice acting audio appear to be improved ever so slightly whereas the music and the score are still as great as ever. I barely mention these because due to my 23 hours (so far) of experience in the Definitive Edition, none of these aspects appear to be upgraded at all. By now you may be asking "What about the graphics?". To me, these are the most disappointing feature of them all; Textures are still blurry, the frame rate is still locked at 30 FPS and screen tears are still present in the game! In all honesty, the best way to describe this re-release is that it's PC specs with all the issues of the console versions. The settings and the tone seem at the very least a little brighter and less "smudgy" than before, but in a city where a plague is infecting your populace and the city is falling into ruin, doesn't that seem more likely than bright blue skys?
The character models seem to have improved ever so slightly (especially Corvo's hands and mask) but other than that I cannot tell much difference from the PC/360 version and the updated game. The same can be said about the additional "free" DLC Knife of Dunwall, Brigmore Witches and Dunwall Trials on the disc.

What saddened me the most was the presence of glitches: my game froze four times due to the saving and loading screens, screen tears were ever present, especially in loading screens (The Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore Witches also seemed to pixelate the most during this), while I also got stuck in walls several times, the weirdest being while swimming underwater at Daud's hideout.
Load times were also incredibly slow, so much so that I started timing my loads! When you start doing that out of boredom, you know something's wrong. For the record, my longest time was 1 minute and 42 seconds. While more hilarious than annoying, I can also mention the numeral amount of times I had corpses/unconscious people glitch through the walls and map itself. These only became annoying if they died in doing this. More often than not, they didn't, but it's still worth mentioning.
As this review is to be treated as a DLC review, I cannot in good faith give it the same score as I did the original, as the issues present here weren't there to begin with. There is the bonus of having $20 knocked off the pricetag if you own the game digitally (I cannot find any info on if you need the DLC too), but for people like me who prefer still buying discs, you're paying full price. And full price in Australia is basically five bucks short of the minimum full price for a brand new title game.

Overall, with deluxe AAA titles coming out in the coming weeks, especially another Bethesda title (Fallout 4) in consideration, once more I have been baited for my love of an (semi) old game being re-rendered for new consoles at a sub-par rate. Even regardless of the upcoming titles and other games such as Gears of War Ultimate Edition offering so much more quality at a lower price, I would suggest waiting for a price drop.
As a diehard fan of this series and someone eagarly awaiting the sequel, it truly pains me to be incredibly negative towards a game I love. Is the game itself bad? No, absolutely not. But I wouldn't be able to call myself a reviewer if I did not bring these issues to life. Forgive me Bethesda and Arkane, but this left more than a sour taste in my mouth.

Final score for Dishonored Definitive Edition: D+

Dishonored Definitive Edition is out now for the standard price of $75