Dishonored has been a series that I have loved since the beginning. The setting and tone mesmerised me, with a dark setting to undetone such a in depth game. My history with reviewing the series has been just as dark; the Definitive Edition, DLCs and the like all scoring low. I specifically didn't review Dishonored 2 for this, and other, reasons. To make up for this, I thought it best to try Death of the Outsider, to see if Arkane and Bethesda could muster a standalone DLC.The storyline is fairly basic; playing as Meagan Foster (AKA Billie Lurk), you return to Karnaca some months after the events of Dishonored 2. Setting out into the city, she hopes to find her old friend Daud, former Assassin and trainee to Billie (the protagonist to D1's DLC) in order to see him one final time. It's here that Daud gives Billie one final job: kill the Outsider.
To be frank, while the story does feature heavily on obtaining the necessary components to hunt down the Outsider, the story itself falls somewhat flat. Billie up and runs at the idea, despite saying otherwise in cutscenes, despite not having anything truly against him, yet continues to hunt down all things necessary to enter the void. You must uncover the ancient knife that slit his throat, enter the void at the place of his ritual and find him there, taking place across the city and beyond. Some of the levels are rehashed and rebranded (With sections cut off to avoid level overload) while others are introduced with new gangs and characters in the mix. A special mention to the level design, as the newer levels felt organic and fitted well with the series.
Sound effects were fairly well done and add a lot of unique sounds (particularly to Billie's new set of abilities - more on that later) and with the musical score, set the tone of the game. Overall it does almost seem like a "New Sunrise" sort of moment, but it is effective nonetheless.
Voice acting was definitely the high part of this game, with each original voice actor for their role returning. Some parts were a little off, with dying characters having no effect in their voices, but otherwise did not detract from the game.
Lastly, graphics was well set off and added a lot of vibrancy to the game, something we haven't seen in the series for a while. Lots of reds and greens helped the game along in ways I haven't seen take place before. Backdrops were downright beautiful.
Gameplay is fairly typical and taken directly from Dishonored 2, but what gave the game its own voice was Billies abilities: Billie is given a new eye and arm that are directly connected to the Void. While she isn't branded with the Void abilities, her arm and eye give her new abilities. Displace allows her to place a shadowy figured at any place and teleport to it as long as its in sight (Blink but slower). Foresight stops time and allows Billie to see all around her and mark specific people or objects in the world. Semblance (by far the best new addition) allows Billie to look and sound like any unconscious person she attaches a mask to. New weaponry is also available, such as Voltanic Gun, Hook Mine and so on.
So, what does this all mean overall? To be fully honest, even hours after finishing the game and putting my notes to written form, I'm still unsure how best to put the game. I purposefully stealthed the game because, as previous experience tells, standalone releases of branded games are generally short. Stealthing gave me little over 4 hours of gameplay. If I did a high chaos run, it would be less, and admittedly, there's no point. While Dishonored 2 had Emily and Corvo to have a runthrough of both, here all it takes is one quick save, reload and sit through it all again to unlock both achievements. The replayability is next to nil, even for people addicted to the lore, as there is very little. Your decisions in Dishonored 2 aren't directly mentioned, your actions in Karnaca are completely avoided, and regardless of choice in the end, nothing truly changes. Three difference stills, a bit of dialogue and the game is over.
I had my issues with Dishonored's DLC, but its setting, pacing and tone perfectly matched what was going on in the game. It didn't reuse maps, it didn't release on its own, and they released at a quarter of the price with at least a few more hours of gameplay length. With Death of the Outsider, there's not much keeping me here, unless the die-hard achievement grinders wish to bump their score.
And I guess that's what's holding me back; this game is techincally good, but it lacks in a lot of areas. It shines in the voice acting, it shines in level design and graphics, but the story, the pacing, even the price itself, hold it down. It holds so much more potential, but I only wish it was a little longer, for stealth and hostile players alike.
Perhaps wait for a price drop, or a collection bundle of the entire series.
Death of the Outsider - 6/10
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