Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Review

Version reviewed, Xbox One.

The Last Dishonored?

I'm not sure, honestly, if this is the last Dishonored or not. You never know, but I can tell you that so-far it's been my favourite Dishonored, even though it's a stand-alone expansion/DLC thing that I didn't see coming, not from a mile away. There must have been some spark regarding Megan Foster from Dishonored 2, she of the Dreadful Whale, because that's who you get to play as in the DLC - or rather Billie Lurk, who I adore.

Black-Eyed Bastard

Death of the Outsider takes place after the events of Dishonored 2. It focuses on a new plotline, yet the bad guys of the game are drawn from an existing faction in 2. I'm not going to tell you the rest of the story though, play it, find out for yourself. See, simply put, the BIG bad of Dishonored is the Outsider, as Daud puts it: that Black-Eyed Bastard.

He's at the root of all the ills in Dunwall, Karnaca and the rest of the world.

The boy that became a god.

The god that's going to die...

All that good stuff, wrapped up in a new slice of Karnaca from the second game.

More of the Same?

Dishonored, Dishonored 2 and now Death of the Outsider all bring something new to the table that is the feast of options known collectively as Dishonored. DotOS as it shall now be called casts you as former pupil of Daud's, Billie Lurk who still owns the Dreadful Whale and used to serve Daud as an assassin when he was at the height of his power. Needless to say, Lurk is a complex character with a rich backstory who slots right into Dishonored as though she's always been there, which of course, she has.

You could say that DotOS is more of the same, but what it does, it does with skill and finesse.

Dark Power, Dark Motives

Lurk has a new power set and whilst she's not as power-rich as Corvo or Emily, she has tricks up her sleeve that make her a lot more fun to play. The power set includes a neat ability called Foresight, which is kind of Astral Projection. Billie leaves her body for a while and can explore within a certain range, tag objects and guards, and generally snoop about. She can leave a Displacement marker to use later on and once she returns to her mortal body, the marked enemies show on the screen complete with their vision markers and so on.

It's a powerful ability and add to this Lurk's regenerating power meter, you're not spending every single moment hoarding your power afraid to spend it because there's no serum to restore it to hand. I find that I'm using these supernatural powers a lot more, and having a lot more fun doing so.

Displacement is kind of like the whole teleport/blink thing, only you can aim, set up a marker and then leave it until you want to displace to it later on. You need Line of Sight, but it lets you setup some neat evasion moves in combat and trick guards with a flick of Billie's wrist.

I've come up with neat ways to use this to circumnavigate areas and get to places where normally I'd have an issue getting to.

Then there's Face Off, Disguise-style. Billie can nick someone's face and wear it for as long as her power meter holds out. It's useful for getting into heavily guarded areas and walking right on by guards as a high ranking officer.

Lurk can also speak to rats, or rather, she can hear what they're saying. The rats are the stars here too, they have adorable voices and they can lead you to some interesting places if you just take the time to actually listen to what they have to say. I was led to a very interesting place by a rat's offhand comment, what I found there brings me to my next point too.

A Bleaker Setting

Karnaca from the second game was kind of glitzy, it had a glamour, a shine that Dunwall didn't have. What it was though, was a lie, it was hiding a seedy underbelly that lurked just out of view like a piece of rotting meat thrown down a drain. This is the true face of Karnaca, a cult-strewn, rancid hellhole that stinks of corruption and decadence. A place where there are so many dark deeps happening it's amazing the streets aren't just full of blood and death.

Well, they are now, but that might be Billie Lurk's fault.

No Chaos

There's no Chaos system in DotOS. There is a reason for it too, it boils down to who you're playing as. Corvo and Emily both have high stakes, high influence. Corvo, once Royal Protector, super assassin and badass, changes the fate of everything in his path. Emily, once Empress and student of Corvo, she has a direct influence in the world around her. Both of them are part of the tapestry of the world and the world reacts to their actions.

Billie isn't part of the big picture, she's a small fish in huge shark infested waters, her actions are nothing compared to the likes of Emily and Corvo so the world doesn't remember them. No matter how many bodies and bloody corpses she leaves behind. I find this pretty neat, refreshing and it certainly encourages me to be more creative/direct when things don't go my way as Billie Lurk.

Shiv and Stab, Slice and Mince

Dishonored 2's combat returns, not much has changed, but Billie is an accomplished fighter and her moves are brutal and vicious compared to the elegance of both Corvo and Emily. Lurk gets the job done and she doesn't care how she pops off a guy's head as long as the guy's head comes right off. The melee is just as good as Dishonored 2 and it hits all the right flow and rhythms.

Upgrades are available, and there's new tools in Billie's arsenal as well as some old favourites. The Black Market returns to allow you to turn your hard stolen cash into various gear and character upgrades, just like 2.

Bonecharms return, as does Bonecharm crafting.

There are now contracts, new little side missions in the main area. Do them, get rewarded at the end of the mission with a huge chunk of change to put towards new gear, upgrades, character upgrades and so on. You know the score by now.

Beautiful Aesthetics

You've heard it said about Dishonored 2, and how the aesthetics of the Dishonored games in general are great. DotOS is no exception, it's wonderfully dark and bleak in places, with a whole slew of visual storytelling packed into these new areas of Karnaca. It looks great, runs great, and plays really well.

Slick Death

The same can be said for the animations and the systems that run behind the scenes, under the hood in the engine. DotOS doesn't fix what's not broken and tunes the AI in combat a little more, giving them a few new tricks and making the game a challenge for the hardened Dishonored player. It all looks and moves pretty great, with Billie's combat moves as fluid as either Corvo or Emily's from D2.

The Blade Within the Voice

Top notch voice acting brings to life the crisp script in DotOS. As per usual, the voice work is spot on and Billie's VA delivers her lines with the same quality as they were in D2. Daud's return is great, and the gravel-tones delivered with such gravitas are back with vengeance.

Mood Music

A great score marks the third game with a little more melancholy, a lot more retrospection and definitely the same quality music as the first two games. DotOS transports you to the ruin-filled streets of Karnaca, amongst the guards, the nobles and the mysterious Eyeless.

A Final Stab?

If this truly is the final-final Dishonored game then it's a pretty good one to go out on, having all the nice new systems of D2 with a follow-on story and brand-new character is definitely worth the price of entry. The save/load system of D2 returns and the auto-saves are generous.

Give this a go if you are a fan of the last two games, even if you are suffering burnout from Dishonored 1 and 2. This game might be Dishonored, but it's refreshing and well done.

Honestly though, if this is a setup for new Dishonored where the rules of supernatural powers alter... I'm all for it, I love the regenerating supernatural power meter. More of that!