Review for Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/09/2017
God is dead. One of the most famous phrases in the history of humanity, quoted countless times. Nietzsche wanted to give it a very precise meaning, namely that of erecting the figure of man as being detached from any metaphysical entity. The boys of Arkane Studios, developing the spin-off of the saga of Dishonored: Death of the Outsiderinstead, they have interpreted this statement as literally as possible, giving rise to an adventure whose purpose is precisely to kill a deity.
It is not the first time that a topic of this kind has been tackled in the videogame world, just look a few years back (or forward) and admire God of War: here, however, the concept is reworked and experienced in a totally different way, much less epic and more human .
Dishonor and Deicides
The death of the Outsider takes place after the second chapter of Dishonored, at the end of the conspiracy against Emily Kaldwin. We will play the role of Billie Lurk, assassin already known to those who are not new to this saga. As lethal and silent as she is dedicated to her missions, Billie will start her new journey in search of her mentor and teacher Daud, killer and murderer of the Empress Jessamine. He will find a man in the throes of guilt for all the dirty deeds committed during his existence but not for this empty or without purpose: Daud is very clear what he will be his goal before leaving the world, which is to kill the Outsider, considering him the only real responsible for the chaos that reigns in the world and creator / misleader of the rotten minds that worship him. Knowing that this is not a cheap feat involves Billie, well aware of what the woman is capable of.
According to the duo, however, there is only one weapon capable of ending the life of this entity, namely the dagger that helped to create it and, to obtain it, they will have to face the sect of the Orbs, worshipers of the same Outer. Before launching into the search, however, Billie also comes into possession, (inexplicably), of the gifts conferred only on individuals deemed interesting by the Outsider, at the cost of an eye and an arm. Without asking too many questions, both would-be deicides will get busy, wandering the streets of Karnaca, in search of the artifact, determined more than ever to fulfill their purpose and achieve Oblivion.
Interesting element, also present in the other chapters of the saga, are the small subplots and stories developed through the documents that can be found during our comings and goings. Sculptors of bone amulets, witches, smugglers, hunters, men of the Abbey of Man Anyone contribute to an excellent characterization of the setting, the context, as well as the main characters themselves.
All this, combined with a very refined level design, only makes it a pleasure to wander the streets of the kingdom of Empress Kaldwin. Precisely about the structure of the settings there is a small note to do: although Billie will have the classic powers of the saga, the environments will allow, if desired, to complete the missions even without making excessive use of superhuman abilities, making more varied the possibilities of approach to the game.
Silence and death
From the point of view of the game mechanics, we will find one lighter version of Dishonored 2. The use of the skills given to us by the Outsider will still depend on the mana but this will recharge itself over time, no longer with the appropriate items. At the same time, the character evolution system will no longer be present: we will no longer have to choose skills to be activated as we progress through the game, everyone power ups will be available either at the Black Market, in which we will have to spend our earnings, or by finding the classics Bone Amulets scattered throughout the levels.
To fill Billie's pockets, to be emptied at the Black Market, the developers have included the Contracts: these are nothing more than secondary missions to be completed during the main vein of the plot. For example, Billie will be required to kill a certain target, destroy the stocks of a certain substance and so on: the tasks will be very varied and completing them will give excellent benefits, as well as helping to increase the longevity of the title which, being a stand alone expansion, it is quite poor.
In addition to the power ups we will be able to count on our ever-present blade, on the various bullets of the secondary weapon placed on Billie's left glove and of course, on the powers of the Outsider. These will be fully available from the first hours of the game: we can then sneak up behind an enemy in a flash with the use of Displacement, turn into a stunned opponent with Simulation and so on.
The colors and sounds of the empire
The title is entirely localized in Spanish: from game interfaces to dubbing. The latter deserves an honorable mention as the actors manage to give greater depth to the characterization of the characters with their voice, especially to the main characters of the story.
Also good are the sound effects that will help us a lot during the stealth exploration of the scenarios, perhaps avoiding unwanted comparisons (sometimes too much). On the other hand, a real soundtrack is missing: in fact there will be no songs to accompany us during our adventures: only us and the environment that surrounds us.
The graphics sector is along the lines of the last chapter main of the saga: the textures are not very detailed by today's standard but this does not however affect the great work done in the creation of the game environments, all developed through the Void engine.
The death of the outsider is a project that has fully satisfied the objectives set. Although it is not a main chapter of the Dishonored series, it is still an important piece of it both for narrative reasons and in terms of gameplay. It is a drier and more immediate version of Dishonored 2 but this does not mean that it lacks content or commitment on the part of the developers, indeed it almost seems that Arkane Studios has instilled even more grit into making it. Obviously it must be judged without the claims of a carrier title, which is why the longevity is actually reduced compared to them. But focusing on quality rather than quantity, Death of the Outsider is definitely a winning spin-off experiment, great for those approaching the saga gameplay for the first time and fun for fans, who joined the series at the time of Corvo Attano.
► Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is an Action-type game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/09/2017
