This first person shooter/role-playing game hybrid, takes far too long to get to actual gameplay.  Some of the missions in Dishonored seem completely pointless (playing hide and seek with a little girl).  The inability to change your characters appearance and armor is a downer.

Now that we have the short list of bad qualities out of the way let’s get to the good stuff.  Dishonored is one of the best games of the year, or any year.  You play as Corvo Attano, protector to the Empress who in the intro to the game is assassinated.  You are then framed for her murder and will spend the rest of the game trying to clear your good name.

Where Dishonored really becomes its own game is the freedom it provides you with, both in where you want to go, and what kind of character you would like to be. With an assortment of weapons, primarily sword, crossbow or gun based, you can decide to kill your enemies or just render them unconscious.  The choice you make will affect the gameplay, and lead to a different ending as well.

Weapons aren’t the only things you will be using to complete the nine missions in Dishonored.  There are ten special upgradeable abilities as well such as Blink, which is a teleportation power, and Dark Vision, which makes you able to see enemies through solid objects.

There are two main ways to play Dishonored: in ninja-like stealth, or as an all-out brawler.  Either choice can get you through the game, but utilizing stealth as a tactic does make gameplay a bit more challenging.

Another thing that really makes Dishonored stand out is that it’s just a beautiful game.  Imagine watching a bright oil painting come to life.  The features of characters at times stand out a bit (hands too fat, heads too big), but this only adds depth to the fantasy world.

If you can forgive generic plotlines and predictable dialogue, what really makes Dishonored worth your time is the gameplay itself.  You are sure to spend countless hours the smoothly detailed environments of Dishonored; traversing the sewers, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and deciding what method to route enemies with.  With an atmosphere of magic and industrialization, Dishonored gives players a kind of freedom that seems to have been missing from popular video games for quite some time now.