Dishonored is a first-person stealth and action game with elements of role-playing. It is set in the fictional industrial city of Dunwall in 1666, modeled after the London of the Victorian era, but mixed with a futuristic vision with magical and steampunk elements. Players take the role of Corvo Attano, Royal Protector of the Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, who is framed for murder and the abduction of Emily, the daughter of the empress. This leads him to seek revenge and assassinate those who conspired against him. The game consists of a series of assassination missions that can be completed through pure violence, pure stealth, or a mix of both. Corvo has access to various weapons, supplemented with magical abilities by the being The Outsider. Each mission offers various non-linear approaches and many of these are found by exploring the environment. With special attention to stealth, it is possible to complete the game in a non-lethal manner. Large parts of the game are spent exploring with a focus on verticality, so Corvo can jump, slide, sneak, sprint, lean, mantle and swim. Melee attacks are performed through the right hand, with various weapons used to stab, slash, block and parry. Staying undetected with stealth kills fills up an adrenaline gauge that makes combat more effective. On the other hand, brutal and open attacks trigger a chaos system that causes more patrols to appear, rats swarm the environment and NPCs can even start attacking each other, disrupting all serenity in the game and the characters' actions. This also affects conversations and quests. Certain side missions can lower the chaos setting, but it can be avoided altogether by hiding bodies or preventing alarms from being activated. Stealth skills include aerial attacks, slitting throats, sleeper holds and tranquilizer darts for rendering a character unconscious. The stealth system is based on occlusion; hiding behind objects and staying out of the field of vision. The lighting is of lesser importance. Stealth can also be used to eavesdrop on conversations and gain information about characters and their motives before planning a route of attack. Corvo can be revealed through sound, but he can also use it to his advantage to lure away others. Guards have various stages of awareness that influence their responses.
