Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - backup assassin. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - spare assassin Presentation of the Creation Club service for modifications

Arkane's creative director talks about the expansion's plot, Billie Lurk's new abilities, and feminist criticism.

Gambling addiction https://www.site/ https://www.site/

In developing

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is a standalone expansion for Dishonored 2. It does not require the main game installed, so it can be purchased separately. For fans of the series, the situation is unusual: similar add-ons for the first part, which also gave a different look at the familiar world, were tied to the original game. But this time Arkane decided to build on the basis of Dishonored 2 new game approximately half as long as its predecessor.

And while in the first part of the DLC we played as Daud, the head of a group of assassins, in the second this role went to Billie Lurk, his student, directly related to the plot of the main game. It is on her ship, if you remember, that Corvo or Emily sail from mission to mission. In the addition, she also gains the abilities of the Abyss, and the main goal sounds almost impossible: we are going to kill the Alien.

Without chaos system

During QuakeCon 2017, we asked Harvey Smith, creative director, about how Billy differs from previous protagonists and whether it’s even worth killing off the most mysterious character in the series. Arkane Studios Austin.

- Hello, Harvey! The main thing I would like to start with is: will the decisions made in Dishonored 2 affect the plot of Death of the Outsider? And at what point does the plot of the add-on begin?

Harvey Smith: No, they won't. We chose the canon ending for us: Emily was the main character, and she helped Billie Lurk. If we talk about other characters, then some of the heroes of the second part will remain alive, and some will die (I won’t spoil it here). This is what we started from. The expansion begins a couple of months after the events of Dishonored 2. You will visit already familiar locations and completely new ones.

— How independent is the story? How will newbies understand what's going on?

Harvey Smith: For beginners, we tried to sort out the entire mythology of Dishonored. If you missed something, don't worry - one way or another, you will come across it in the future. And even half of the content found will be enough to understand what is happening. And for those who have not played Dishonored, we have made video tutorials. Now you don’t need to read them: you just press the button and watch the video, it’s very convenient.

— How long will it take to complete the game? How many missions does it have?

Harvey Smith: It's a standalone game, meaning you don't need Dishonored 2 to play the expansion, but it's still shorter than the second game. For most players, the passage will take about eight hours. It's hard to say how many missions there are in the expansion, because the concept of missions in the Dishonored series is a bit unusual. By the way, for variety, we added a contract system to the game. Billie Lurk is an assassin, so there is always a job for her in her specialty on the black market.

— So the chaos scale no longer matters?

Harvey Smith: There is no more chaos system, because Billy Lurk was originally an assassin. Corvo was the bodyguard, and Emily was the empress. They might have different beliefs.

— Is it possible to complete the expansion without committing a single murder?

Harvey Smith: Many fans wrote: "Please don't make me kill the Alien, I love him." Well, spoiler alert: You don't have to kill the Alien, just like any other target in previous games. And, as is tradition, there's a lot of tactical freedom in the game: the level design team did a great job creating a variety of paths to progress through. Even though the chaos scale is gone, the game can still be completed without killing a single person.

— We heard that Emily Kaldwin appeared in the second part largely thanks to activists like Anita Sarkisyan. The heroine of the add-on, Billie, is also a woman. Is this a conscious step towards gender equality?

Harvey Smith: I especially love Russian audiences because they crave a more detailed explanation, unlike Americans who want a very direct answer. Anita Sargsyan's criticism is very important to us. In the first Dishonored, all the women were really either prostitutes, or maids, or witches, with the exception of the dead empress and the little girl, who also didn’t decide much. Therefore, we wanted women to play more different roles in the second part, as in real world. But we had thought about making Emily the protagonist before.

Anita's criticism partly influenced this decision, and it is a useful criticism. But honestly, I don't think Billie became the main character just because of that. I've always loved Billie Lurk herself - she's one of the most interesting characters in the entire series. Of course, it is important to develop representation so that as many people as possible see that it is possible to step out of the roles prescribed by society. But Billy is just great! We recognized that black women were underrepresented in video games, and we're taking a step in that direction, but it's more of a nice side effect.

— How will the appearance of a new heroine affect the atmosphere and mood of the game?

Harvey Smith: Billy has a very strong personality and is different from previous protagonists. Corvo turned out to be quiet, because he had been sitting in the palace for the last ten years. Emily was born into royalty and is a much more privileged person. And Daoud was an old killer full of regrets.

Billie is different: she grew up on the streets of Dunwall during its most terrible times. Dowd raised her like a father, and Billie took over his agency. She is tired of loneliness and wants to find her old mentor so that life can find meaning again. At the beginning of Dishonored 2, Billie is broken, but by the end of the story she has the strength to take the reins into her own hands again. She clearly knows what she wants, and this is one of the reasons why the new protagonist will feel very different.

More than six months have passed since the release of Dishonored 2, and only now the Arkane team has announced the release of new content.

Having dealt with my other release, - - the developers immediately moved on to the story of Corvo and Emily, which, oddly enough, actually turned out to be completed. The main character the mercenary Billie Lurk, who is already familiar to players from the original story, will become.

At the last conference, Bethesda demonstrated a trailer for the add-on for , which was called Death of the Outsider, or “Death of the Alien.” As you can easily guess from the title (and the contents of the trailer), we have to fight significant character series, which endowed players with supernatural abilities.

The girl Billie Lurk, who went to Karnaca to atone for her sins, will have to face a dangerous enemy. There she met an old friend Daoud, with whom she decided to take on the “murder of the century.”

According to , Death of the Outsider will introduce new abilities and finishing moves, as well as a ton of guns and gadgets that Billy Lake simply cannot cope without.

So, she will have to win the battle with the sisters of the Order of Oracles, fight with the invulnerable Seers and with the Eyeless thugs who serve the Alien. And she also expects a bank robbery and, in fact, a duel with the Alien himself. The add-on will go on sale on September 15, 2017.

Video: Dishonored Death of the Outsider trailer

The standalone expansion Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is inferior to the second part in a number of aspects, and the most significant change is the new main character. Nevertheless, this is a quality project, worthy of attention fans of Arkane Studios.

Death of the Outsider will pleasantly surprise those users who have not been tracking the update process of Dishonored 2. The add-on offers flexible difficulty settings beyond the four basic levels. It is allowed to change even the behavior and number of opponents, or the strength of healing elixirs. In the sequel, similar things appeared a lot after the release.



In addition, the addition immediately pleases with excellent optimization with a stable frame rate, including during battles involving a squad of enemies. Sometimes it is noticeable that the authors have made concessions, since the lighting is not as impressive as in the second part, and low-resolution textures are found here and there. But the compromises are only visible upon closer inspection.

In Death of the Outsider we return to the sun-drenched streets of the city of Karnak, located in the south of the "Island Empire". It's natural that developers rely on familiar images with a combination of strange technologies and bizarre architecture. However, when it comes to design, Dishonored belongs to the category of rare exceptions that are not at all annoyingly secondary. This world fascinates with the luxury of the homes of the rich and the devastation of the slums, and the consequences of brutal torture do not leave you indifferent. Even a repeat visit to the Observatory does not fall out of the overall picture, thanks to new touches in the design.

This time the protagonist is a dark-skinned lady known as Billie Lurk, a student of the assassin Daud, the hero additions The Knife of The Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches for the original Dishonored. He is also the assassin of Empress Jessamine. The heroine’s already middle-aged mentor believes that one of the reasons for the problems and the proliferation of cultists is the Outsider (Alien, according to domestic localizers). Dowd assigns Billy a seemingly impossible task. She must find and eliminate a powerful being endowed with divine power.

Billie is ready for trouble, and her standard set of blade and gadgets comes with extraordinary abilities. The heroine does not just teleport from place to place. She first creates a projection of herself invisible to others, and then moves to this point at any moment.

Of course, it’s worth looking around first. To do this, Billy uses an analogue of a reconnaissance drone with the ability to hover in the air, mark enemies and important objects, or set a point for teleportation. If you manage to literally steal the face of a guard or an ordinary passer-by, then for some time the guards do not notice the assassin. Finally, Lurk understands the speech of the rats, and the latter share with her information of varying degrees of usefulness.

The energy reserve for activating superpowers is fully restored automatically, and there is no longer any need to collect the corresponding flasks. Once you take a short break, you are again allowed to confuse your opponents through sudden movements, look through potentially dangerous areas and pass by security posts without fear of being detected.

This does not mean that the passage turns into a mockery of soldiers and clergy. Billy does not have any ultimate skills in his arsenal that would allow him to kill everyone in seconds or to walk around under the noses of the villains for as long as he likes. Stunning and deadly grenades, mines and several types of ammunition quickly run out if used incorrectly, and there are no easily accessible sources of replenishment.




The game keeps you interested in finding workarounds, and the desire to take a better look around in most situations is rewarded with a chance to avoid unnecessary problems. True, the key missions clearly illustrate the fact that this is a relatively inexpensive addition, and this is not only due to the reduced number of alternative passages. It's more of a concentrate of the core ideas of Dishonored 2 mechanics, but without unexpected surprises like the "clockwork mansion" or time travel. Even the new enemies resemble a fantasy version of robots. In Death of the Outsider, there are thoughtful methods of dealing with victims and secondary tasks, delicately woven into the overall outline, but among them there is nothing that would cause delight. Just a job well done.

The “chaos” system has come under the knife, and the ending depends solely on the discovery of certain clues related to the final goal. There is also no system for developing skills, just like different options pumping, and almost all techniques are mastered after the introduction. Forget about runes. The heroine collects only amulets, which mostly affect passive indicators. It is logical that there are fewer incentives for replaying here than in the adventures of Corvo and Emily.

As compensation, “Contracts” are offered - optional orders with interesting conditions. They are asked to either stage the suicide of a street mime, or to kidnap a bartender from under the noses of visitors and carry the body to a specified point, bypassing opponents, or they are forced to act as secretly as possible and not touch anyone. Sometimes you can’t do without tricks. A great reason to stay in this world longer and at the same time earn money for upgrades to increase the capacity of your pockets or reduce the noise from steps. Without too much haste, you can actually get to the credits (on maximum difficulty) in about six hours.

In New Game+ mode, Billy is given three skills from Dishonored 2. It's a pity, but these are traditional teleportation, the ability to see enemies through walls and "Domino", which links several people in a chain, and the death of one means the death of all.

The plot switches either to a story about the relationship between Billy and Daud, or to reflections on the role of the Alien in the misfortunes that befell the empire. The characters willingly utter meaningful phrases about life, death and eternity, but are in no hurry to reveal their characters. The authors, obviously, much prefer to write diaries and notes scattered across locations and revealing the universe. With this addition, everything is great. The plot, in turn, remains a secondary addition.




Diagnosis:

Death of the Outsider has all the ingredients to attract fans of the series. These are well-developed levels that combine spacious streets with multi-story buildings that look like labyrinths, a hero with new skills, and nice graphics included. The add-on does not indulge in a well-thought-out story and relies more on excellent mechanics with plenty of opportunities for silent passage or reprisals against villains with particular cruelty. For those who like to be creative, there are “Contracts”. This project is not intended to impress with outstanding ideas. But it does provide a new playground with thoughtful challenges.

  • Exciting missions, Dishonored mechanics work flawlessly
  • A new hero with his own abilities
  • A number of well-researched “Contracts”
  • Excellent optimization

Contra:

  • Mediocre plot that doesn't develop interesting characters
  • Lack of skill development negatively impacts incentives to repeat


First impressions of the game can be found from the 45th minute of the podcast

Today's Bethesda event wasn't what everyone thought it would be. Read our article about what the eminent company showed and what it didn’t show!

Bethesda didn't put on as much of a show at E3 this year as fans expected. Instead of an hour-long presentation, we received only 40 minutes, and the host of the event, the permanent head of the PR department, Pete Hines, just said hello and goodbye to the audience.

The show was made in the style of the expected RPG in the open world Starfield, which will take place in space, but the game itself was not available. Branding and everything else was prepared, but since there was no game, Bethesda canceled everything at the last moment. We won't know the reasons anytime soon, but there is some good news - all the games shown will be released this year.

Announcement of Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

The announcement of this project was planned last year, but we had to wait a whole year. Events of the sequel Wolfenstein: The New Order developing in different US states in 1961. The murder of the Skull did not prevent the Nazis from occupying the planet, and it depends only on the actions of B.J. Blashkovich whether there will be hope for freedom or not.

IN Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus will introduce new abilities, such as a reinforced suit, as well as enemies, such as cyborgs and improved versions of super soldiers. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus will be released on October 27, 2017 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Read more details.

The Evil Within 2 announcement

Another interesting announcement- this is a sequel The Evil Within. The second part has retained the spirit of the original, should get rid of the shortcomings of the first game and, it seems, will be even scarier.

The magnificent trailer, which combines cinematic graphics, gameplay and story inserts, also attracts attention. The game will be released on October 13, 2017 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Read more.

Announcement of additions for Dishonored 2

We didn’t ignore last year’s Dishonored 2. For her, Arkane Studios has prepared the first story addition called Death of the Outside. The player will see the union of the notorious Billie Lurk and the legendary killer Daud, who want to kill the Alien. Other details are unknown.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider will be available on September 15, 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Screenshots for your attention, and some other details about this add-on can be found.

Presentation of the Creation Club service for modifications

The idea of ​​Creation Club is to make modifications universal and work on any platform - PC, PS4 and Xbox One, as well as stable - the developers will help mod lovers with solving some technical problems.

Learn more about this functionality Fallout 4 and Bethesda employees explained Skyrim Special Edition in detail and sensibly in the following video:

New hero, gameplay and arena for Quake Champions

Bethesda doesn't forget about its MOBA shooter Quake Champions, which is clearly positioned as an Overwatch, Tianfall and Team Fortress killer. During E3, she revealed Blazkowicz as one of the available heroes, as well as game process. The latter looks in the spirit of classic Quake and leaves no chance for players with poor reflexes and slow attention:

You can find out about the new arena, as well as the $1,000,000 prize pool from Bethesda, which will be awarded at QuakeCon 2017. Final version Quake Champions will be released before the end of this year, but the developers are keeping the exact release date secret. However, anyone can participate in the closed beta test.

Announcement of the VR version of Doom for HTC Vive

It may be surprising, but Bethesda believes such a fast-paced game can be brought to virtual reality. It's all about control - you can move in this version of Doom only through teleports, which seriously slows down the gameplay and prevents you from quickly killing a large number of enemies.

Bethesda showed off Skyrim gameplay for Switch

IN Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim for Nintendo Switch includes new game features - controlling the movement of controllers in battle and while picking locks, new costumes and equipment from The Legend of Zelda.



Preference