Developer Arkane Studios reveals that players can complete the forthcoming action-stealth titleDishonored 2without ever killing a single person in the game.
As many fans ofstealth video gameswill attest, being able to completely “ghost” a title—that is, play through it without killing or being noticed by anyone—is an imperative feature to have, and thankfully, when it comes to the forthcoming release ofDishonored 2, Arkane Studios has kept the idea in mind. When speaking to PlayStation Access at Quakecon 2016, the game’s Creative Director Harvey Smith discussed several aspects ofDishonored 2, most notably talking about the level design, as well as the new and various ways players can take on each of the missions, including how fans can remain low profile and play through the release without having blood on their hands.
Although Smith didn’t explicitly state that fully “ghosting” throughDishonored 2is a possibility, as there was no mention of being able to remain entirely unseen by any character or key target, he did confirm that fans can play asthe dual protagonists Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwinand beat the game without killing a single person at all. Those interested in the Creative Director’s statements on the matter and the entire interview can find them both in full below.
“Each mission is like a mini open-world, right? That’s what we like, we like to do the mission style so we can leave it behind and go to a totally new setting, but while you are in it, it’s very open and non-linear. You can play high-chaos or low-chaos, even as Corvo, you can invest in one set of powers or another set of powers. You can play very violently, or very stealthily. You can literally play without killing a single person.”
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Although the news of having this feature inDishonored 2shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of the franchise since the first entry in the series had it, it’s definitely nice to know that Arkane Studios is not doing away with it. After all, it would be a bizarre move on the developer’s part to eliminate such a popular component of the original. Of course, while it would be dispiriting if the company did remove the choice to have a no kill playthrough, it’s possible that the game’sfresh and deadly combinations of supernatural abilitiescould have made up for its exclusion.
While continuing the interview with PlayStation Access, Smith went on to reveal thatDishonored 2will also have a mode called “Flesh and Steel.” According to the Creative Director, its intent is to give hardcore players an added wrinkle of difficulty by completely removing the ability to use either Corvo’s or Emily’snew powers.
Bearing all of this in mind, it seems as if Arkane Studios is prepared to give fans of the first title exactly what they want and then some withDishonored 2, by building on the original’s solid framework of stealth, magic, and intrigue to bring even more gameplay elements tothe title’s setting of sunny Karnaca. Looking forward, it’s highly likely that fans will have plenty of reasons to play through the game more than once.
Dishonored 2is set to release on July 09, 2025 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
