Dishonored 2: PC graphics performance benchmark review - What's the game about?

What's the game about?

The Dishonored series takes place in the fictional Empire of the Isles with the majority of Dishonored 2 set in the coastal city of Karnaca. After Empress Emily Kaldwin is deposed by an "otherworldly usurper", the player may choose between playing as either Emily or her bodyguard and father Corvo Attano as they attempt to reclaim the throne. Both Emily and Corvo employ their own array of supernatural abilities. They can alternatively decide to forfeit them altogether. There are a multitude of ways to succeed in each given mission, from stealth to purposeful violent conflict. Ideas for a sequel to Dishonored began while developing its downloadable content, which spawned the decision to create a voice for Corvo Attano after being a silent character in the first installment. Emily Kaldwin was first proposed as a playable character and brought about the advancement of the timeline. The design was influenced by paintings and sculptures. Set in the new fictional city of Karnaca, its history was invented over the course of one year. The city itself was based on southern European countries like Greece, Italy, and Spain, drawing on the architecture, fashion, and technologies of 1851.

The Story (wiki)

After playing as Empress Emily Kaldwin during the prologue of Dishonored 2, players can decide to play either as Emily or as Corvo Attano (the protagonist from the previous game). Players can choose whether to play stealthily or not, and can finish the game without taking a life.Dishonored 2 introduces non-lethal combat moves, and features the "chaos" system used in the first game. The player gains chaos by killing characters, representative of the player destabilizing the world. The game adds a new element to the system where, at the start of a mission, random non-player characters are procedurally assigned one of three states: sympathetic, guilty and murderous. Killing a "sympathetic" person will give the player more chaos than killing others, while in contrast killing a "murderous" character will give the player a lesser amount. The amount of chaos accrued affects the dialogue used by Emily and Corvo, as well as the world itself. Insects called "bloodflies" make nests in corpses, leading to an increase in bloodflies the more people are killed and encouraging the player to hide bodies from them while on a mission. Each level in the game is intended to have a unique "theme", in either "fiction or mechanic". In one level, the player is confronted with two factions each with their own assassination target, and may use the level's reoccurring dust storms for cover. In another, time distortion is introduced as the player traverses an abandoned mansion in ruins. The player is given a device that lets them glimpse into the past, where guards roam, and at-will shift into it. The player will be detected by guards if they peer out from behind a wall for too long.

Karnaca, capital of Serkonos, is a coastal city in the most southern part of the Empire of the Isles, often referred to as the "Jewel of the South". It is powered by wind turbines whose currents are generated by a cleft mountain situated at the city border. Silver, one of Karnaca's chief exports, is extracted from the local mines. Karnaca is rife with dust storms however, resulting from the wind blowing across the mines and into the city. Thus, the mining area has been named the "Dust District". There are two factions, Howlers and Overseers, engaged in violent conflict in the Dust District. A man called Paolo is leading the Howlers in opposition to the new Duke and his government, after the passing of Duke Theodanis Abele. The Grand Serkonan Guard, Karnaca's law enforcement and military, erected defensive barriers called Walls of Light in response to the disarray

 
 
 
 
Dishonored 2 is set fifteen years after the first Dishonored, wherein Corvo Attano restored Emily Kaldwin to the throne after being framed for her mother's assassination. Dunwall has prospered under the reign of Emily, who has been training with Corvo to protect herself from assassins. The Empire is plunged into chaos when the Empress is suddenly dethroned by an "otherworldly usurper", and becomes an outlaw to society. Whichever character the player picks is optionally granted powers by the mythical Outsider, and they set out to restore the throne.