Dishonored Developer Compares Linear Shooters with the Circus

One of the leading developers working on the Dishonored action stealth title has compared corridor-based shooters to a circus, only delivering empty spectacle even if most players are looking for meaningful gameplay experiences.

Raf Colantonio, the creative director working on Dishonored, told VG247 that, “For me as a gamer yes. I don’t know, I mean like, I think a lot of people at Arkane do love games that liberate and let you explore and experiment with systems. That’s better than moving down a line and just shooting things that are coming at you.”

He added, “But that’s OK and I understand why the industry does that in a way. It’s so hard to make games, and people want to invest their dollars in the things that are the most impactful, and put all of their dollars in special effects – it’s a circus – that’s why people do it.”

Colantonion acknowledged that some players only wanted to sit back and enjoy a well-produced show. Yet, he believes that most gamers are interested in expressing their own personality through choices.

Dishonored is a stealth-action game that allows the player to use six supernatural powers and a variety of items and weapons to solve a number of quests, either quietly or by going in guns blazing.

Main character Corvo can explore the city of Dunwall, based on a Victorian setting mixed with cyberpunk, and its outskirts.

I played Dishonored during E3 2012 and found a very deep game that allows the player to choose his own path at all times and that creates a satisfying balance between creeping around and violently executing enemies.

Dishonored is set to arrive on October 9 in North America and three days later in Europe and players can get it on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and the PC.