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Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials
Score: 90%
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Arkane Studios
Media: Download/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action/Stealth

Introduction:
I found Dishonored to be a complete game. Hell, I gave the game the highest honor we can possibly bestow on a home release. It remains a masterpiece of stealth action, and it's one of the best games of its generation. Now that Dunwall City Trials is out, though, I see the one thing that it was really missing. If you don't know what this inexpensive add-on entails, just pick it up; it rather definitively completes the package.

Corvo's Playground:
Dishonored was linear, but open. The city of Dunwall offered numerous opportunities for main character Corvo Attano to play with his Outsider-gifted powers, but it always accommodated your play style. Dunwall City Trials is more focused, however, and tests each of these play styles.

So what is it exactly? As the name implies, it is a series of trials designed to test Corvo's combat prowess, mobility, stealth, and mental skills. These are essentially a group of Arkham City-esque challenges that ask different things of the player. There's unlockable concept art to view and leaderboards to climb. It fits right in with the gameplay style.


The Trials:
Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials features four distinct challenge types: Stealth, Combat, Mobility, and Puzzle. Of course, these are the four main pillars of gameplay in the original game; so these trials are designed to test your skills in each of these areas.

The Stealth challenges might ask you to eliminate a certain target in a house full of people. However, you must find the clues that identify the target before closing in on your quarry. The target changes each time, so you can't simply beeline for the woman in the blue maid's outfit. Another stealth challenge asks you to break into a house and rob the owner completely blind.

Combat challenges are fairly straightforward, though some of them feature special limitations. For example, Assassin's Run has you charging through a line of rooms filled with enemies armed only with a crossbow, and Oil Drop simply asks that you destroy the whale oil tanks as they fall.

Mobility challenges make heavy use of Corvo's Blink ability, but there's some variation here as well. One of these challenges simply requires that Corvo touches as many beams of red light as he can before the time runs out. Another has him racing to a specific goal. Yet another has Corvo racing to the bottom of a chasm while performing Drop Assassinations, which of course nullify falling damage.

Puzzle challenges are fast-paced, but require sharp thinking. One has Corvo using Bend Time to kill as many enemies as possible in one go, and another has him using environmental traps and special powers to build a chain of kills.


Value:
Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials is 400 Microsoft Points. That's five dollars. It's a reasonable price for a modest helping of quality content. You shouldn't need any reasons to return to Dishonored at this point, but if you do, here's one right here!

-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications
AKA Jon Carlos

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