Dishonored 2 review: One of the finest stealth games ever made

Following 2016’s cataclysmically misguided protest-votes against the direction of 21st-century politics, many people’s thoughts have turned to the prospect of living in an authoritarian dystopia. So Dishonored 2’s arrival could not have been more timely.

Like the 2012 original, Dishonored 2 is a stealth-action game set in a steampunk game-world where swarms of armed guards, military robots and low-life gangs patrol the streets, while a privileged elite inflicts maximum cruelty on the masses.

The perfect fantasy-world, then, to immerse yourself in so as to escape the real world?

Is Dishonored 2 a stealth game?

As with the original game, Dishonored 2 demands a caveat: while it sets much store by allowing you to adopt whatever play-style you choose, its rigorous artificial intelligence systems render it pretty unforgiving, and if you don’t have the patience for stealth games, you’ll find it frustrating.

But if you liked the original game, you’ll love Dishonored 2, as it very much picks up where Dishonored left off: so much so that those who demand gameplay they have never before experienced will undoubtedly carp that it’s too similar to the original game.

However, this time around, its complex systems mesh so seamlessly that they gel into a whole which is disturbingly believable. Dishonored 2 is only a refinement of the first game, but every aspect of it has been refined to near-perfection.

Who can you play in Dishonored 2? Corvo vs Emily

The action starts 15 years after the events chronicled in Dishonored, with Emily Kaldwin – daughter of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin who was murdered at the start of the first game – installed as Empress, and reluctantly attending a state occasion to mark her mother’s murder.

Emily’s popularity has plummeted, however, due mainly to the suspicious murders of her most outspoken critics, at the hand of someone known as the Crown Killer. At the ceremony, a full-blown coup takes place, with someone calling herself Delilah Kaldwin, supposedly Emily’s older half-sister, assuming the throne, backed-up by some very impressive magic.

Bethesda

At the pivotal point of the coup, you must make a big decision: whether to play as Emily or her father Corvo Attano (the protagonist of Dishonored). In general, Emily is more mobile than Corvo but packs a lesser punch in combat, so is better suited to a stealthier play-style.

The main difference between the two lies in their magical powers. Although Emily has equivalent to some of Corvo’s most fundamental powers – Far Reach is her equivalent of Corvo’s short-teleport Blink move, and they share most of the powers which buff attributes like agility and strength – Emily has pretty flashy powers of her own, such as the ability to create a doppelganger and summon a swarm of rats.

Where is Dishonored 2 set?

Escaping the palace, you follow a lead to Dunwall’s docks and meet up with Meagan Foster, a ship’s captain who has been working with Anton Sokolov, genius inventor and friend of Corvo Attano. The pair head to Karnaca, a port city on the southern island of Serkonos.

Bethesda

Karnaca plays a starring role in the game: it is brilliantly realised, with more of a Mediterranean vibe than Dunwall (from the original game), but with just as much hostility towards the unwelcome: the areas which aren’t patrolled by guards or Clockwork Soldiers are in the hands of petty criminals called Howlers.

While Dishonored’s rat-plague has abated, a new epidemic has taken root in the form of Bloodflies, which are nasty, venomous bird-sized insects that have caused numerous buildings to be abandoned.

What really makes Karnaca a fine place in which to spend your virtual time is that, despite its overtly oppressive nature, it manages to be a bustling, vibrant place, whose population never mills around gratuitously – a common failing of open-world cities in videogames – but appears to be going about life in a plausible manner.

Bethesda

As with Dunwall, the environmental design is absolutely stunning: developer Arkane Studios has really gone to town with the steampunk vibe and you can find elevated and underground routes to just about anywhere.

How difficult is Dishonored 2?

Few games give you as many excuses to explore as Dishonored 2. As per the first game, you’re given a heart which pinpoints Runes, which allow you to acquire new powers and upgrade existing ones; and Bonecharms, which provide extremely handy perks, such as faster swordsmanship or brief invisibility after you perform a choke-takedown.

You can find side-missions which, on completion, slightly ease your path through the next main mission, and you can stock up on useful items in black market shops.

Bethesda

Gameplay-wise, Dishonored 2 is more or less identical to its predecessor, in that you’re trying to progress small distances through the city or various buildings, in the face of large amounts of enemies and obstacles which are essentially puzzles to be solved.

Some of those puzzles are top-notch: for example, the Clockwork Mansion, home to the evil Kirin Jindosh, who is assembling an army of Clockwork Soldiers for Delilah Kaldwin, is dotted with levers which reconfigure its interior. Even gaining entry to the building requires a fair bit of initiative, and reaching the specific parts of it in which you will find your targets involves plenty of head-scratching and a large number of assassinations. As in Hitman, Dishonored 2 more or less forces you to get to know its environments incredibly intimately.

Bethesda

It’s possible to play Dishonored 2 without taking a stealthy approach, but majoring on combat throws up extra challenges. At the end of each mission, you’re given a Chaos score, according to how many enemies you killed; if you left a lot of dead bodies in your wake, the game-world will become more chaotic as a result, with extra Bloodfly infestations and more guards.

What weapons and magic are in Dishonored 2?

There’s some great weaponry in the game, as well as some which is disappointingly weedy: you get a sword in your right hand, a pistol in your left, and a great crossbow which can be equipped with incendiary rounds and sleep-darts. But the grenades, claymores and mines are disappointingly clunky to deploy, and don’t pack that much of a punch.

Bethesda

Noise plays a huge part in your progress – as soon as you engage in a sword-fight, for example, any guards within earshot will come running, and you will quickly find yourself beset. Running and hiding can be a valid tactic. But focusing on improving your combat-oriented powers considerably evens the playing field. We found the stealth approach more satisfying, however.

If we were to highlight areas in which Dishonored 2 falls short, we would point at its graphics which, despite the superb art-direction, feel a bit muddy and lacking in crispness compared to those of recent games.

Bethesda

There were a couple of occasions when we got stuck due to the lack of a particular power: so it’s vital to perform manual saves frequently and to preserve some older ones so you can rewind and reshape your character if needs be. Essentially, in such circumstances, Dishonored 2 punishes you for skimping on the exploration, and it would be nice if you could reclaim your Runes and rearrange your loadout of powers.

Verdict

If what you seek from a game is a palpable air of intelligence, bags of character, a gloriously baroque storyline populated by deliciously venal characters and the chance to play in whatever style you see fit, you’ll love Dishonored 2.

Although it’s single-player only, it’s still extremely meaty – speed-runners could possibly play through in 12 hours, but you’re more likely to spend 20 hours if you put in a reasonable amount of exploration.

There will always be areas which escaped your scrutiny too. So, along with the ability to choose between two characters and wildly differing play-styles, it achieves levels of replayability seldom seen in a videogame.

Dishonored 2 may only be a refinement of its 2012 predecessor, but it’s a damn fine refinement that achieves near perfection. Indeed, it’s one of the finest games money can buy in 2016.

WhatsApp gets video calling at last, move over FaceTime

A feature that many have been requesting for years is soon to be added to WhatsApp: video calling.

Engadget reports that the Facebook-owned company will be introducing full video calling to its iOS, Android and Windows apps in the “coming days”.

You can already make voice calls over the internet using WhatsApp, just by tapping the phone icon in the top right-hand corner of chats, but in future that will also give you the option to start a video chat instead.

Like rival services, such as FaceTime, Google Duo and Skype, you might find the quality suffers a bit when not on Wi-Fi. In addition, you need to remember that a WhatsApp video call will use more of your data than a simple voice call. If you’re not on an unlimited data plan, that could zap your data allowance smartish.

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Some networks, including Virgin Media, offer free WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages, pics and video on its new 4G plans, but that doesn’t include voice or video calls, so you still need to be conscious of how much data you are using when not on Wi-Fi.

We’re not sure exactly when the new feature will hit this week, but considering Apple’s App Store refresh tends to happen on Thursdays, that could be a safe bet.

Jaguar’s first electric car is the I-PACE SUV

Jaguar has revealed its first ever all-electric car in Los Angeles, with the event being live streamed to the UK via HTC Vive VR headsets. Jaguar says the model shown is at concept stage for now, but will unveil the full-production model in late 2017 and will be on roads in 2018.

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From the name and looks, the I-PACE has taken inspiration from the F-Pace SUV, but the electric version offers more interior space thanks to there being no engine and no conventional transmission tunnel to accommodate.

The I-PACE is powered by a 90kWh Li-ion battery that Jaguar says is good for 500km. As and when you do need to recharge, you can get to 80 percent in 90 minutes and to full in just over two hours.

Power is sent to electric motors on the front and rear axles to deliver an instant 400PS and 700Nm of torque, so it won’t hang about at the lights, especially with a 0-60 time of 4 seconds. And of course, being electric, there’s zero emissions.

It’s all well and good having a fast, planet-saving car to drive, but you’ll want a nice place to sit whilst driving. Fortunately Jag has delivered, as the I-PACE interior looks to be one of the most technologically advance at the moment.

Jaguar has employed its ‘flightdeck’ approach, which puts all controls in ergonomic places so they’re easy to reach. Front and centre is a 12-inch TFT touchscreen display that shows car information, satellite navigation and infotainment. There’s a second 5.5-inch display along with two aluminium rotary dials, both of which have an HD screen built in. These are used to change climate control and the infotainment, without affecting what’s being displayed on the main 12-inch display.

The conventional instrument dials have been swapped out for a 12-inch HD virtual cluster and there’s a full colour heads-up display so you can always keep your eyes on the road.

The main 12-inch display can be controlled via an app for iOS and Android, but if you forget to download it at home, don’t fret, as the I-PACE has a Wi-Fi hotspot so you can download and stream on the go.

Jaguar hasn’t revealed pricing information for the I-PACE, that should hopefully come at the full reveal towards the end of next year, but expect it to be quite a bit more than the F-PACE’s £35,020 starting price.

Google Play Music gets smarter and much better looking

Google has begun rolling out an update for its Play Music music streaming service that introduces machine learning to deliver more accurate music recommendations.

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You’ll need to opt in to receive the recommendations, but when you go, Google will deliver music based on where you are and what you’re doing. For example, Play Music can see you’ve turned up at the gym and so will offer up workout playlists and upbeat music. Or if you regularly find and listen to the new releases on a Friday, Google will put them on the home screen to save you searching.

And if you want to listen to music but don’t have any signal, Google will automatically suggest music downloaded for offline playback.

Google has implemented its machine learning technology into Play Music, similar to the tech found in Google Photos and the new Google Assistant. Play Music won’t know what music to offer you right away, it will take a few days to really learn what you listen to and at what times of the day. But once it has, it could become a powerful tool and one that will help it compete with the giants such as Spotify and Apple Music.

The update is rolling out now to Android, iOS and the web player in 62 countries, so keep your eyes peeled.

Lyft’s Amp dashboard light signals your ride’s arrival

Unlike stealing someone’s cab, jumping into the wrong Lyft or Uber isn’t a jerk move, it’s usually just an embarrassing mistake for whoever does it. With that in mind, Lyft wants to make getting into the ride you hailed easier with a branded dashboard light called Amp. The device looks like a Bluetooth speaker along the lines of a Beats Pill: oblong and cylindrical, sitting on a base to keep it from sliding around a driver’s dashboard. But instead of playing music, the gizmo’s road-facing face will light up in one of six colors (teal, orange, silver, yellow or purple) while the rear can display blocky, personalized messages.

To eliminate guesswork of whether the car that pulled up in front of your apartment is your ride or not, the color of the Amp will change to match the hue displayed in the app on your phone. In that way, it’s similar to the SPOT system Uber tested in Seattle around this time last year.

The upgrade comes at a price, however, as Lyft’s iconic pink moustache is officially going the way of the dodo. The company says that Amp will be in cars in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City by New Year’s Eve, and that everyone else should see it by the middle of next year.

Jaguar introduces its first electric concept car

A world where the majority of vehicles on the road are electric is pretty much inevitable at this point. With that in mind, British luxury automaker Jaguar unveiled its first battery-powered vehicle at the LA Auto Show. But it’s not the coupe or touring car you would expect, instead the I-Pace concept is sort of based upon the company’s F-Pace SUV line.

While it may share some of the DNA of the automaker’s SUV, the I-Pace has been designed nearly from the ground up. Ian Callum, director of design for Jaguar said that not having to worry about an engine meant the cab could be expanded forward.

The result is a wide wheelbase and hood that’s shorter and more aggressive than the F-Pace. Plus, it has a sitting position that’s closer to the front wheels. And because it’s a concept car, instead of a typical metal roof, the passengers will be able to look up and see the sky thanks to a glass ceiling.

Of course the most important thing for anyone looking to purchase an electric vehicle is range. Jaguar says that it’s aiming for 220 miles between recharges. That puts it on par with the upcoming Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3.

The all-wheel-drive car is powered by motors on the front and rear axles that put out a combined 400 horsepower and 516 pounds of torque. While a 90kWh lithium-ion battery pack resides under the passenger compartment.

Callum said the company wanted to built an electric car without compromise. He noted that the design of the I-Pace “is the closest we’ve ever been to a production vehicle” for a concept car.

So what you’re seeing now, might be very close to what the company eventually introduces in late 2017 for purchase in 2018. Which if you’re a fan of Jaguar or just want an electric SUV that’s not the Model X, could be good news.

Source: Jaguar

US Army’s ‘Phaser’ could fry entire drone swarms in a volley

While the US military has enjoyed several decades of aerial dominance with few enemy fighter planes to shoot down, the emergence of ISIS drones presents a new threat to American ground troops. To combat swarms of these cheap, small dangers, the US Army is testing a new anti-air device that is designed to blow multiple UAVs out of the sky in a single shot. They call it the Phaser.

No, it’s not a Star Trek-style turret. The Raytheon-built “Phaser” is a microwave-emitting dish that sits atop a shipping container containing its diesel generator power source. It relies on external radar systems to track targets, then fires a burst of radiation powerful enough to fry control systems, enough to knock drones out of the air. While it’s functionally similar to radio-based anti-UAV systems like the rifle-style DroneDefender concept, the Phaser shoots a broad swathe of energy wide enough to catch several targets per shot.

The Phaser’s electronics-destroying capabilities means it isn’t just good at skeet-shooting drones — it can knock out anything with circuits. That means iPads, computers, targeting systems or even cars speeding toward checkpoints, Popular Mechanics points out. Think of it like an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), the shockwave emitted from nuclear explosions that disables electronics. As the demonstration video below mentions, the Phaser can modulate the intensity of the blast, choosing to disrupt activity or damage a machine’s computational innards.

The Phaser began testing in 2013 and has only recently become declassified. But further details, like maximum range, are understandably still hidden. As with most weapon concepts still in the test phase, it’s unclear if or when this system will see field deployment.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Aviation Week