Dishonoured: Killing when you have an option not to.

[Cozmo1]

I have been playing dishonoured a lil bit and I have found myself wanting to avoid killing as much as possible. It is not because of the promise of a better ending but more because; if I was actually there doing this stuff, I wouldn't want to kill guards who are just doing their jobs. The overseers I saw differently however I was happy to kill them. In the first assassination there was the one bit where the guard is talking to a maid, then they mention they will be married: from then on my view on the enemies (city watch guards especially) was that they don't deserve to die just for existing. To me they were no longer just generic bad guys, but people.

Do others find this; that they don't just run around killing everyone. It is also how I see corvo's character, he doesn't seem like a blood thirsty socio path, so killing undiscriminatly pulls me from the immersion, as I don't believe he, as a character, would be doing that.

 

[The Scythian]

Guess it depends on how hard he took the Empress' assassination and his six months of torture.

 

[Zhukov]

I avoid killing whenever a game makes it a viable approach.

Unless of course I come across someone in particular need of a stabbing. In Human Revolution I didn't kill until I got to China and ran into some guys trying to force some chick to get augmented so she would be a more profitable prostitute. Then it was go-go-gadget fist chisels of doom.

In Dishonored I felt especially justified in not killing when I realised you can point the talking heart at generic enemy NPCs.

"He feeds a stray dog every night. He named her Billy."
"He has a lady friend as ugly and brutish as himself, but they are kind to each other."
"When not on duty, he searches for his younger sister, missing for a week now."
"He cared for his son as best he could, but the boy died of thick lung at the age of seven."

Yeah... I'll stick with sleep darts and chokeholds.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

I went out of my way to slaughter absolutely everyone. I love reverse pacifist runs, even if the game makes it harder. This one however rewarded me by cleaning up the bodies for me.

 

[Saladfork]

I haven't picked up Dishonoured yet (I will soon though) but my typical playstyle in most games is only killing people if I've got a good reason for it.

Loot, though, is a pretty good reason.

 

[Berithil]

I went through my first run, only killing enemies I felt deserved death, (or when I was surround and didn't have enough sleep darts). My 2nd run through I did a complete pacifist run, although unfortunately the Clean Hands trophy is bugged .

I lent the game to my brother for a little while, but when I get it back, I might go on a bloodthirsty rampage, just to see the high chaos ending.

 

[kyogen]

Do others find this; that they don't just run around killing everyone. It is also how I see corvo's character, he doesn't seem like a blood thirsty socio path, so killing undiscriminatly pulls me from the immersion, as I don't believe he, as a character, would be doing that.

That is pretty much how I see his character. I'm doing a pacifist run on very hard just for the challenge, but I generally think he'd kill some or all of his main targets since he's not just getting revenge for himself but also for the empress.

Don't know whether you ran across it, but there's a nice little touch in the game regarding overseers: they get their little moment of humanity too if you're in the right place at the right time.

Spoiler

As Corvo is escaping after dealing with Campbell, there's a little moment in one of the warehouses on the docks where one junior overseer/acolyte asks another to kill him because he knows he's got the plague and doesn't want to bleed from his eyes and lose his mind...and he also really doesn't want to infect anyone else. His friend doesn't want to believe him and tries to give him his own ration of elixir instead, but the guy knows he's terminal. His friend makes it as quick as possible, but he's really broken up about it.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Oh was mostly going for a non-lethal playthrough except with assassins and some Overseers. Seriously, fuck those guys they're such dickheads.

As for non-lethal assassinations (wut?) I would go for them if it seemed reasonable. The time in the Golden Cat was weird. The one target was literally right there whoring it up. Well I say "whoring"

He was just talking a load of politics with this whor- sorry courtesan. (That's how his brothel time is spent apparently.) I just watched for a bit and snuck back out... Seems a bit off to infiltrate a building then leave with zero deaths

The one exception was with the party mission... God. That non-lethal option is worse than death, I checked it out and my creepy stalker vibe turned out to be right on the mark.

Yeah. Lady Boyle's last party... Oh the weird, creepy and disturbing implications of that non-lethal option just keep on coming!

It's not even the useful type of creepy stalker either! This one just throws you into a basement and dedicates a shrine to you. What happened to the good old days where your stalker saves your life a few times then bolts you to a chair and drugs the shit out of you?

Honestly, stalkers these days! No class!

 

[Erttheking]

In Dishonored I felt especially justified in not killing when I realised you can point the talking heart at generic enemy NPCs.
.

You can do that? Huh, there's something to try out.

 

[Rawne1980]

Did a minimal killing run (couldn't be bothered with full non lethal, fools kept falling off/into things when I hit them with a tranq dart so I killed a few) and now i;m on a "kill EVERYTHING" run.

 

[krazykidd]

Guess it depends on how hard he took the Empress' assassination and his six months of torture.

This . Kill everyone . No mercy . Payback tenfold .

 

[dyre]

Yeah, the guards obviously don't deserve death. One of the very first guards openly states that he liked the empress, and (since he thinks I/Corvo killed her), he's happy that I was going to be executed. These guys aren't even guilty of the "we're just taking orders" excuse; they're really being misled to believe that I murdered the empress.

The overseers are a bit less likable, but as far as I can tell, their main agenda is combating the Outsider, which is a position I can totally understand after reading some of the diaries of people who've been in contact with the Outsider.

I even spared some of the people responsible for the Empress' murder if I felt the non lethal option was in fact a better was to punish them. Sometimes it just felt better to just shove a knife up their throat though.

I actually tried starting a violent playthrough after my mostly pacifist run, but I couldn't go through with it >_>

This one just throws you into a basement and dedicates a shrine to you. What happened to the good old days where your stalker saves your life a few times then bolts you to a chair and drugs the shit out of you?

Is that really what he does? I couldn't figure out what exactly he planned to do with her, but I figured it beat dying D:

 

[Compatriot Block]

I avoid killing whenever a game makes it a viable approach.

Unless of course I come across someone in particular need of a stabbing. In Human Revolution I didn't kill until I got to China and ran into some guys trying to force some chick to get augmented so she would be a more profitable prostitute. Then it was go-go-gadget fist chisels of doom.

In Dishonored I felt especially justified in not killing when I realised you can point the talking heart at generic enemy NPCs.

"He feeds a stray dog every night. He named her BIlly."
"He has a lady friend as ugly and brutish as himself, but they are kind to each other."
"When not on duty, he searches for his younger sister, missing for a week now."
"He cared for his son as best he could, but the boy died of thick lung at the age of seven."

Yeah... I'll stick with sleep darts and chokeholds.

But then there's the policeman with the heart quote,

"When his cousin turned down his unwanted advances, he sent a squad to beat her to death."

 

[ResonanceGames]

I did a stealth/only kill when necessary playthrough first, and now I'm doing a homicidal madman playthrough. After that will be ghost/zero fatality playthrough.

So far I'm finding genuine strengths and validity in every method I've attempted. The game really is flexible enough to cater to many different approaches.

 

[Arina Love]

I only play one series of games trying not to kill anything and it's metal gear solid. In everything else i kill everyone.

 

[RJ 17]

Haven't played Dishonored yet, but I've actually thought about this while playing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

Think of all the guards on patrol and stationed at positions. I understand that The Templars run everything and yadda yadda, but surely not every single one of the guards is on the take. Their supriors told them to look out for a dangerous man - and Ezio was surely dangerous - and so they're doing their jobs.

Buuuuuuuut you can call me a horrible person. Because the thought of a group of guards standing in a square and shootin' the breeze, probably talking about family and good times, just makes it all the more entertaining when combined with the thought of some madman in a white getup running from out of nowhere and for absolutely no reason crushes the skull of one of the guards before going on to slaughter the other three. >:3

Imagining that the guards are just 9 to 5 workers trying to make a living and support a family makes it seem like Ezio is a total prick for killing guards that need not be killed. I enjoy it for the same reason I enjoy playing Renegade Shep. For that reason, when I finally do get my hands on Dishonored, I'd imagine there'll be little to stop my very bloody revenge.

 

[lacktheknack]

I adore pacifist runs. I have a perfect streak in the original Splinter Cell, minus the two story-related assassinations, and mostly avoid the baddies even knowing I'm there. That means no knocking people out unless I honestly have no way past.

Same with Mirror's Edge. I have it down to five KO's, and one (story related) kill.

So, when I have the money to get Dishonored, I will be playing a total pacifist run. Total. Pacifist.

 

[Denamic]

I'm not a pacifist. I enjoy dismembering shit as much as the other guy. But for whatever reason, in stealth games, I practically always go for a nonlethal playthrough, never killing anyone unless I have to to advance the story. Feels more badass.
Of course, I never get detected either.