Favorite Game Trailer: Dishonored's Debut Trailer

Bethesda Entertainment's Dishonored was first announced through this cinematic trailer. Though the trailer does not contain any in-game footage nor gameplay, it provides it's audience with enough information to understand the game's mechanics, world, and genre.While most cinematic game trailers focus on its plot and characters, Dishonored takes it an extra step to provide the viewer with an almost complete understanding of the game's features at a time when there was no more information available.

It begins with the introduction of the protagonist, Corvo Attano, the imprisoned bodyguard of an Empress for which he was framed for her murder. He is approached by a shadowy stranger whom gives him the power to change his fate and reveal the truth. We are subtly introduced to the game's motif of rats.

The trailer cuts to a shot of the city of Dunwall, a large steam punk-esque city with Victorian architecture devastated by a plague and introduces us to one of the games motif, rats. In-game rats appear more frequently if the player decides on a lethal play-style, and are used to represent that the player is leading towards a bad ending and that the player's carnage is spreading the plague. We are then introduced to guards, the game's most common enemy, and how they are going through extreme measures to stop the spread of the plague and end unrest against royalty and the upper class.

We are then introduced to gameplay mechanics such as free running, climbing, an emphasis on stealth through eavesdropping and sneaking, and assassinations. Instantly the trailer takes a turn for violence, and it showcases first person melee combat and arsenal, alongside how each weapon and spell contributes differently to the flow and pacing of combat and how they can be used to either destroy your opponents or escape an unfavorable situation.