This is The Mechanic. Taking a dive into Dishonored 2 [official site] with Harvey Smith, it marks the first anniversary of the column. Holy heck! I hope you ve been enjoying it. I want to thank everyone who s read The Mechanic, and all the amazing designers it has given me the opportunity to speak to. Here s to many more next year.
In the city of Karnaca is a district that lies under mounds of encroaching dust. Home to the labourers of the silver mines, Batista has been worked into exhaustion. Its people are spent and the mines so overexploited that dust from them has been billowing out and falling over the streets and squares, the heavy wind whipping it up into storms and engulfing entire buildings.
Dust District is one of Dishonored 2 s largest levels, a dense network of byways, apartments and compounds peopled by downtrodden miners and two warring factions. But you don t need to play any of it. In fact, the entire level is designed around an idea that speaks to Dishonored s deepest design principles. Because the Dust District is all about:
THE MECHANIC: Skipping stuff
(Light-ish spoilers for both the Dust District and subsequent level naturally follow.) … [visit site to read more]