Goodbye Arkane Austin, From A Lover Of Dishonored

With the closure of Arkane Austin, we’ve lost a very talented collective. Xbox has not been a good steward of its acquisitions, and Austin is another casualty of this mismanagement. Arkane Lyon will carry on the legacy of the studio – the Arkane name lives on. Still, the accomplishments and triumphs of Arkane Austin should be noted and remembered, the creative partnership between Harvey Smith and Raphaël Colantonio is a story that should be celebrated. Gaming is built on creatives who just want to make things that people enjoy and connect with, and Arkane Austin was a proponent of this philosophy.

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Arkane Austin was born out of Colantonio’s desire to have a foothold in an area rich with development studios and a creative atmosphere. Colantonio had known Smith for years, and the pair shared an interest in making shooters with a little more substance to them. One thing led to another and now they’re working together on a little immersive sim that would come to be known as Dishonored. If you’re interested in reading a full overview of the two men’s careers, Russ Pitts provided a fantastic recap for Polygon in 2012.

The Perfect Game

2012’s Dishonored is still my favourite game of all time. Of course, I was only 13 years old when the game was released, but, after reading the story of Colantonio and Smith, it does feel like the culmination of what both of them had been working towards their entire careers. It’s a game with phenomenal action elements, and you need not even engage with those mechanics, the stealth of Dishonored is among the best ever. You can finish Dishonored as a complete pacifist, or you can murder every single person unfortunate enough to come across your path. It’s a really novel experience even now, which is especially impressive considering linear gameplay was dominant when the game released twelve years ago.

I remember stalking the rat-infested streets of Dunwall, filled with such wonder. The level design of Dishonored is immaculate. It’s clear where the objective is, but there are so many nooks to explore and secrets to uncover. I’ll always remember my encounters with the strange characters of Dunwall’s underbelly, Granny Rags being the most prominent. The world’s lore was seamlessly injected into each level, you became more and more engrossed in this Victorian alternate reality, without even trying.

I experienced every aspect of Dishonored, as it was among the first games I earned all of the achievements in. I saved Emily without ever being spotted, without blood on my hands. I did the opposite, regularly going on murderous rampages in open view of every citizen of Dunwall. I played through Daud’s gripping parallel story, realising just how good the narrative design of Dishonored is. I even spent an inordinate amount of time in Dunwall City Trials, raging at the difficulty of some of the challenges.

There is just something special about Dishonored. Every design choice was the right one, the narrative structure is so compelling. I love Dishonored 2 also, but the first game trumps it for me. The scope was just perfect. Writing these words, I want to go back and play it again.

Unfortunately, I skipped out on Prey, which, by all accounts, is an exquisite immersive sim. A friend of mine has been pestering me to play it for years. I’ll definitely have to, Arkane Austin isn’t going to be making any more games, so we’ll need to enjoy what they did make. It’s a sad state of affairs, a real shame.

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