Gun shy

The gadgetry of Corvo’s world is inventive in its lethality. A self-loading crossbow fires bolts that can pierce or explode; Spring Razor proximity mines can be mounted on wandering rats; atomising Walls Of Light can be wired into mistaking friend for foe. Combined with the supernatural abilities to Blink, unleash hurricanes and turn corpses to ash, Arkane makes carnage devilishly compelling. There is another option, however. The good ending demands that you swap slit throats for chokeholds and it’s possible to play the game without stabbing anyone. Should you start down this path, your arsenal is limited to Blink, sleep darts, Bend Time and deactivating alarms. The challenge encourages planning and perfect implementation, but your pointy toybox gathers dust. The pacifist’s utility belt is decidedly understocked. “I think people don’t realise the ramifications of all the powers,” says Smith, “but at the same time, they’re right. I think in part it’s because we were interested in theming the game about a man who reluctantly becomes an assassin, and therefore that means lethal. We always said we wanted it to be harder to be good than bad. And that goes with our thinking in general: in the world, it’s easier to be destructive than constructive.”