Ever since I first heard of Dishonored (which was not so far ago) and saw some gameplay videos I was excited. The setting looked interesting and it reminded me a lot of the Thief games which had some solid level design and great atmosphere.
Most reviewers compare Dishonored to Half Life 2 and Bioshock but I'd say it's more of a mix between Thief and Deus Ex. Level design is indeed great, better than in say Thief: Deadly Shadows, and on par with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Gameplay mechanics work well, the game always gives you an option to either go stealth or guns (and swords and crossbows) blazing to finish a mission and that's the freedom I like very much. Not only that but your character is also able to use a small number of special powers like a time pausing effect and a sort of infra vision to look through the walls which are granted to him by the misterious "Outsider". The story is solid and there's even a twist near the end to spice things up a little bit.
Graphics do their job but it's clear Unreal Engine 3 isn't fresh anymore so the game can't keep up with more recent releases in this area. The story itself isn't bad but I think the characters could have been further developed and the twist near the end is a bit obvious as well. Also the story never explains who or what is the misterious "Outsider" and what is he trying to achieve with helping you which is a shame. The player is also able to get some of the special powers too early in the game, notably infra vision, which makes the first half of the game a bit too easy for my taste. There also could be more of those special powers and it wouldn't hurt if a certain missioon called The Flooded District was either made a little bit shorter or replaced entirely because in contrary to all the other missions this one is far more linear and thus boring.
In the end I have to say Dishonored is almost exactly what I was hoping for. It is set in an atmospheric world and has among other things great level design which allows you the freedom to play the game the way you want. Sure it's not without sins, but what game is?