Dishonored got an interesting promo this week, in the form of a three-part animated short entitled Tales from Dunwall. The first, second, and third parts aired one day after another this week, and the offer an interesting glimpse into the world in which the game is set.

Following on from last-weeks comments about the game’s linear or non-linear nature (there was some debate), it’s worth noting that playtesters of the game basically had no clue what the heck they were supposed to do when set in front of the game, and needed additional instruction from Arkane staff.

“People would just walk around during playtesting of the ‘Lady Boyle’ mission,” Dishonored executive producer Julien Roby said. “They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t even go upstairs because a guard told them they couldn’t. They’d say, ‘Okay, I can’t go upstairs.’ They wouldn’t do anything.”

I don’t actually think this is an indictment of Arkane’s design style or of Dishonored; I think it’s an indictment of the sorry state of modern gaming. We have become so used to the “story-filled corridors” of modern action games (and action-RPGs). I mean, come on…did the Royal Guard of Britannia ever stop anyone from doing something?

I mean, even the writers at Kotaku get it, sort of:

Let’s recap, team, you portray an assassin. This line of work isn’t known for asking permission to do things. On top of that, you’re an outlaw. That means you have a problem with authority.

“Oh, but one of my companions didn’t helpfully chime in that we’d need to find another way in. I guess I’m just not meant to go upstairs.”

“We found that if we don’t give a little information, people just get lost and don’t know what to do,” Roby added. “So we tried to add this element that gave just a hint, to help a little.”

Cripes.

Anyway…it would seem that Dishonored’s marketing gimmicks were just a tad too edgy for at least one magazine’s tastes. Unrelatedly, don’t miss this interview with Julien Roby, and see if one your friends was able to DVR this bit of oddness.

On the Skyrim side of things, PC Gamer has finally published their review of the Dawnguard DLC. Suffice to say, the DLC does not score well. Also at PC Gamer, Tom Francis is still slogging through his Illusionist playthrough of the game.

Oh, and GameInformer has an interesting little retrospective of Fallout 3 up this week. Do give it a look.