The Dishonored Series as Environmental and Social Commentary
Video games and their exploration of digital storytelling long ago moved past being simple novelty or mindless entertainment . Although not all video games have as their end goal sophisticated storytelling , those possessing such an aim tell increasingly important , powerful , and controversial stories . The Dishonored series forms the foundation of its plot against the backdrops of environmental destruction and the exploitation of the poor such that it effortlessly blends with the actions the player might opt to take in each game . 1 That video games like the Dishonored series might opt to explore weighty subject matter , such as the destruction of the environment and the hunting of species to the brink of extinction , intersects seamlessly with the inherently immersive nature of digital storytelling . In considering the role of video games in environmental studies , P . Saxton Brown observes ,
If climate change and the multiple other environmental crises faced on a global scale require a rethinking of the roles that the nonhuman , and particularly various kinds of environment , play in our fiction and cultural production , video games that are , in one way or another , about environment constitute an important area of research for the environmental critic . Environment is at the center of gameplay in numerous ways . ( 385 )
The Dishonored series stands as an important example of how digital narrative , already an important source of culturally and socially relevant storytelling , can extend its reach into ecocriticism . In terms of the specific point about the envi-
1 The player ’ s choice of either a Low or High Chaos walk-through and this decision ’ s impact on narrative are discussed further on .
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