Several actors, including Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, Michael Madsen, John Slattery, Lena Headey and Chloë Grace Moretz, provided voice work for the game.

During development, test players discovered methods of exploiting the available powers and abilities to achieve unexpected outcomes; instead of restricting these techniques, the designers attempted to redesign levels to accommodate them.

[15] Order is maintained by the Tallboys, heavily armored officers on tall, mechanical legs, and districts are separated by barriers known as "Walls of Light", which are made of energy and disintegrate unauthorized people who try to cross them.

Other characters include Granny Rags (Susan Sarandon)—a former aristocrat now blind and deranged after years of living on the streets; Daud (Michael Madsen)—leader of a group of assassins known as "the Whalers"; and Slackjaw (Al Rodrigo)—a gang leader.

[41] Corvo's targets include the Lord Regent Hiram Burrows (Kristoffer Tabori)—the Empress's former spymaster who masterminded her death and framed Corvo, and now controls Dunwall;[37] Burrows's lover Lady Boyle (Anna Graves)—an aristocrat funding the military;[42][43][44] Lords Custis and Morgan known as the Pendleton Twins (Zach Hanks)—members of parliament;[45] High Overseer Thaddeus Campbell (Daniel Hagen)—leader of the city's religious order; and Anton Sokolov (Roger Jackson)—a genius inventor responsible for the creation of many advanced technologies including the Wall of Light.

[35] After returning from a foreign voyage to seek aid with the deadly plague ravaging the city, Corvo Attano travels to the tower of Dunwall and meets with the Empress.

[50] Corvo removes the High Overseer and discovers that Emily is being held in a brothel called the Golden Cat under the supervision of twins Custis and Morgan Pendleton.

[51][52] After returning to the pub, Emily is taken into the care of Callista to prepare her for becoming Empress, while Corvo is sent to abduct the genius scientist Sokolov, who is responsible for the Lord Regent's powerful technologies.

Upon waking, he learns that Samuel poisoned his drink at the behest of Havelock and his Loyalist allies Treavor Pendleton and Teague Martin, to prevent him from interfering in their plan to install Emily as Empress and rule through her.

[12] Dishonored's stealth system was originally based on that of the Thief series, which uses level lighting and shadows to determine whether an enemy can detect the player character's presence.

[72] Much of the ambient dialogue was written to be lengthy and add background detail to the game world and to entertain stealth players who may be in a single area for a long time.

Later designs inspired by added gameplay mechanics such as floodlights, electrified barriers and 20th-century technologies that it no longer resembled London, and Arkane opted to develop a fictional city.

[37] In-game characters were inspired by illustrations from adventure and pirate stories such as Captain Blood (1922), the work of Charles Dana Gibson, and mugshots from Edwardian London and Australia.

[65][79][80] An anatomy expert helped ensure the morphology of character faces represented Great Britain, while Arkane maintained a sense of realism and political incorrectness.

The pub's exterior was shrunk to resemble an Edwardian building, but the interior remained labyrinthine so Colantonio required that a chain be placed outside Corvo's bedroom, allowing him to reach the roof quickly.

[27][89] Celebrating the North American launch, Smith, Colantonio, and other Arkane Studios staff members from the company's office in Austin, Texas, signed copies of the game at a local GameStop store.

The videos show the discovery of whale-oil fuel,[33] the Outsider granting his mark to a small boy in search of revenge,[97] and Piero creating Corvo's mask.

The Telegraph's Tom Hoggins said it is like the "thinking man's games [from] the turn of the century which cherished player choice and control", comparing it against contemporary "noisy, brash thrill-rides obsessed with military ooh-rah and barely interactive set pieces".

[131] Dishonored's plot received a polarized response, with many reviewers praising the standalone stories driving each mission, but criticizing the game's overarching narrative.

[8] In contrast, The Escapist's Susan Arendt wrote that the story was well paced, and Shacknews's John Keefer stated that it was emotionally immersing and is "role-playing at its story-driven finest", but added that some plot points were not properly explained or developed.

Keefer wrote that in-game mechanics like the powers and equipment are not essential and did not detract from the story, but served as optional bonuses in levels that can be completed with creativity and cleverness.

[132] According to Gies, the game can initially seem unstructured from a level-design perspective, but after exploring them it becomes clear about how much thought went into different actions a player can take, allowing them to experiment instead of focusing on rigid objective-driven design.

[3] GameSpot's Chris Watters enjoyed the various pathways and methods of traversing each level with "compelling abilities", particularly the "Blink" power, and the freedom of choice which he said made Dishonored "one of the truly remarkable games of" 2012.

[124] Arendt said that the game's flexibility was also a shortcoming, with certain playing styles favoring certain abilities that when fully upgraded, preclude the desire to explore levels for further enhancements and resources.

[125] Juba criticized the inconsistent detection by enemies that lead to unpredictable and unreliable stealth mechanics that could force stealth-focused players into a combat situation, for which their character is not built.

[3][126] Colvin described Dishonored as "a triumph for the medium ... that sets the benchmark for visuals, story, and character performance", and that it is "easily the best looking game you'll play this year".

[137] In North America, Dishonored was the fourth best-selling game of October 2012, selling 460,200 physical units, exceeded only by Pokémon Black Version 2, Resident Evil 6 and NBA 2K13.

[188] Two story-based campaign DLC packs were announced in October 2012 for release in 2013, and follow the assassin Daud as he seeks redemption for murdering Empress Jessamine in Dishonored's main story.

The first installment of the story-based DLC The Knife of Dunwall was praised for its level design, which encouraged exploration to find hidden content and alternative routes through areas.

[196][197] The story of The Brigmore Witches received a mixed response, with Destructoid saying that it offered a more gripping narrative,[198] while Polygon stated that it lacked the same tension as The Knife of Dunwall, and the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.