More Dishonored answers for your ‘supernatural ability’ questions

Dishonored, Bethesda's brand new first-person action IP, has a lot of hype surrounding it. In it, players control Corvo, a supernatural assassin who combines supernatural abilities with weapons and gadgets to dispose of his foes. However, here in lies the majority of the questions. How will this intriguing system work?

While the majority of Bethesda's last Dishonored Q&A focused on stealth gameplay, today we got a little more information about the supernatural element of gameplay, particularly with Corvo and the enemies he'll encounter.

First off, Corvo will not be the only person with supernatural abilities. As co-creators Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith explain, "The Outsider shows up to people who are potentially pivotal in some way, marking them and granting access to supernatural powers. Each person marked has access to different powers."

From what we've seen so far, Corvo has shown off a tremendous amount of supernatural assassin abilities, but not all of his powers will be available at the beginning of the game. Developments through the game unlock the different supernatural powers, and the way they will work is through a "Rune economy". Throughout the game you'll search for runes that allow you to obtain or upgrade Corvo's powers.

Some of these abilities will allow for supernatural jumps, blink/teleports, and climbing abilities.

"We do also have lean and slide, which feel good and support stealth," the added. "Our climb is more like a pull up, allowing you to grab ledges or the top of small structures. Vertical space and exploration are important in the game, for sure."

As mentioned in the previous Q&A, Dishonored works on a occlusion-based stealth system. That is, it's mostly based on enemy view cone and hiding behind objects or architecture. As long as Corvo's body is hidden, enemies up ahead will not see him, but they might hear him. Following up on stealth, the co-creators described a way to distract the enemies in order to help you sneak past them.

"Enemies respond to sound, so firing a crossbow bolt into the wall or throwing a bottle will cause an enemy to come investigate," they explained.

Dishonored will be available in North America on October 9, 2012 and throughout Europe on October 12.  It is slated for release on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC