Dishonored has some decent fundamentals, but it doesn't really capitalize on them in a meaningful way. Stealth, despite being pushed as the 'correct' way to play the game is underdeveloped compared to the loud and lethal approach. And as the game continues and you unlock new abilities, the game fails to keep up the challenge with improvements on the character's end far outpacing those of the enemies.
Regarding stealth, Dishonored is in a weird position. Both in its gameplay systems and the narrative, playing quietly and with minimal casualties is treated as the right choice. But despite that, most of the game's abilities and equipment are geared to a completely different playstyle. All of the supernatural abilities you can unlock have some degree of utility for a non-stealthy and lethal run, while only half are of any use for stealth and non-lethality. The equipment is even more restrictive with the sleep darts being the only piece of equipment that has any utility for stealth since everything else is loud and bloody. If you really plan to play stealthily, you'll reach the pinnacle of Corvo's abilities somewhere around the first 1/3 of the game.
And this wouldn't be too much of an issue if stealth were something difficult. Lethality might be bad, but it could also be hard to avoid at times making pure stealth something akin to a challenge run. But that isn't the case either because both stealth and non-stealth approaches are easy. Sleep darts will knock enemies unconscious right away from a pretty significant distance and the Stop Time ability can make it trivial to deal with a whole group of enemies at once. And if you don't care about stealth, you have a plethora of other weapons and powers at your disposal on top of that.
Dishonored has some good stuff going for it. The atmosphere and oppressive feel of plague-ridden Dunwall makes for a good setting and the level design did a good job of offering multiple interesting choices for traversal for those able to spot them. The mechanics are good at first even if they don't grow in a very meaningful way. Dishonored has the foundation of a good game but it just doesn't build on it enough to be anything more than alright.
Regarding stealth, Dishonored is in a weird position. Both in its gameplay systems and the narrative, playing quietly and with minimal casualties is treated as the right choice. But despite that, most of the game's abilities and equipment are geared to a completely different playstyle. All of the supernatural abilities you can unlock have some degree of utility for a non-stealthy and lethal run, while only half are of any use for stealth and non-lethality. The equipment is even more restrictive with the sleep darts being the only piece of equipment that has any utility for stealth since everything else is loud and bloody. If you really plan to play stealthily, you'll reach the pinnacle of Corvo's abilities somewhere around the first 1/3 of the game.
And this wouldn't be too much of an issue if stealth were something difficult. Lethality might be bad, but it could also be hard to avoid at times making pure stealth something akin to a challenge run. But that isn't the case either because both stealth and non-stealth approaches are easy. Sleep darts will knock enemies unconscious right away from a pretty significant distance and the Stop Time ability can make it trivial to deal with a whole group of enemies at once. And if you don't care about stealth, you have a plethora of other weapons and powers at your disposal on top of that.
Dishonored has some good stuff going for it. The atmosphere and oppressive feel of plague-ridden Dunwall makes for a good setting and the level design did a good job of offering multiple interesting choices for traversal for those able to spot them. The mechanics are good at first even if they don't grow in a very meaningful way. Dishonored has the foundation of a good game but it just doesn't build on it enough to be anything more than alright.