Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall

Playing as Daud changes the temperature of Dishonored immediately. The opening returns you to the Empress’s murder, but places you behind the assassin’s mask rather than Corvo’s, giving this three-mission expansion a sharper, more guilty momentum. You are still stalking through Dunwall with stealth as the strongest route, yet Daud’s search for redemption gives the familiar formula a worthwhile new perspective.

The Knife of Dunwall is compact rather than transformative, but it earns its place through focused missions, a few useful new tools, and an intriguingly unfinished mystery around Delilah. If you enjoyed finding quiet routes through the original game, this is an easy recommendation. If you wanted a radically different Dishonored, its close adherence to the base game may feel more like an encore than a reinvention.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour gets its hook from the uncomfortable pleasure of inhabiting Daud, the man responsible for the act that sets Dishonored in motion. Controls and moment-to-moment play closely follow the original, so returning players can settle in quickly. The difference is in how you approach spaces: this is a short run built to reward patient infiltration, scouting, and the satisfaction of leaving a problem behind you rather than announcing yourself to it.

Daud has enough new equipment to prevent the expansion from feeling like a mere character swap. Voice Gaze, Summon Assassin, Choke Gas, Ark Mines, and the Wristbow give you fresh options as you work through the missions. Summon Assassin in particular changes the feel of being alone in hostile territory: Daud is a leader of the Whalers, and having access to that identity in play is a sensible fit rather than a decorative addition.

The three missions—A Captain of Industry, Eminent Domain, and The Surge—are not a huge meal, so the value comes from how much you enjoy revisiting areas with a stealth-first mindset. Familiar territory such as the Flooded District sits alongside the Rothchild Slaughterhouse and Legal District. Frustration can creep in if you hoped for broad mechanical upheaval; Daud fundamentally moves through Dunwall the way Corvo did. But if the original’s sneaking was what kept you experimenting, the new powers and gadgets are enough to make a careful replay feel inviting.

Graphics

The Knife of Dunwall returns to the Flooded District while adding locations including the Rothchild Slaughterhouse and the Legal District. That mix of recognizable Dunwall spaces and new destinations helps the expansion feel connected to the original without spending all three missions in recycled ground.

Story

This DLC’s strongest move is simple: it begins at the Empress’s death, only now you see it through Daud’s eyes. That reframing gives the campaign a real reason to exist. Daud is not just Corvo with another set of powers; he begins from a place of culpability, and his desire for redemption gives the missions a more personal direction.

The Outsider again draws Daud into the supernatural side of Dunwall, tasking him with unraveling the mystery of Delilah. The story does not need to discard the original game’s foundations to be compelling. Instead, it digs into an antagonist-adjacent character whose perspective was largely defined by one terrible decision, then asks what he does after it.

That makes the DLC particularly satisfying for anyone who finished Dishonored wanting more context around its world and its assassins. The plot is a continuation rather than a self-contained replacement for the main game, and it works best when you already understand the weight of Daud’s opening flashback. For returning fans, the payoff is seeing Dunwall’s moral mess from the other side of the blade.

Overall Experience

The Knife of Dunwall is a focused expansion with a clear point of view. It does not chase novelty by tearing up Dishonored’s controls or structure; it trusts that sneaking through dangerous districts, making use of supernatural abilities, and plotting a clean route are still enjoyable. In that respect, it is confidently made DLC: more of the game you know, but framed around a character worth following.

Its limitations are also easy to name. There are only three missions, and the core play remains very similar to the original. You should not go in expecting Daud’s campaign to replace a full sequel. Go in because you want another concentrated visit to Dunwall, new stealth tools to test, and a story that gives one of the original game’s most important figures room to reckon with his actions.

For Dishonored fans, that is enough. The new abilities, gadgets, weapon, and locations add variety, while Daud’s redemption quest supplies more than a routine excuse to revisit old habits. It is a worthwhile, stealth-forward side chapter that knows exactly which parts of Dishonored deserved more time.