A worthy successor.

T'S been four long years since Dishonored debuted with its supernatural hijinks.

ISet in the plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, it introduced a delicious twist - the chaos system.

Developers Arkane Studios wanted to create a game where the player felt the consequences of their actions.

Playing as the bodyguard Corvo Attano, you are not judged on how good or bad you've been, you're tracked by the 'chaos system' which takes note of the levels of violence, friendly fire and deaths you cause as you move through the game.

These levels change the gaming environment around the player, altering how other characters interact with you and dictating how quickly you go through resources.

It was original, it was different, and it gave Arkane a surprise hit in 2012.

Fast forward to 2016, and its highly-anticipated sequel has finally hit the shelves.

Building solidly on the original, D2 picks up 15 years after the events of the first game.

Early on you can choose to play as Corvo, or as Empress Emily Kaldwin. Each character has their own unique powers and skills, and how you combine them to eliminate your enemies is up to you.

The chaos system is still in play, and it has a new element...

Characters are assigned one of three states: sympathetic, guilty and murderous. Killing a "sympathetic" person gives you more chaos than killing others, while slaughtering a "murderous" character gives you a much lesser amount.

Every decision - whether you go on a psychopathic rampage, or move Ghandi-like through the game refusing to take lives - dictates how the events play out and what ending you'll see.

The setting is beautiful. Moving beyond the streets of Dunwall to the coastal city of Karnaca, the attention to details is stunning. The clockwork mansion which appears around half-way through is jawdroppingly beautiful. Combat is slick - especially the swordplay. It's easily one of the best melee systems I've played, and that includes the Batman: Arkham series.

There is a phenomenal amount of interaction in this game too. Most of the tasks play out like mini-puzzles, with your mind left racing over whether you made the right decision and just what the consequences of your action/ inaction might be.

Arkane has created a game that is every bit as slick and intelligent as the first, but has raised the bar by taking creative chances.

It's a worthy successor, and one that should be on your list for Santa.

HHH HH Bargain buy: PS39.99 from zavvi.com