Dishonored – Dunwall

Standing center of Dishonored is Dunwall, the sort of fantasy industrial nightmare that is destined to be remembered. Playing Dishonored invokes memories of BioShock’s haunting Rapture, or Half Life 2’s oppressive City 17 – fictional worlds that are unique in vision, well designed, and powerful in thematic resonance. Levels are small sandboxes: a brothel here, a distillery there, and swathes of flooded, derelict neighborhoods, all contrasted with the affluence of the city’s ruling classes. Dunwall is a city thriving off of the industry granted by the power of whale oil, but also a city turned in on itself, ravaged by plague, and preyed on by political opportunists.

– Aled Morgan

Runner Up: Assassin’s Creed III – Revolution-Era Northeast United States